After a galactic government opens a group of new planets for colonization, a group of misfits, criminals, and desperate people go to a world that was nearly destroyed by an asteroid impact several centuries before. Hellhole is "the place to go when you have nowhere else to go." Nobody wants this turbulent rock . . . until the hardy colonists discover remnants of an alien civilization, and then the government decides they may want the planet back after all, but the colonists have no intention of giving up their home.

For those of you still hungry for big new SF after I finish my "Saga of Seven Suns" this summer and after Brian's third "Timeweb" novel is published, HELLHOLE should fit the bill. These books will be published in between the three new DUNE novels we are also writing.

-- KJA