Marque and Reprisal

by Elizabeth Moon

$24.95, Del Rey/Ballantine, 324 pp

This is a sequel to “Trading in Danger.” Normally, I won’t review a sequel without reading what went before; but this one slipped by me until I’d already read the first couple chapters. Oh, well…as it turns out, it stands alone quite well.

Kylara Vatta is the daughter of an interspace shipping magnate, a bit naïve, but still a pretty tough ship’s captain. Ky is plagued by self-loathing for what she discovered is a personal joy in killing. She fears her beloved father’s reaction when he discovers what his little girl has become. That turns out to be a wasted fear when her father and most of her family are wiped out by enemies unknown – but determined, apparently, to destroy the Vatta family shipping enterprise. Ky is joined by her ‘bad girl’ cousin, Stella, and Stella’s ex-boyfriend, Rafe – a rogue, a charmer, and, quite possibly, a spy for the bad guys. Financed by their Aunt Gracie’s habit of baking diamonds into her fruitcakes, they hire mercenaries to help them track down who is disabling interstellar communications and to rescue surviving family members.

This was a very competent space-military story. I don’t personally care much for hard-core, military SF; but this one had just enough without sacrificing character development. I was very satisfied with Ky’s growth and motivations. Stella’s development was a bit rushed but would probably have cost the author another fifty pages without improving the story measurably. Rafe is still a bit unknown and that’s alright as I expect to learn more about him in the next book. I actually have a little problem with the title. While the title would seem to define the book, Ms. Moon never actually got around to either of them. The Marque that Ky holds – a letter authorizing her to be a pirate on behalf of a world’s government – was never used, and while Ky used a little Reprisal against a nasty family member, it didn’t seem to me to be sufficient or even against the true perpetrators. I’m counting on the next book to hold true to this title and give me the whole story. - Catherine Book