Shanji

On the planet Shanji, a ruthless emperor rules a subjugated people. Kati, raised by the lower caste Tumatsin, is taken captive by the emperor''s troops, and then saved by the Searchers, who see her as the promised Empress of Light, whose psychic powers can control the hot light of creation. But those powers can destroy a planet or star, and could be beyond everyone''s control. Kati must decide how to use her abilities when there is a planetary invasion from afar, led by a mighty empress whom she thought of as a friend and teacher. Kati must take charge of her own destiny, not only for herself, but also for Shanji and its neighboring worlds. Born with the heritage of two races, she must rise to rule them both. James C. Glass is a retired physics and astronomy professor, whose expansive career in the field found him in an array of roles including working on ion and arcjet engines at Rocketdyne and serving as a college dean. Glass retired from academics in 1999 to pursue writing full-time. His first piece of fiction was published in Aboriginal S.F., and soon after he won the 1990 grand prize in the Writers of the Future contest. Since then, he has published over nine novels and four short story collections. He lives in Spokane, Washington, and Desert Hot Springs, California, with his wife, Gail.