# identify a SF novel **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sf-novel/664189 "2013-07-22T14:03:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sf-novel/664189/1 "2013-07-22T14:03:36Z")
Here’s the best description I can come up with: There’s a backward planet whose society is built around debt bondage- almost everyone is a slave or indentured servant to one degree or another (even slaves sometimes have sub-slaves) except for a tiny class of “contract holders” at the top. The planet has some contact with the rest of the galaxy via a spaceport where interstellar traders bring in goods. The story revolves around a woman who is a Navigator: one of a handful of people having a rare savant talent for guiding starships through hyperspace. While on shore leave on that planet she comes to the attention of a decadent contract holder who becomes determined to enslave her for himself by tricking her into violating a local law. Navigators are so precious that ordinarily any Navigator who runs afoul of a planet’s local laws is ransomed out, but the contract holder doesn’t want a ransom, he wants her. If he insists on going through with it the Navigators will embargo the planet, which the other Contract Holders fear would cause a revolution. So aside from the Navigator’s personal peril there’s the political intrigue around her case. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sf-novel/664189/2 "2013-07-22T14:32:20Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Here’s the best description I can come up with: > > There’s a backward planet whose society is built around debt bondage- almost everyone is a slave or indentured servant to one degree or another (even slaves sometimes have sub-slaves) except for a tiny class of “contract holders” at the top. The planet has some contact with the rest of the galaxy via a spaceport where interstellar traders bring in goods. > > The story revolves around a woman who is a Navigator: one of a handful of people having a rare savant talent for guiding starships through hyperspace. While on shore leave on that planet she comes to the attention of a decadent contract holder who becomes determined to enslave her for himself by tricking her into violating a local law. Navigators are so precious that ordinarily any Navigator who runs afoul of a planet’s local laws is ransomed out, but the contract holder doesn’t want a ransom, he wants her. If he insists on going through with it the Navigators will embargo the planet, which the other Contract Holders fear would cause a revolution. So aside from the Navigator’s personal peril there’s the political intrigue around her case. “Navigator’s Sindrome” by Jayge Carr, I think [Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction | Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jayge-carr-3/navigators-sindrome/) (I googled for this one) ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-a-sf-novel/664189/3 "2013-07-22T17:17:16Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > “Navigator’s Sindrome” by Jayge Carr, I think [Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction | Kirkus Reviews](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jayge-carr-3/navigators-sindrome/) (I googled for this one) That looks like it! Thanks!