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Slinger: The Equilibrium of Stars by Ben Bedard

Slinger: The Equilibrium of Stars	Ben Bedard	BlazeVOX [books]

Descriptions of Slinger: The Equilibrium of Stars

Beauty Ain’t Always Nice.

On the distant planet of Damodara, a group of pioneers struggles across the plains. Made up of old miners, prostitutes from pleasure ships, grizzled outlaws and outcasts, the pioneers search for a place to call home. But life isn’t simple. The pioneers find themselves caught in a political web. As several powers come to bear on their fragile group, they meet the Slinger, a mysterious woman, equally beautiful and deadly, who, for reasons they do not understand, leads them on their trek across the plains, toward the mountains, toward home.

If they can make it.

Written in a western dialect, Slinger tells the story of a group of pioneers caught in the machinations of powerful corporations, distant nations and vicious mercenaries on the distant planet of Damodara. In a universe divided between China and India, a fragile peace is being held together by Brazil. But the pioneers know next to nothing of the schemes of the powers fighting above them. Slinger is the future told from the point of view of the exploited, the poor, the helpless, pushed across space for no reason but survival. Trundling across the plains to the sanctuary of the mountains, the group comprises grizzled miners, outlaws, and outcasts: Catherine, the leader, who harbors a terrible secret; Colt who believes in her; Calder, a bitter man who sees Damodara as his last chance at happiness; Anna who flees her past; smoldering Tina, angered at her fate; the orphan children Chrissy and Leo, who want only a home; the Kid, who desperately seeks a reason for his existence. When they meet the Slinger, renowned equally for being deadly and beautiful, they do not trust her but need her skills to deliver them to the mountains. They find themselves caught deeper and deeper into the schemes of the powerful, inextricably weaving them inside a fate they do not understand. They must learn to rely on each other, and must put their faith and trust in a woman no one understands, the Slinger, if they are to survive the coming conflict.

Ben Lyle Bedard was born in Buckfield, Maine. He enrolled in the University of Maine at Farmington in 1992 and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts. After a few years of waiting tables, he traveled across the country and eventually earned his Master’s Degree at Mills College in Oakland, California. Returning east, he decided to pursue his passion for literature at the University of Buffalo, where, in 2010, he was awarded his PhD. He now lives and writes in Buffalo, New York.