Geekspace for Women

Posted by ubergeeke on July 13th, 2008 in blogpost

“Marque And Reprisal” is the second novel in Elizabeth Moon’s “Vatta’s War” series, and begins almost immediately after the events in “Trading In Danger”. This sequel is a better novel than the first in the series, and if it’s any indication of what we can expect from Moon in the rest of the Vatta novels, we’re in for some great space action.

“Marque And Reprisal” continues the story of Kylara Vatta, a young woman whose father is the CFO of the family’s monstrous shipping company. In the first book, Ky was sent home in disgrace from the military academy where she’d hoped to launch a successful career as an officer. Ky’s father decided to send her on her maiden voyage as captain of a small aging freighter hoping to keep her out of sight during the political fallout. What followed was a series of cascading misadventures that Ky managed to escape by making better choices than her superiors thought her capable of.

The flaws I found in the first novel aren’t as prevalent in the second. For one, Kylara Vatta isn’t the only character we see of any depth: “Marque” introduces us to Stella Vatta Constantin, Kylara’s cousin, and Toby Vatta, a teenaged distant relative, as well as Grace Vatta, a seasoned veteran who has hidden her combat and intelligence history from most of the family for decades. Moon excels at showing the strengths of these characters who have been written off by most of their family members. Toby, for example, is only fourteen and often overlooked because of his age, yet he has a great aptitude for ship systems. Stella has been mistreated by her family for years because of a foolish mistake with her first lover, but she’s turned their misperception into an asset. Ky herself shows more depth as she learns more of what it means to captain a ship. And she’s hiding a secret that both frightens and enthralls her.

Moon also weaves a better plot in this novel. For generations, the Vattas have been the best transport company in the shipping business, and have made a few enemies as a result. One unknown enemy has silently declared war on the Vatta family, and multiple violent attacks kill off Kylara’s immediate family as well as Stella’s, and Vatta transports in multiple systems have been attacked and/or destroyed. Now, with most of the corporate officers dead, Ky and her few remaining relatives, who are now all that remains of the once great Vatta Transport, Ltd ., try to keep the company afloat against pirates, mercenaries, assassins, and people who say one thing but want another

This book is worth reading, so if you skipped the first one, you’ll have to go back and read it first. Moon writes these women well, doesn’t add romantic sub-plots to spice things up (some writers do and it works, but I was glad that Moon didn’t) and gives a balanced story - Ky doesn’t have it too easy, and makes some glaring mistakes that come back to bite her. Moon also sets the stage well for the next novel, which I’ll be reading in the coming weeks.

If you want sexy romantic subplots in your scifi, go check out Ann Aguirre’s “Grimspace” instead. If you want more technical/military fiction in the mix, switch to David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. But if you’re looking for solid science fiction with plenty of action, Moon’s “Vatta’s War” series is just the space opera for you.