Raylicon in the Interstellar Olympics

The Interstellar Olympics are about to take place. Worlds throughout the human-inhabited galaxy compete. Raylicon always fields a team, but never wins medals. Its population is too small for a competitive team. This year their track and field coach has found a gold mine of running talent in the Undercity.

Gold Dust, by Catherine Asaro, is the latest addition to her Skolian Saga and the second in her Dust Knights series. It features Major Bhajaan, an Undercity native and troubleshooter for the Ruby Dynasty.

Raylicon, a failed terraforming attempt, is dying. The Skolian Imperiate birthplace, it remains important to the Ruby Dynasty, its ruling family. The one habitable city on Raylicon is the City of Cries. Beneath it lies the Undercity. The Skolian Imperiate has a near-monopoly on Kyle operators. Telepaths, Kyles permit instantaneous interstellar communications, and Undercity has the largest concentration of Kyle operators anywhere.

It also has Raylicon’s fabulous runners. The reclusive residents of Undercity hide from the City of Cries. This is due in part to the prevalence of Kyle talent in Undercity. Being among high concentrations of people is painful without training. Moreover, residents of the City of Cries despise the Undercity inhabitants.

Major Bhajaan organized the Dust Knights to reduce anarchy in Undercity. Dust Knights must leave Undercity drug gangs, stay sober, get an education, and help police the Undercity. In exchange, they learn martial arts and are permitted to join a group admired by Undercity's virtuous residents.

They also get an opportunity to participate in Raylicon sports, especially track and field, in which they excel. The coach, Mason Qazik, thinks that with the Undercity contingent, the team may even win an Olympic medal or two. That has never happened before. But Undercity is so despised that some sponsors threaten to pull funds if Undercity athletes are allowed to participate. The Raylicon team, including those from the City of Cries, is determined to get to the Olympics with the whole team, Undercity members included.

This novel has all the standard sports novel tropes: kids from an impoverished background struggling for sports scholarships that offer an escape to a better future; people from different backgrounds bonding through team sports; overcoming prejudice to succeed. There is even a Romeo and Juliet romance between two participants who are heirs to rival Undercity gangs.

It may sound cliché, but Asaro breathes life into old tropes, creating a fresh story. Gold Dust is an entertaining and exhilarating read.

“Gold Dust,” by Catherine Asaro, Baen Books, 2025, 496 pages, $28.00 (Hardcover), $9.99 (E-book), $21.25 (Audiobook)

This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.