[.ca] Drifter (ISBN 0441168132)

not just GOOD:
This is some of the BEST space opera. The end part serves as a mechanism to get you interested in the sequel(s) - which it did !

No legion but..:
While drifter is no Legion of the Damned it still is a very good book with fun characters and lots of action. Like most Dietz books this one is short and you'll propably read it in about two days (one if you have a lot of time) but short reads are nice inbetween the big books.

Good space opera:
If you like space opera you'll probably like this book. Some parts are predictible but overall it is a fun read. The ending seems tacked-on and rushed to lead into the sequal. I look forward to reading the next in the series.

An average adventure novel:
The novel has all the parts for a melodrama, i.e., the hero (an interplanetary smuggler), a heroine (the daughter of a family in danger of being forced off their planet), the villains (a mining company intent on \otaking\c the planet's resources), and the good guys (the heroine's family and their friends of The Chosen). It is the standard melodrama expanded to a galactic scale, with the local representative of the villains forcing his unwanted attentions on the heroine. Pik Lando and his ship, the Tinker's Damn, have been drafted into service to smuggle a cargo of fertilizer concentrates onto the planet Angel. An unlikely cargo for a smuggler, but one that is vital for the farmers on the soil poor planet. Mega-Metals is using extreme means including murder to keep vital supplies from reaching the farmers. After the first mission, Lando is recruited for a second, very secret mission that will undo the plans of the villains and give The Chosen possession of the planet. The conclusion of the novel is somewhat disappointing as Lando and the heroine go their separate ways. The final ending of the novel could have been deleted with no loss to the story as the novel digresses into a new tale. Perhaps the author was setting the stage for his next novel.