Here's one version of my early, longer attempts at creating a backcover blurb for Judgment on Tartarus. This synopsis had to be condensed considerably to fit the backcover.
Come aboard the retired battle cruiser Astrella II with idealistic young Ensign Corona Scott as she begins the adventure fated to change her life forever---as well as that of the entire known-Galaxy. Assigned to her first deep-space mission, Rona Scott soon begins to fear that her long-dreamed-of career is in serious jeopardy.
Her new CO, Richard Hughes---the legendary "Hero of the Gorgonian Wars"---has a hair-trigger temper and no sympathy for green crewmembers. His strict ExO, Malkis of Tartarus, lets Rona know right from the start that he has no use for Terran females. Rona is further dismayed to discover that Astrella is a hot-bed of gossip, racial hatred, prejudice, and diabolical intrigue. She struggles to maintain her own high ideals, to keep an open mind, despite the mounting pressure to give in to the prevailing attitude.
The situation aboard Astrella gets progressively worse: a science mission is sabotaged; someone hates the Tartarian ExO badly enough to attempt to kill him; and with no explanation High Command dispatches Astrella to the planet Tartarus. Along the way, the ship is attacked by an old enemy---the dreaded Gorgonians---whose ships haven't been seen for over twelve years.
When Astrella reaches Tartarus, things go from bad to worse. There, Rona Scott is forced to make some life-altering decisions---and the fate of Astrella's captain and crew rests upon the barbaric, bloody outcome of a challenge to mortal combat!
That was it. Believe me, condensing all that verbage to fit into the limited space on a novel's backcover isn't exactly easy. Some things have to be left out; some hard choices have to be made. To see what I mean, compare this with the finished blurb as listed on amazon.com's Judgment on Tartarus page!
All for now,
MRTighe
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