Allen Steele - Coyote Rising

Four and a half stars. Highly recommended. Award-level stuff.

Coyote Rising is the second volume in Allen Steele's Coyote series. At the end of Coyote, the rebel colonists, after a hard few years on the ground, were joined by another wave of settlers intent on claiming the colony for themselves. The original colonists, who had fled Earth to seek their freedom on the alien world, abandoned their fledgeling township rather than let themselves be taken over. This book is another collection of stories, following both groups of settlers as they struggle with each other for dominance, while at the same time trying hard to survive on the frontier. And there isn't a single dud among them. They are all well-written, strongly plotted, and full of fascinating characters. Extraordinary.