The Faded Sun: Kesrith, serialized in Galaxy magazine (February, March, April, May 1978) by C. J. Cherryh - February-May 1978

Scarsdale, New York: UPD Publishing. February-May 1978. Digest-size Magazine. First Edition. Near Fine. Spines straight, tight and uncreased. Interiors pristine, though slightly tanned. Light rubbing to covers. February has label; others have label ghosts to front cover. May has a one-inch tear to bottom of rear hinge. Not from a library. 160 pages.

The Faded Sun: Kesrith, nominated for the 1979 Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for best science fiction novel, is the first volume in Cherryh's Faded Sun trilogy, the principal account of the Mri Wars era of Alliance-Union universe. It first appeared in print when it was serialized in four parts in the February, March, April, and May 1978 issues of Galaxy magazine. Cover art (Feb) and fifteen interior illustrations by Amy Harlib.

At the beginning of the this first volume, the regul have just concluded a forty-year war with humanity. As part of the peace, they are ceding the desert world of Kesrith to humanity. However, they have neglected to inform its inhabitants, the mri, who have served them as mercenaries for over two thousand years. The Mri have been nearly exterminated in these wars, and young Niun is one of the few remaining warriors. When the regul seek to double-cross his people, he and his sister Melein, the last of the priestly Sen caste, form an uneasy alliance with the human Sten Duncan to rescue a holy relic that may hold the key to the Mri's survival.