Burning Bright was originally published by Tor Book in 1993.
When space pilot and ambitious young game developer Quinn Lioe gets shore leave on the free-port planet of Burning Bright, a nexus of trade balanced between the human and Hsai empires in space and the center of virtual reality gaming for all of civilization, Lioe is determined to play the game at its brilliant center. The deeper she dives into the game, the more she becomes enmeshed in the conflict between two great empires, a key figure upon whom the fates of fortune turn.