Beyond the stars we know, humans find that the new frontier of space is not as uncivilized as it might appear.

There are eight known sentient species in this universe, who are part of a trade alliance. Humans are a recent arrival to this alliance, and this part of the galaxy, and have not yet been granted full status as a member race on the council, even though they have been colonizing their part of the galaxy for several hundred years and have dozens of thriving colony planets.

The other races are: Triasans, vaguely ursine traders with a matriarchal, family-based culture; Ukoni, a saurian race with three genders and a rigidly structured martial society; Kallai, the obligatory felinoid race, whose culture is divided into two disparate societies - one, tribal nomads, and the other, a sedentary feudal system; Lairetians, an avian race devoted to environmental preservation; Rykellians, amphibious humanoids with complicated social bonds, who are the scholars and healers of the galaxy; A'Shadar, a secretive race of shapeshifters whose motivations are unknown; and the non-corporeal race known only as Star Dragons. The alliance is stable, but not always peaceful, and humanity has thrown the balance off - doubly so as the Terran government is fairly xenophobic, and many of the colonies are seceding and starting their own governing body, one that's much more alliance-friendly.

The main story in this world, working title Raven, follows Samara Corbett, a human who witnesses representatives of the Terran government set up the release of a virulent plague on a colony world and is left there to die - but doesn't. She's taken to the Rykellian homeworld and treated, and studied by two Rykellian researchers to figure out why she didn't die - and what's causing the crazy changes to her genetic structure that aren't killing her, but are causing other, seemingly impossible mutations. But when the rogue Terrans set up a powerful Kallai advisor to the alliance council during a conference on the same planet, Sam, her Rykellian doctors, the advisor and his bodyguard niece end up running for their lives... and must find a way to stop the Terrans before they cause a war that could destroy everyone in the alliance.