From the creator of the Enderverse series, A Planet Called Treason is an exciting read that really captures your imagination:
The story of Treason is as follows – once upon a time, in the far distant future, there was a revolution. The old government was overthrown and the new Republic transported its former masters to permanent imprisonment on the planet Treason. The prisoners were to be left alone until such time as they were able to build their own starship and fly to free freedom. However on a planet without metal, getting to that stage was not an easy proposition. In addition to this, the old masters of the Empire were not known to be able to work together and as such while the punishment might have initially seemed lenient, it was in reality a permanent exile for them and all of their descendants.
Treason however is a “special” planet. As each of the transportee’s focus more and more on their initial specialization, the planet changes them and their descendants to make them more attuned to their skill giving them a different ability to the rest of humanity and indeed to each of the different tribes on the planet itself.
Lanik Mueller is heir to the throne of his country. The Muellers specialise in bodily regeneration. They shrug off injuries and physical trauma, their bodies rapidly heal scars, cuts and amputations. Unfortunately, some of them take this regeneration too far and become monsters, with their body healing damage that doesn’t exist and sprouting extra limbs and organs. The extra limbs that these unfortunates develop are farmed by the rulers of Mueller and traded for iron via the Ambassadors (a teleportation device that is the only link to the outside galaxy and the Republic) and in fact this trade, and skill has made the Muellerites a feared force in battle. As one of the few peoples to possess iron, their weapons are of a superior quality and in addition to this, their soldiers do not fear injury due to the fact that their wounds would just heal!
From the book jacket –
Lanik Mueller’s birthright as heir to planet Treason’s most powerful ruler ship will never be realised. He is a “rad” – a radical regenerative, a freak who can regenerate injured flesh…and trade extra body parts to the Offworld oppressors for iron.
On a planet without hard metals – or the means of escape – iron is power in the race to build a spacecraft. Iron is the promise of freedom – which may never be fulfilled as Lanik uncovers a treacherous conspiracy beyond his imagination.
Now charged with a mission of conquest – and exile – Lanik devises a bold and dangerous plan…a quest that may finally break the vicious chain of rivalry and bloodshed that enslaves the people of Treason as the Offworld never could.
Unfortunately to Lanik’s shock, he learns that he is one of the super regenerators and as such is no longer heir but is instead an exile from the Mueller family and the lands that he was to rule. Realizing that he is now destined to be nothing but a farm animal, maintained as nothing more than a limb factory, he escapes and determines that he will serve his county in other ways by determining how some of the other people’s of the world are obtaining their iron.
Lanik travels to the Nkumai nation where he is able to successfully disguise himself as a woman due to the breasts that he has grown. Using this subterfuge, he poses as an ambassador from the matriarchal nation of Bird in order to discover what the Nkumai are trading in exchange for their abundant metals, which have allowed them to dominate their region militarily.
Discovered as a spy by the Nkumai, Lanik escapes again travels throughout the different lands of the planet. In his travels, he discovers that people in different regions have different abilities and powers – he first passes through the land of the Ku Kuei while on his way to Nkumai, learning that they can control the flow of time in a bubble extending out from themselves. When he comes to the land of Schwartz, he discovers that the people there are able to form rock to their will, as well as take energy from the sun. Lanik learns both of these skills and uses them to kill the “illuders” from Anderson. The illuders, as Lanik calls them, have the ability to appear to be anything they wish, clouding the minds of those around them to their will.
Published over 20 years ago … this book is crying out for a sequel and final conclusion to the saga of Lanik Mueller and the people of Treason.