In Diplomatic Relations, the first book in my Alliance series, a diplomatic delegation from the planet Mhajav arrives in Lodur, capital of the planet Zigan, with the intention of establishing diplomatic relations between the two worlds.

No two worlds could be more different.

Planet Zigan:

Zigan is a traditional male-dominated society, ruled by a monarch and an aristocratic upper class, consisting of large land owners.. There is a small but thriving middle class of merchants and shopkeepers, and a larger peasant class to work the land.

Each aristocrat (including the king) must marry and produce a male heir, known as the elaf. If the first wife fails to produce a male child, the aristocrat or elaf may take another wife until he has his heir. Only the noblemen are allowed to have more than one wife. Younger sons are considered commoners and may not inherit. They go into the military, as does Rulik, my Ziganese hero in Diplomatic Relations. Homosexuality is tolerated among the commoners, but the nobles must marry. The bloodline must continue at all costs.

(Click on Alliance graphic to view video trailer.)

Planet Mhajav:

Mhajav is a more open society, with both male and female members of the governing council.

The Mhajavi people consist of both single and “joined” organisms, i.e. host and symbiont. The symbionts are the remnants of the Ujela, an ancient species that arrived on Mhajav a century ago, bringing with them advanced knowledge of science, technology and medicine. The Ujela (bringers of light, i.e. knowledge) fled their dying planet in search of a new home. In exchange for their knowledge, the people of Mhajav agreed to provide host bodies for the symbionts. When a symbiont is surgically implanted in a host, the symbiont joins with the central nervous system of the host, merging all brain functions of both beings. Joined individuals use the first name of the host and add the symbiont’s name as a surname.

Mhajavi who are accepted as hosts give their lives to the service of their people. Joined hosts are rendered sterile and can never reproduce. The Ujela are passed from host body to host body, some male, some female. Because of this, and the Mhajavi belief in reincarnation (multiple lives lived as either male or female), Mhajavi sexuality is very open. Bisexual and homosexual relations are considered normal, and any adult may marry whomever he or she loves.

The Alliance:

Both planets seek an alliance because of raids on their merchant vessels by space raiders from both worlds. Originally, the raiders were all Mhajavi - remnants of the followers of the deposed dictator Havir.

After a coup to depose the Ziganese King Ormin by his rival Ludosh was stopped, Ludosh and his cohorts escaped into space and joined the Mhajavi raiders. Now no unarmed vessel is safe.

A military alliance is in the interests of both worlds, and everything is going fine until the traditional-minded King Ormin decides what is really needed to cement relations is a good, old-fashioned dynastic marriage between his son and a Mhajavi woman. This idea is nearly the undoing of the alliance.

The Alliance Series: