When her Field Base is mysteriously attacked, Dr. Mackenzie Connor must flee for her life. Joining forces with an alien archaeologist, she escapes to his planet on a quest to find a defense against the unknown agressor-before they launch a full-scale invasion of Earth. Czerneda opens the Species Imperative series with a somewhat original variation on the theme of alien invasion. Dr. Mackenzie Connor heads the Norcoast Salmon Research Facility and is completely immersed in her work. She and Dr. Emily Mamani are just settling in to monitor the year's salmon run when Norcoast is visited by Brymn, the first member of the Dhryn species to come to Earth. An archaeologist, Brymn is studying a region of space called the Chasm. All of the worlds in it are empty of life forms but contain traces of life, and even civilizations, that once existed on them. Brymn needs the help of a biologist, but biology is a discipline forbidden by his culture. Mackenzie isn't interested in obliging him--until Emily disappears. Czerneda has created convincing future Earth and space cultures, and her characters, though archetypal, pass muster. The novel suffers from extremely uneven pacing, however-- very slow in the first half, then bouncing along in the second to a series-auguring finale. Frieda Murray Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Julie E. Czerneda  is a biologist and writer whose science fiction has received international acclaim, awards, and best-selling status. She is the author of the popular "Species Imperative" trilogy, the "Web Shifters" series, the "Trade Pact Universe" trilogy and her new "Stratification" novels. She was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her stand-alone novel,  In the Company of Others , won Canada's Prix Aurora Award and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award for Distinguished SF. Julie lives with her husband and two children in the lake country of central Ontario, under skies so clear they could take seeing the Milky Way for granted, but never do. You can find her at www.czerneda.com.