According to Locus, Eleanor Arnason's "A Woman of the Iron People" will inevitably be compared to Ursula K. Le Guin's work. This novel has won both the Mythopoeic Award and one of the first James Tiptree Jr. Awards, and has received significant attention from reviewers. "Ring of Swords" extends the story to a larger setting - the entire civilized galaxy in the 22nd century.
For almost fifty years, humanity has been in conflict with a spacefaring race of warlike humanoid aliens, the only advanced and intelligent species encountered in space exploration. The first diplomatic talks between humans and this mysterious race take place on a remote and strategically insignificant planet.
Dr. Anna Perez, a biologist, has been granted permission to study the giant, jellyfish-like aliens living in the planet's seas. However, as the negotiations begin, she discovers that the alien diplomats have a human translator, Nicholas Sanders, who has surprisingly defected. Anna becomes embro
