Challenge #8: In your own space, write a promo, manifesto or primer for a beloved character, relationship or fandom.

My favourite among Janet Kagan's handful of books is Hellspark. It's an SF mystery, thus appealing to me on both setting and plot, since I've always loved a good detective story.

Hellspark is set in some indefinite future of galactic exploration and colonization. The protagonist, Tocohl Susumo, is a polyglot trader whose ship is run by a bright, inquiring young AI, Maggy, who is unexpectedly starting to manifest sentience. They hail from the eponymous planet Hellspark, whose people are specialists in communication and therefore often serve as "Byworld Judges". So, when one of the scientists surveying the newly discovered world of Lassti is murdered, the team assume Tocohl to be a judge and ask her to find the killer.

The survey team all come from different worlds and cultures, in itself fascinating; but Lassti itself—a world whose name means "Flashfever", so dubbed because of its violent storms and exotic plant life—is a wonderfully different planet with its own mystery for Tocohl to solve. Are the silent feathered aliens sentient? If so, then the world is off limits for colonization. However, there are powerful interests who want the "sprookjes" deemed mere animals so that Lassti can be exploited.

To save the sprookjes, Tocohl is passing herself off as a Byworld Judge; but the penalty for that is being grounded for life. And what will become of Maggy then?