The novel “Coyote Rising” by Allen Steele was published for the first time in 2004 fixing-up some stories published separately between 2003 and 2004 in versions that were revised for the edition as a book. It’s the second novel in the Coyote series and follows “Coyote“.

On Coyote, a moon of a gas giant planet in the system 47 Ursae Majoris, 46 light years from Earth, another starship arrives carrying new colonists. Almost all the inhabitants of the first colony founded after the arrival of the URSS Alabama decide not to submit to the collectivist ideology and flee to keep on living in their own way.

Matriarch Luisa Hernandez, who runs the new collectivist colony, hoped to count on the collaboration of the first colonists but must deal with their rebellion. Initially, the clashes between the two factions are limited but over time the situation becomes increasingly tense.

“Coyote” was the story of an interstellar expedition and of the colonization of a new world. “Coyote Rising” is the story of the conflict between the first colonists arrived on the starship URSS Alabama and those of the next wave led by authorities who aim to establish on the new world a collectivist regime like the one left on Earth.

Like the first novel, “Coyote Rising” is derived from a series of tales with the result that the story is a bit fragmented. The various episodes are told sometimes in the first person from the point of view of a character important for that particular story and sometimes in the third person. Again in this second novel they’re very different from each other so different people will like, or dislike, different parts of the novel.

From the beginning of the series the political elements connected to the future of Earth history are important. Captain Robert E. Lee led the escape of a group of people from a totalitarian regime to seek a new beginning on Coyote. When the representatives of a new regime come to take power, the first colonists abandon their city to go and hide in another region of that world.

Despite the importance of the political theme, it’s not developed particularly deeply but is basically used to feed the conflict between the two groups of colonists. At the end of “Coyote”, Matriarch Luisa Hernandez really seems to expect the people who were already there quietly agree to submit to the collectivist ideology. When they don’t, she doesn’t seem to know how to handle the situation.

In the end, Hernandez is a rather shallow example of villain, with limited skills in the management of a colony that’s growing with the arrival of new starship and increasingly obtuse in handling the conflict with the first colonists. Among the newcomers there are those who prefer to try to join the rebels, making the situation even worse.

The positive elements of the novel come from the stories of Robert E. Lee’s group but also from those of some of the new arrivals. The colony grows chaotically and the collectivist slogans are not enough to maintain order but it takes the military detachment’s weapons to avoid anarchy. The old and new settlers’ stories blend more and more in different and sometimes surprising ways.

Political and social issues are the most important in “Coyote Rising” but there are also arts and science, in particular with the stories of the musician Allegra DiSilvio and architect James Alonzo Garcia. They allow Allen Steele to develop characters and other themes giving the novel a greater depth.

Overall, the pros and cons of “Coyote Rising” seemed to me more or less the same as in the first novel so readers can already have an idea of what to expect. Again, the result is far from perfect but still enjoyable so if you liked “Coyote” I think you’ll appreciate its sequel as well.