But that was nearly three hundred and fifty years ago. Rocketed into the future while fleeing pursuit by a Fav'lhir warship, Gilly wakes to find that she and her damaged starship have been brought aboard a Khalaran space station. In the time she's been "away," something rather disturbing has happened: She's been made a goddess. The Khalar revere Lady Kiasidira, and have no idea that a deity now walks among them. Gilly intends to keep it that way, and all she needs to do is go unrecognized while she repairs her ship and works out how to return to her proper time. Her only ally is Simon, the sentient nanoessence within her vessel's hull. If she wants to avoid abject worship, anonymity is vital to Gilly -- but when the descendants of the Fav'lhir return, she may have no choice but to be a goddess once again.

Admiral Rynan Makarian knows that the space station designated Cirrus One has a lot of problems he's expected to fix (not the least of which is a flock of escaped parrots that no one can seem to keep contained). It's a handful, and so is the woman that his staff has recovered from Khalaran space. Gilly may claim to be just a trader, but Mack can tell she's hiding something. He suspects she's a smuggler, but still can't help falling for her -- and remains utterly unaware that the true breadth of her secret could shatter his society's religious beliefs.

Ms. Sinclair's third novel is as engaging as its predecessors, fast-paced and hard to put down. As usual, she wastes little time laying out a background, instead thrusting readers right into the action with her heroine in a predicament right from page one. The characters are vivid and entertaining, and even readers who don't generally care for science fiction will be enthralled and find the setting easy to digest. Though we learn little about Gilly's homeland or society, there are enough details that it's easy to believe the Raheirans are out there somewhere, and that in some sequel (that we'd love to read, but probably won't get) they might show up on Cirrus One's doorstep to stir the pot once again.

If the book has a flaw, it is in its adherence to a recipe already well-tasted in GABRIEL'S GHOST and FINDERS KEEPERS: Mix one ordinary protagonist with one extraordinary protagonist possessed of a tier of increasingly startling secrets, season with an inhuman sidekick, and bring to a boil. (Feeds: Thousands of avid readers.) This time, the one who's hiding something is the main character, and so we readers are in on the secret from the start; but otherwise, one might argue that AN ACCIDENTAL GODDESS is the same story in different trappings. It's a good story, so we'll keep reading it over and over -- but Ms. Sinclair has shown herself to be a very talented writer. It would be nice to see what else she can come up with.

Book Summary