To the citizens of the planet Erin, the Godspeed Drive is a legendary device from a lost age before the isolation of the Forty Worlds. To teenager Jay Hara, however, it is his one chance to claim his future in deep space—if he can find it. The author of Cold as Ice sets this coming-of-age adventure against the backdrop of a planet struggling in quiet desperation to hold onto the remnants of a dying technology. Despite the high-action content of his plot, Sheffield never slights his characters or his science. A good choice for most sf collections.