Captain Leonie Strider and her crew, stranded in a galaxy millions of parsecs from the Solar System, have helped the so-called Ancient Species of The Wondervale defeat the tyrannical Autarch Nalla. But all too soon the remaining warlords are fighting among each other. Before too long the genocidal Kaantalech emerges as the new Autarch. With the outcome looking desperate for the Ancient Species, only Strider and a handful of crewmates decide to remain in The Wondervale to help. If she is to lead the Ancient Species to victory and restore order to The Wondervale, Strider must not only battle the colossal power of Kaantalech but also find a way to overcome an even older danger that threatens to destroy them all . . . At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management). Combining high-powered space action, a gaggle of bizarre aliens -- both friend and foe -- and passions that are all too recognizably human, Strider's Universe continues the epic space opera begun in Strider's Galaxy, of which Stan Nicholls wrote in Time Out: [Strider's Galaxy] discards restraint and lets rip. Unashamedly occupying the pure entertainment end of the spectrum, this is a primary-colors read -- exotic, extravagant, zingy. Pipe-and-slippers science fiction it isn't.