The Palace Of Dancing Dogs, by Allen M. Steele

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Good Conclusion to a Fun Adventure

(Lost Colony; Sanctuary) The story concludes with the humans from Sanctuary coming to the capital of the empire, where they can present their case to the Empress herself. Assuming they can get her to listen. (22,980 words; Time: 1h:16m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

You must read this series from the beginning for this story to make any sense. It will help a lot if you’ve also read the original short story, Sanctuary, which describes what happened to the original starships to visit τ Ceti-e .

Escape from Sanctuary, by Allen M. Steele

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Nice Installment

(Lost Colony; Sanctuary) After Phillip and Crowe helped Pilot escape, they were thrown into jail. Even if they escape, they’ll have to leave Sanctuary entirely, and the blockade makes that almost impossible. (20,841 words; Time: 1h:09m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

You need to start reading this series with “Starship Mountain” to get the most out of it. The short story “Sanctuary” is helpful but not required.

The Lost Testament, by Allen M. Steele

[Asimov's]

★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention

(Colony SF; Sanctuary) Jeremy Crowe helps hunt for a rare artifact that might let the human colony on Tau Ceti recover some of their lost technology, if the natives don’t stop them first. (22,703 words; Time: 1h:15m)

Recommended By: 👍STomaino+1 (Q&A)

You need to start reading this series with “Starship Mountain” to get the most out of it. The short story “Sanctuary” is helpful but not required.

Starship Mountain, by Allen M. Steele

[Asimov's]

★★★★★ Fun characters, interesting setting, solid plot

(SF Colony; Sanctuary) Jeremy Crowe hunts for a missing nobleman’s daughter in a human colony on Tau Ceti e reduced to flintlock-era technology. (20,074 words; Time: 1h:06m)

This story is self-contained and enjoyable by itself. However, the author has stated it’s part of a novel (to be named “Sanctuary”) and his short story by the same name serves as a prologue, telling how humans first came to Tau Ceti about 250 years before the action of this story

Sanctuary, by Allen M. Steele

[Tor.com]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Hard SF; Sanctuary) We read the log books that survive from two human colony ships which arrived at Tau Ceti e. We know things didn’t go well, but we don’t know why. (5,283 words; Time: 17m)

Recommended By: GDozois+1 JMcGregor+1