Rissa Kerguelen: Book one in the saga of Rissa [Hardcover]

F. M Busby (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 408 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Pub. Co. : distributed by Putnam; 1St Edition edition (1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399117911
• ISBN-13: 978-0399117916
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,401,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book for a science fiction fanatic., January 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rissa Kerguelen: Book one in the saga of Rissa (Hardcover)

Rissa Kerguelen takes you into a disturbing look at the future. Rissa is basically a slave to her boss. He humiliates Rissa by having his way with her when ever he chooses. She cannot object because of her social standing. Her life is dull and almost unbearable untill she wins the "lottery". This lottery is similiar to ours except it is given to a lower class citizen, in an attempt to keep morale up. So Rissa wins the "Lottery" and buys her way off of the planet earth. The book really begins at this point. She eventually is trained in the art of combat,seduction, and weaponry. The story is rich in it's character developement and plot. It is a story about revenge, battle, and sex, in futuristic, bizzare setting. A must read.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful Sci-Fi, February 9, 2003

By 

Paul A. Scott (Los Alamitos, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rissa Kerguelen: Book one in the saga of Rissa (Hardcover)

Originally published as two volumes--Rissa Kerguelen, and The Long View
--this first paperback edition combines both works.Ê

The paperback version hit the racks in 1977 right after Star Wars hit the
theaters. While Star Wars kept audiences spellbound, Rissa Kerguelen
captured this reader's imagination far more profoundly. La Femme Nikita
meets Han Solo! No ordinary science fiction novel, Rissa Kerguelen is an
epic tale of feminine charm, guile, and revenge unleashed, on a galactic
scale.Ê

In response to global financial crisis, North America adopts an election
based corporate-run government. When United Energy and Transport is elected,
its Presiding Committee seizes total control, canceling further elections.
To secure its financial interests on foreign soil, UET quickly overruns
those governments. The brutal Committee Police maintains global order
through fear and assassination. Using stolen alien technology UET begins
exploring deep space. On Earth, it implements a totalitarian welfare system
to control the growing number of poor, and political dissidents.

After the Committee Police murder her journalist parents, a five-year old
Rissa Kerguelen becomes a ward of the state, to live out her life in total
welfare. When--as a teenager--Rissa escapes, she becomes a poster child of
the underground, and is hunted relentlessly by the chagrined Committee
Police. Under the guardianship of the Hulzein Establishment--a matriarchal
autocracy of great wealth and power outside the reach of UET--she learns
sophisticated armed and unarmed combat techniques, control of air and land
vehicles, political and financial manipulation, psychology, mastery of
several languages, the art of disguise, sexual prowess, self-discipline and
other invaluable skills.

Her training complete, and her parents' deaths vindicated, Rissa begins her
incredible journey across space and time with the Committee Police one step
behind. Through a series of chance events, she finds herself allied with
Bran Tregare, secretly a Hulzein by blood, and captain of the only armed
ship to escape. Together, they implement an armed fleet, and embark on a
mission to free Earth from UET control. But unknown perils await them on
every front: space faring aliens, UET, and the Hulzein Establishment
itself!Ê

Beyond the adventure and suspense, Busby weaves an impressively complex
tapestry of elaborate characters and events over space and time on an
unimaginable scale. By embracing the theory of relativity--a subject most
science fiction writers eschew--Busby not only flatters the intelligent,
science-minded reader, he achieves a more dynamic and believable story; one
that remains as thrilling today as when it was published.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Rissa Kerguelen: Book one in the saga of Rissa (Hardcover)

This book follows the struggles of a young girl growing upunder a corrupt Plutocracy where the Corporations rule -non-stockholders are reduced to prison laborers and any objection is met with violent suppression. Busby's characters and setting are well-written and evocative and he makes them believable. The reader is uplifted by the display of determination and strength of character and given an enduring perspective through which to view the issues of crime, decadence and worldly power.