Beholder's Eye (Web Shifters) - Julie E. Czerneda

Esen-Alit-Quar is the youngest of her Web, a "fam

Esen-Alit-Quar is the youngest of her Web, a "family" of extremely long-lived shapeshifters. Web-beings live in the diverse cultures and forms of intelligent life to learn and preserve their accomplishments. On her first assignment Es rescues a human, Paul Ragem, from the culture she's studying. But he and some on his first contact ship learn about her shapechanging. This could be fatal for Esen's Web, as an Enemy has appeared, seeking to destroy them and consuming all intelligence in its path. Es must elude pursuit by humans, who believe she is the Enemy, warn her Web members, and defeat this danger. Paul Ragem offers help, but asks Es to trust him with knowledge of her kind. He could lose his friends, his career, and his life, or he could betray Es to his human colleagues out of fear.

The characters, races and cultures are marvelously distinctive and well drawn, the action swift, and the conclusion satisfying. If you've enjoyed Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan books, give Beholder's Eye a once-over. --Nona Vero

Book Description
They are the last survivors of their race, beings who live on and communicate through energy, who are capable of assuming the shape of any other species. When their youngest member is assigned to a world considered safe to explore, she is captured by the natives. To escape, she must violate the most important rule of her kind, and reveal the existence of her species to a fellow prisoner--a human being. Now her race is in danger of extinction, for even if the human does not betray her, the Enemy who has long searched for her people may finally discover their location....

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They are the last survivors of their race, beings who live on and communicate through energy, who are capable of assuming the shape of any other species. When their youngest member is assigned to a world considered safe to explore, she is captured by the natives. To escape, she must violate the most important rule of her kind, and reveal the existence of her species to a fellow prisoner--a human being. Now her race is in danger of extinction, for even if the human does not betray her, the Enemy who has long searched for her people may finally discover their location....

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Julie E. Czerneda