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Marque and Reprisal (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Kylara Vatta looked at the mass of paperwork from Belinta's Economic Development Bureau and sighed..." (more)
Key Phrases: ansible platforms, defensive suite, shipboard ansible, Slotter Key, Captain Vatta, Gary Tobai (more...)
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Marque and Reprisal is Nebula Award winner Elizabeth Moon's second novel about Kylara Vatta, starship captain in her family's interstellar shipping business. Fresh from war, Ky is trying to resume a normal trading schedule when an unknown enemy attacks her prestigous family. Though her family is large, Ky may be its only surviving member. But she cannot confirm this, for sabotage has cut off communications between star systems. And Ky has other problems. She's been turned into a privateer against her will. Her family's mysterious foe knows where she is, and is trying to kill her. And she has a bloody secret of her own.

Packed with action and intrigue, Marque and Reprisal and its prequel, Trading in Danger, are as strong and interesting as Elizabeth Moon's popular Serrano Legacy series, which also successfully combines hard SF, military SF, and adventure SF with interstellar and familial politics. The Kylara Vatta novels will please fans of the Serrano Legacy, Lois McMaster Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga, David Weber's Honor Harrington series, and Robert A. Heinlein's juvenile novels. --Cynthia Ward



From Publishers Weekly

After her debut in Moon's somewhat lackluster Trading in Danger (2003), capable young Kylara Vatta, now captain of a dilapidated space freighter, lets loose in this rip-roaring sequel. With most of her immediate family back home on Slotter Key blown to smithereens in a dastardly sneak attack and communication lines down, Ky must first find out who's responsible—then kill the villains out to drain Vatta blood. But this military SF tale is no mere shoot-'em-up. Ky thinks as well as she fights, coolly weighing commercial alternatives and handily using such human resources as her undercover operative cousin Stella and precocious teenager Toby Vatta, as well as the hard-currency diamonds that arrived with Stella in Aunt Gracie's legendary fruitcake. Though mildly tempted, Ky also sees through fetching chick-magnet Rafe (he of many aliases), son of the top of InterStellar Communication's command and now a covert agent with his own complex agenda. The charm lies in Moon's deft characterizations, especially the exorcism of Ky's guilt over her family's deaths. There's plenty of shipboard and dockside action, plus authentically grungy space-station settings. Former Marine Moon has a genuine hoorah series going for her.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: Del Rey (September 28, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345447581
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345447586
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #697,234 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Elizabeth Moon
Elizabeth Moon
Cynthia Holloway
Cynthia Holloway

Front Cover | Front Flap | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Kylara Vatta looked at the mass of paperwork from Belinta's Economic Development Bureau and sighed. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ansible platforms, defensive suite, shipboard ansible, system ansible, command implant, insystem drive, emergency passage, command dataset, packing cords, pistol bow, space armor, rec area, inner hatch, outer hatch, command database, air lock, jump point, pressure suit, prize crew
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Slotter Key, Captain Vatta, Gary Tobai, Fair Kaleen, Aunt Gracie, Captain Pensig, Vatta Transport, Lieutenant Mason, Consul Inosyeh, Hub Four, Immigration Control, Major Grawn, Master Sergeant Dolan, Aunt Grace, Gordon Martin, Commander Johannson, Master Sergeant Roth, Gracie Lane Vatta, Lastway Station, Rafael Stoner Madestan, Baritom Security Services, Ellis Fabery, General Code, Gerard Avondetta Vatta, Osman Vatta
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Customer Reviews

34 Reviews
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4.1 out of 5 stars (34 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, October 13, 2004
Captain Kylara Vatta has only recently come out of a full blown war, only to land directly into another one. Or is it a different one? Kylara finally makes her way to Lastway, the originally scheduled final stop for her commercial carrier when she receives disturbing news of attacks on her homeland and on Vatta Transport and the family. But unfortunately, the communication ansibles have been knocked out and she is playing in the dark. Her military training is what spurts her to take the offensive, and even though she does not yet know who the enemy is, she begins to prepare her commercial ship for war time defense. Yet, she struggles to balance her financial and is constantly interrupted by attempts made on her life.

And then, totally unexpectedly, her cousin, Stella shows up. The "bimbo blonde" who gave the family codes to her first lover and is generally viewed as useless by the family. Except that Kylara realizes that Stella, much like herself, has been pigeonholed by the family and underneath the bubblehead, there is a sophisticated spy who has been working for the Vatta family business for years. Stella has brought along partners, Rafe and the young Vatta cousin, Toby; and the terrible news that both of Kylara's parents and Stella's parents have perished in the attacks.

Kylara quickly makes use of her new resources and launches a serious mission that entails survival of her ship and crew, saving Vatta family members, and identifying and removing the enemy. Except that they still have no idea who the enemy is. Rafe, whose background is as obscure as Stella's, provides some clues. And Kylara gains an unexpected ally when a mercenary force offers its services to her ... for a small fee: trade and profit.

All her allies have secrets, but so does Kylara herself. Someone she knew at the academy sends her an unusual package, the contents of which could help, but also hinder, Kylara's mission. And she has yet to divulge to her friends how she feels about killing people.

In all, this second book in the series matches the first for characterization and plot. It's slow moving at the beginning, but the second half of the book picks up pace quickly, like its predecessor. Circumstances twist so that the heroine is forced in a direction that leaves few choices. Kylara is a likeable, yet not perfect, heroine. She makes mistakes, some of them deadly, but lands on her feet in the end, earning respect from her peers and readers alike.

As with all of Moon's books, this work makes for an enjoyable read.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An explosive start to a new series, December 4, 2004
By Mike Garrison (Covington, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Letters of marque and reprisal were the thin legal cover given to private armed warships allowing them to attack other vessels and not be considered pirates. Well, sometimes to not be considered pirates.

In this well-paced and well-written space opera, Moon uses a traditional plot device, placing her young heroine in danger with no backup and just barely enough resources to fight her way out of it. The pacing is fast and the plot is sound. The characterization is almost entirely static and not a particular strength of the novel, but it is plenty good enough to sustain the story.

While this is technically the second book in the series, the first one was substantially inferior and really does not have to be read in order to enjoy the current offering. And have no doubt that this is a series -- far too many plot threads are left open at the end of the novel for it to be anything else.

The setting is the deep space version of the Caribbean, where trading vessels ply the spaceways between independent planets, pirates prey on the traders, and the only military/police protection available are mercenaries and privateers. The most successful of these tradeship consortiums is Vatta Transport -- until someone attacks both the Vatta family and the Vatta company in one devestating blow. At the same time, someone has also attacked the company that holds the exclusive monopoly on faster-than-light interstellar communication. Since ISC and Vatta have longstanding ties, the two attacks are almost certainly tied together.

With the family in shambles and all communications compromised, it falls to Ky Vatta, the young hero of TRADING IN DANGER, to somehow survive, gather up her remaining family, and strike back at whoever has attacked Vatta. Along the way she picks up a few more resources and a few more allies, but also makes a few more enemies.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Rousing adventure tale..., January 24, 2005
By Addison Phillips (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Marque and Reprisal is space opera in the classic 1950's vein, reminiscent of, say, Heinline juvenile novels of that vintage. Basically this is a fast paced adventure yarn that revels in its use of pulp magazine forms from that era.

In case it isn't clear, this is the second book in a new series, and this book makes no effort to be a standalone entity (although you could probably read it on its own, you shouldn't bother: TRADING IN DANGER, the first, is a perfectly good read).

Moon's a good writer and she uses all of her considerable talent to distract the reader from questioning the amazing coincidences and other events that populate the plot here. She's got the pace and breathlessness of space opera down pat and her arm-waving moves you right along, wondering where heroine Ky Vatta will end up and how she'll get there. The core story is fun. The twists and turns come briskly and are entertaining.

I found the front half of the book a bit odd. The technology, writing, and "sandbox" of the book is lifted right from the 50's, before cell phones and the Web and so forth... and that style directly aped XIXth Century sailing adventure novels. Horatio Hornblower would feel right at home striding the deck with our (somewhat two-dimensional) cast of characters. It isn't just a space opera, but a solid pastiche of what used to pass for pulp magazine adventure stories. Even the incredibly-convenient-but-wholly-improbable "open door in the alleyway" bit is entirely in keeping with the homage.

As the book progresses, things get a bit more modern in their sensibility and style and the action bits at the end feel more like 80s Hammer's Slammers than 50s Starship Troopers.

I fret for the future of this series, which seems to be building up a number of inconvenient facts and a lot of stray detail and inconsistencies, but this book and its predecessor are good solid fun. Well recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs some work
Marque and Reprisal is the second novel in the vatta's war series staring doughty merchanteer captain Kylara Vatta. Read more
Published 2 months ago by SereneNight

4.0 out of 5 stars Elizabeth Moon - Marque and Reprisal
The book was delivered on time and came in good condition. I enjoyed reading the first two books of this Series. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Vicki Ann Scobell

4.0 out of 5 stars Big improvement from Trading in Danger
Second book of the Vatta Series. Ky Vatta, young captain of a trading ship, tries to find out who is trying to destroy her family. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Mavis

3.0 out of 5 stars Still plodding along
This book continues on the not-great not-terrible coat tails of Trading in Danger. It's just good enough to keep me engaged, though I read it over the span of about three months... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Evan the Dweezil

3.0 out of 5 stars Parody
A space opera that reads like a written cartoon. Overgifted good guys, undergifted villains. Clever good guys, stupid bad guys. Read more
Published on October 29, 2007 by Michel

4.0 out of 5 stars Good light reading
Picked up Trading in Danger from a bargain bin a while ago and quite enjoyed it. Saw this sequel (Marque and Reprisal) in the bookshop and picked it up for a bit of light reading... Read more
Published on March 2, 2007 by Kiwi

5.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to great character
Shall I say, "Hard-luck Honor Harrington"? Strong, believable female character, lots of mystery in the fictional universe. Read more
Published on February 19, 2007 by Howard C. Berkowitz

5.0 out of 5 stars Marque and Reprisal
Fast moving story with several quirks moving it along. Continuation of the 1st story of the central caracter and her family. Next story will be released in March 2006. Read more
Published on February 10, 2007 by Big Kid

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting trilogy but middle book sags a bit...
Ky Vatta, a daughter in a prominent interstellar shipping business who was previously kicked out of military school and captain of a freighter that was supposed to be scrapped, is... Read more
Published on November 17, 2006 by Christopher Reimer

5.0 out of 5 stars She Still Does GREAT work!
Got name from a friend, tried Trading in Danger and enjoyed reading it...in two days mind you.....then tried the next step, same GREAT words!! Joy to read!
Published on November 9, 2006 by Donald E Brossman Jr

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