The Plenty series is a

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

series by British writer

Colin Greenland Colin Greenland (born 17 May 1954) is a British science fiction writer, whose first story won the second prize in a 1982 Faber & Faber competition. His best-known novel is '' Take Back Plenty'' (1990), winner of both major British science ficti ...

, consisting of three novels and two short stories.

Setting

At the time of the first book in Greenland's future history (''

Take Back Plenty ''Take Back Plenty'' (1990), is a novel by British writer Colin Greenland, which won both major British science fiction awards, the 1990 British SF Association award and the 1991 Arthur C. Clarke Award,Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 525. as well a ...

''), many of the sentient species in the

Milky Way The Milky Way or Milky Way Galaxy is the galaxy that includes the Solar System, with the name describing the #Appearance, galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars in other arms of the galax ...

(including humans) are client races of advanced aliens known as the Capellans. The main character is Tabitha Jute, a space pilot from

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

and owner of the starship ''

Alice Liddell Alice Pleasance Hargreaves (''née'' Liddell, ; 4 May 1852 – 16 November 1934) was an English woman who, in her childhood, was an acquaintance and photography subject of Lewis Carroll. One of the stories he told her during a boating trip becam ...

''. The series itself is named after the worldship ''Plenty''. Jute's story was continued in ''Seasons of Plenty'' and ''Mother of Plenty''. The story "In the Garden", part of the collection ''The Plenty Principle'', features the

Zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

twins from the first novel while "The Well Wishers" (found in the same collection) serves as a prologue to the main series, as Jute attempts to collect a number of artworks from

Umbriel Umbriel () is the third-largest moon of Uranus. It was discovered on October 24, 1851, by William Lassell at the same time as neighboring moon Ariel. It was named after a character in Alexander Pope's 1712 poem '' The Rape of the Lock''. Umb ...

.Review
at Infinity Plus, 1998]

References

{{reflist Book series Science fiction literature Space opera novels