A Small and Distant Galaxy: The Third Quadrant

Book 2 follows a science survey into the Third Quadrant, a desolate wasteland left by ancient asteroids. Scenes of friends and family back on the crew's home planets are woven through the story. New characters join with major and minor characters we met in the first book to crew the expedition. They explore a desert planet and intervene in the shunning of a young cave dweller, who joins them on the ship. While surveying an unexpected gas giant, they lose a crew member to its toxic gas clou...