The Colors of Space is a 1963 science fiction novel by Marion Zimmer Bradley. The book has been reviewed by P. Schuyler Miller for the Analog Science Fiction and Fact (1964), by Steve Miller for the Science Fiction Review (1983), and also that year by Robert Coulson for the Amazing Science Fiction. The story was adapted into a 1983 graphic novel illustrated by Lee Moyer and published by Starblaze Graphics. Plot summary Humans have spread to other planets within our galaxy, partly helped by a race of apparently friendly aliens known as the Lhari. The Lhari originate in another galaxy but are physically and physiologically similar to humans. They run a faster-than-light (FTL) transport network in human-occupied space, using a technology based on a rare substance from their own galaxy. FTL travel is understood to be fatal for humans unless they are in suspended animation, which is used routinely for human travellers. This and the supply of fuel gives the Lhari a monopoly on interstellar transport. Although humans and Lhari trade peacefully and profitably, some humans resent the Lhari and believe they are deliberately limiting the human race. The protagonist, Bart Steele, is recruited by an illegal organisation to act as a spy on board a Lhari ship. He is given a cryptic message about the "eighth color" and remembers his mother, who had worked with the Lhari, commenting that the FTL fuel had a color that did not fit into the normal spectrum. Steele learns that humans can survive FTL travel without suspended animation. He is given cosmetic surgery and training and joins a Lhari crew. He is instructed to sabotage the ship's radiation detector so that the crew can be killed with radiation at one of its scheduled stops, allowing human agents to seize the ship and learn the location of its planet of origin. Steele initially complies with the plan, but is unwilling to sacrifice the Lhari crew and confesses to the captain. The circumstances of the confession put Steele in danger, which helps to convince the captain that he genuinely does not wish to harm them. The captain explains to him that the Lhari had never had a war and were terrified by humanity's bloody history, so they decided to protect themselves by limiting humans' travel. Steele is held on the ship while it completes its voyage home, and taken before the Lhari authorities. They determine