Amahle is a Lightchaser – one of many trained individuals who have been genetically “gifted” with extended lifespans (measured by the millennia) and given kilometre-long spaceships to travel the galaxy. Their job is to gift “memory collars” to humans throughout the colonised galaxy, and then collect the collars on their next visit — several hundred years later. The collars provide entertainment to higher races who get their jollies by reliving the memories of lesser beings.
As one would expect, Amahle is very happy with the deal, even if it means spending years alone on a massive (and luxuriously appointed) spaceship with only an AI for companionship. (Though she does get to have sex with the occasional denizen when she makes planetfall). All in all, she’s very happy with her life, until she comes across a memory collar which has recorded a conversation that is meant for her: a conversation that is several hundred years old. The speaker is someone called Carloman, and he claims that he was once married to her a thousand years ago. He warns Amahle that all is not right with the galaxy, and only she can fix it.
Oh yes — and she shouldn’t trust the ship’s AI. …
Don’t let my summary fool you — this actually a really good book. It’s short (you can probably crack through in less than a week), and it manages to span thousands of years and a lot of planets in a very short read.
I’d definitely put this down as a light read. The prose is light and workable, and the “science” part of science-fiction isn’t so deep that you have to step away and look things up.
The characters are a bit on the light side; the book isn’t long enough for vast amounts of back story, so you might get to the end without really being sure if you’ve gotten to know them in any great depth; and oddly enough, some of the weirdos Amahle meets on her travels are very entertaining, if not a little short-lived.
But in the end, the book was more than enough to keep me entertained for a few days.