The reader will struggle through the exposition-filled first half of Strong’s uneven debut, but the action eventually picks up. In 2177, humankind has outgrown Earth and colonized a nearby galaxy. Meriel was 12 when her home, the merchant ship Princess, was attacked by pirates. Only she and the other children aboard the ship escaped. Ten years later, Meriel is on antipsychotics and said to become unstable if she goes off them, the children are in hiding, and the government claims the Princess was smuggling drugs. Meriel promised her dead mother she’d reunite the children so they could be a family again, but in order to do that, she has to prove the Princess wasn’t breaking the law. All she has to go on is a sim-chip with unreadable information and her mother’s nursery rhyme about Home, the only Earth-like planet ever found, which would be valuable property in the ongoing Immigration Wars. As powerful forces squelch Meriel’s attempts to discover the truth of what happened to the Princess, she begins uncovering an intricate conspiracy, but others scorn her as mentally ill and delusional. Corrupt government officials in the United Nations of Earth and evil corporations make predictable villains. The capable protagonist thrives despite one-dimensional supporting characters and confusing points of view, and the complex mystery is resolved with satisfying closure in a self-contained adventure. (BookLife)