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"Soothsayer" by Mike Resnick is the first book in a trilogy and an excellent start it is.
It is structured around interrelationships between three significant characters. First is Mouse—seen initially as a Rogue-like trickster who has skills and abilities that make her much more dangerous than she appears. Second is Penelope Bailey. Penelope is apparently a frightened little girl sought after by very dangerous bounty hunters who wish to sell her to unscrupulous customers (including Governments} who want to use her special abilities for their own ends. Finally there is the strange figure of the Iceman. His relationships with the other two provide a main focus of the novel. While the characterisation of these three is not particularly subtle, it does develop believably as the novel proceeds and effectively helps focus the primary conflicts in the book.
The novel is structured through five different books. Each linked to a significant character and set in a different locale: hence the richness of atmosphere and the variety of exotic and interesting characters. Certainly there is an element of the Space Opera about this novel though it is far more sophisticated than one usually presumes such novels to be. This is because there is also an element of "noir" throughout. This element of darkness strengthens as the plot develops and the relationships become more intense.
The principal conflict focuses on the problem that occurs when a human being has a gift that makes him or her both extremely desirable and simultaneously dangerous. Does any individual or society have the right to command such individuals against their personal wishes and thus hijack their chances of finding happiness? Do those with such gifts even have any right to that solace?
This novel provides no easy answers and that is one of its attractions.
I have just finished re-reading this great space opera with its wonderful and ambiguous finale. I enjoyed it so much that I added the extra star. I now will proceed to the rest of the trilogy.
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