'Sikaran Shield Lord' is a tale of twenty-two aliens: Sikaran mercenaries; whilst travelling across the galaxy, they encounter the human race for the first time. The Sikaran mercenaries are expert martial artists and members of a Sikaran Brotherhood of the Sword, the "Isithan." Often misunderstanding the humans, Marayshan, Nava and Avernyi have many adventures, and some close encounters with the humans, with amusing results. Equally the human star ship Captain, Lawrence Grey and his crew must come to terms with their cross-cultural, cross-species prejudices as they become more involved with the aliens. Joanna Ray has created an amazing world with vividly original characters. The book is humorous but also thought provoking, touching on many emotional states: everything one would expect from a tale of alien and human encounter!