Expatria

An early novel by Brooke, the first of a duology. It's a fairly engaging mix of two science fiction tropes - one, the heir to the throne being blamed for the death of the emperor who then escapes only to be forcibly returned years later to face trial. And two, while the above is going on, there is the discovery of earlier colony ships in orbit that loss contact with the planet, but now they have found out that a new ship is arriving soon from the mother planet. And the colony ships warn the people below about the in coming ship because they expect trouble. Not one of Brooke's better novels like Harmony and The Accord but still a decent read. I look forward to reading the sequel!