The saga which began with Ganwold's Child and continued with Echoes of Issel is the story of one military family at the center of politics and war on a cluster of worlds far away in space and time.

The patriarch of the family, Admiral Lujan Sergey, is commander of the special forces known as the Spherzah and a man with many enemies. During negotiations regarding military assistance to a former enemy world called Issel, which has been seized by the alien masuk slavers, Lujan survives an assassination attempt by a terrorist but is critically injured. The damage to his central nervous system leaves him without sensation or control of his body. Nearly cut off from the outside world, he is removed from command by members of his own government who scheme against him.

While he struggles to regain the use of his body, he must also rely on his own family--his son Tristan and his wife, Captain Darcie Dartmuth--to help him root out a conspiracy orchestrated by the chief minister of Issel, who aspires ro restore the old Dominion and bring the Unified Worlds under its control. Only Lujan is fully aware of the extent of the corruption, and he faces the most difficult battle of his life as he must fight his physical incapacitation to gather the evidence he needs to prevent the Isselan's plan from succeeding.

In Dominon's Reach, Readexpands and deepens both the personal relations in this military family and the political structures of the Unified Worlds, spinning a tale of complex instrigue and espionage.

"In the past, when I considered important women writers of military science fiction, three names have stood out most prominently: C.J. Cherryh, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Elizabeth Moon. Now I will add Diann thornley Read to my list. She's already a very fine storyteller indeed. And with each novel, it becomes more and more evident just how important she may become to this field. [Read] weaves a tale that is immediately engaging; finely wrought, with unanticipated twists and turns; and ultimately satisfying." --Dave Wolverton