▁by ▁the ▁Canadian ▁author ▁James ▁Alan ▁Gard ner , ▁published ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 9 ▁by ▁Har per Coll ins ▁Publish ers ▁under ▁its ▁various ▁im print s . ▁The ▁book ▁is ▁the ▁third ▁volume ▁in ▁Gard ner ' s ▁" Le ague ▁of ▁Pe op les " ▁series , ▁after ▁Comm it ment ▁H our ▁( 1 9 9 8 ). ▁ ▁Back story ▁By ▁the ▁mid - 2 5 th ▁century , ▁human ity ▁is ▁integrated ▁into ▁a ▁pan - gal actic ▁civil ization ▁called ▁the ▁League ▁of ▁Pe op les , ▁domin ated ▁by ▁species ▁of ▁intellig ent ▁life ▁evol ved ▁far ▁beyond ▁the ▁human ▁level . ▁The ▁benefits ▁of ▁this ▁association ▁are ▁major ▁advanced ▁techn ologies , ▁including ▁effective ▁inter stell ar ▁travel , ▁gen etic ▁engineering , ▁nan ote chn ology , ▁and ▁terra form ing . ▁The ▁League ' s ▁cardinal ▁rule ▁is ▁that ▁sent ient ▁be ings ▁who ▁do ▁not ▁sufficiently ▁respect ▁life ▁are ▁not ▁allowed ▁to ▁travel ▁between ▁solar ▁systems . ▁ ▁Syn opsis ▁F aye ▁Small wood ▁lives ▁on ▁the ▁col ony ▁planet ▁of ▁Dem oth , ▁which ▁humans ▁share ▁with ▁the ▁flying ▁squ ir rel - like ▁O ol om . ▁During ▁her ▁ad oles c ence , ▁the ▁O ol om ▁population ▁was ▁nearly ▁w ip ed ▁out ▁by ▁a ▁pl ague ▁before ▁her ▁father ▁discovered ▁a ▁c ure ▁for ▁it ; ▁at ▁ 4 0 , ▁her ▁resid ual ▁surv iv or ▁gu ilt ▁leads ▁her ▁to ▁join ▁the ▁V