<DIV><DIV>Caught in the crossfire of an interstellar war, our Earth was bombed to flinders--and then repaired. The mysterious alien Benefactors who healed the planet also offered “uplift” to our dolphins and gorillas. The dolphins turned them down. The gorillas said yes. As a result, we're now sharing our world with language-using, tool-making simians. Tensions are inevitable, in both directions, but it's gradually working out.<BR> <BR>Decades later, teenage cadet Robin Plotnik has been assigned to <I>Fist of Earth,</I> a defense station high above Earth, keeping watch against further attacks by the interstellar Horde. Robin's a spacecraft mechanic-in-training, apprenticed to Chief “Mac” Gimbensky, a cranky but basically benign gorilla with issues of his own.<BR> <BR><I>Fist of Earth </I>is a challenging place to grow up. Robin and Mac maintain fighter craft for the all-woman “Barbarian Squadron”, which constantly competes for prestige with the other squadrons based on <I>Fist of Earth</I>. Robin's trying to romance a young librarian, and he's far from sure he knows what he's doing. Most of all, he's constantly struggling to figure out his moody, mercurial boss.<BR> <BR>Then he and his best friend become entangled in a burgeoning scandal over betting on the squadrons' standings. And just when things look like they've hit rock bottom, the worst thing imaginable arrives at <I>Fist of Earth:</I> an efficiency expert from Earth, determined to reorganize Robin's hard-won life, and the whole squadron system, out of existence.<BR> <BR>Fresh and engaging, crammed with likeable characters and science-fictional inventiveness, <I>Grease Monkey</I> is like a classic “Heinlein juvenile” in sequential-art mode.<BR> <BR>Introduction by Kurt Busiek, author of <I>Astro</I><I> City</I></DIV></DIV>