the Betas and gains control of their affairs. She also allies herself with the local Blue Majat Hive. But the Majat Hives are restless and soon turn on each other. The Blue, Green and Red Queens are killed and the surviving Gold Queen unites all the Hives under her. The Hive revolt spreads to all planets of the Reach and all the Kontrin perish, except for Raen, who now lives with the Majat on Istra. With the Kontrin Company no longer in control, the Betas take charge of the Reach. All the azi are gone, having self-terminated at their maximum age of 40, and no new azi are created. Jim, however, at Raen's request, is given immortality by the Majat and lives with her in the Gold Hive. Main characters Raen a Sul hant Meth-maren (human female): Kontrin of the Sul sept of the Meth-maren House Jim: Raen's Azi Lian: Kontrin Council Eldest and leader Moth: Kontrin Council Elder Sej Sej is a dice game of part chance and part skill for two players. Cherryh describes the game in detail in an appendix to her novel. Sej is played with two six-sided dice and three four-sided wands with symbols and colors on each wand face. The players alternately play hands, which involves casting the wands; both players then roll the dice for possession of the points represented by the wands cast. The skill of the game is in deciding whether to risk playing the hand cast or to pass it. The game is won by accumulating 100 points. Timeline issues Placing the book within Cherryh's overall Alliance-Union timeline is somewhat challenging because the dates cited in Serpent's Reach (published in 1980) contradict those given in a timeline Cherryh later presented in Angel with the Sword (published in 1985). Specifically, Serpent's Reach indicates that first contact with the Majat occurs in 2223. Angel with the Sword, however, provides a date of 2623 for first contact, 400 years later. It is very probable that the Angel with the Sword reference is correct and the earlier Serpent's Reach date is incorrect, because: The citation in Serpent's Reach that provides the earlier date is from an Alliance government document, but the validity of this citation is highly dubious: The document itself is dated 2301. But the Merchanter's Alliance was not created until after 2353, so a document referencing "Alliance citizens", "Alliance law", and so