The Salarian Desert Game

What if someone you love gambled on her life?

Games are serious business on Salaria, and the stakes are high. When Kia's older sister, in a desperate bid to erase their family debt, loses the game and forfeits her freedom, Kia is determined to rescue her.

Disguised as a Salarian, Kia becomes Idaro in order to move freely in this dangerous new culture. When she arrives on Salaria, she learns it's a world where a few key players control the board, and the pawns are ready to revolt. Kia joins the conflict, risking everything to save her sister. As if she doesn't already have enough to handle, Agatha, the maddeningly calm and unpredictable Select who lives life both by-the-book and off-the-cuff shows up to help, along with handsome Norio, a strong-willed desert girl with her own agenda, and a group of Salarian teens earning their rite of passage in the treacherous desert game.

What can an interpreter and former thief possibly do in the midst of all this to keep the people she loves alive?

Tense, thrilling, edge-of-the-seat reading--I tore through this! Kia and Agatha are a fascinating pair, Kia so practical, down-to-earth, and wilful; Agatha so mystical and driven. More, please!" - Tamora Pierce

"Strong, character-driven Science Fiction -- McLachlan makes you both care and think. You can't ask for more. I enjoyed both books in this series, and hope to see a third." - Tanya Huff, Aurora Award-winning author of The Silvered

"J.A. McLachlan's second novel proves the success of her first was no accident: she's a wonderfully talented writer, and her characters of Agatha and Kia are very appealing. Hop on board the McLachlan train; reading joy awaits." - Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Quantum Night