Marque and Reprisal

by Elizabeth Moon

Book Overview

"An utterly satisfying adventure . . . In Kylara Vatta, Moon has created another tough and complex heroine."--Scifi Though the exciting military career she hoped for never materialized, Ky Vatta still sees plenty of combat. An unknown adversary has launched a full-throttle offensive against Vatta Transport Ltd., Ky's father's interstellar shipping empire--killing most of Ky's family. Fighting for her very survival, Ky is determined to avenge her family's...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 034544759X
• ISBN13: 9780345447593
• Release Date: August 2005
• Publisher: Random House Worlds
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 0.46 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.1" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Gathering the Tools

Marque and Reprisal (2004) is the second SF novel in the Vatta's War series, following Trading in Danger. In the previous volume, Kylara put down the mutiny and spaced the bodies of the dead ringleaders. Then she discovered that the body of Captain Paison probably had the correct ID chip for her ship. Since the old chip was unavailable, she had to change her ship's registration and she picked the name Gary Tobai to honor the hostage killed by the mutineers. After telling off the obnoxious Josiah Furman, Captain of the Katrine Lamont, Ky found out from her father that he had not been sent to annoy her, but to provide whatever assistance might be required. Her father also mentioned that Great-aunt Gracie had asked for her to finish off the fruit-spice cake, but to finely slice the pieces. So Ky and her crew had a party and found the cake to be stuffed with diamonds. In this novel, Ky finally delivers the cargo of agricultural machinery to Belinta. She still doesn't have an implant, so she completes the required paperwork by hand and tries to mail it to the Economic Development Bureau. After a frustrating run-in with a postal clerk, she takes the shuttle down to the surface and hand delivers the papers. After that, Ky learns that someone had tried to sabotage her ship. At Quincy's insistence, she calls the home office on Slotter Key to report the problem. While she is talking to someone on her home planet, the ansible connection is broken. As she starts to exit the comm booth, a group of masked men come into the Guild and shoot her escort and everyone else within the lobby. Kylara shoots the man left in the lobby with the escort's weapon. She dials the police number, but has to hide as the other gunmen return to the lobby. After a long while, the police arrive and promptly arrest and restrain her. They finally release her to show them her room and then everyone keels over from a contact poison applied liberally to all the surfaces. When Kylara regains consciousness in the Slotter Key legation, she is exonerated by the police, but learns that Slotter Key has told the Consul to kick her out and have nothing more to do with her. After passing on this little tidbit, the Consul suggests that she hire a retiring consulate guard with security experience. When she returns to the Gary Tobai, Kylara finds Riel insisting that he cannot stay aboard the ship. Ky releases him and asks if anyone else would like to leave. She calls the bank to arrange for a final paycheck for Riel, introduces Gordon Martin as the new cargomaster and security chief, and tells the crew to start preparing for immediate departure. Once in space, Martin finds a stowaway aboard the ship. Jim Hakusar just wants to get off Belinta. Ky passes him to Martin for training and the security chief treats him like a new recruit. In additional to his menial labor, Jim is required to study for basic crew certification. On the way to their jump point, the Gary Tobai approac

Pirate or privateer?

Welcome aboard the Gary Tobai, cargo specialist! Prepare yourself for a crash course in murder, mercenaries, mutiny, and letters of marque. Writing a sequel to "Trading in Danger" might be considered a tall order, but Elizabeth Moon proves she's up to the task with "Marque and Reprisal." The daring, young heroine, Kylara Vatta, newest captain in the Vatta Transport fleet, returns in this sweeping adventure filled with action, suspense, intrigue, combat... and a puppy. After the near disastrous events in the Sabine system, Kylara finds herself, her crew, and her ship facing some very tough odds. Ky has no choice but to plunge onward relying on her seasoned crew, her training and intuition, and sometimes just a little luck. Attacks against Vatta Transport, the communications assets of ISC, and the Vatta family itself leave Captain Kylara Vatta of the Gary Tobai isolated from direct aid and consul from corporate headquarters. She is left with little choice but to improvise after learning of the widespread attacks upon Vatta headquarters, ships, and personnel. Ky formulates a three step plan that encompasses their best hope for survival: locate and protect surviving Vatta family members, identify the source of the attacks against the Vatta family and assets, and conduct a counterattack against those enemies. Along the way, Ky gathers allies to help her in her mission. Stella, a cousin whose past mistakes have marked her as a black sheep; Rafe, a shady character from Stella's less than laudable early years; fourteen-year-old Toby Vatta, lone survivor of the destruction of the Ellis Fabery; and the mercenaries of the Mackensee Military Assistance Corporation. Attempts on her life by unknown assassins, run-ins with the police while her ship is docked, problems caused by failure of the ISC communications system, the attempted destruction of her ship, and the sense that disaster is always lurking just out of view all combine to keep one turning pages. My pang of disappointment at the end of the book, when I realized there were no more pages to read, was tempered by the knowledge that "Engaging the Enemy" will be available next spring. I know I'll be waiting in line for my copy. "Marque and Reprisal" stands on its own but, since it was intended as the second in a series of novels, it may suffer a loss of impact and continuity if one has not read "Trading in Danger," the first book of the series. Enough background information is doled out to cobble together a vague awareness of earlier exploits, but reading the books of the "Vatta's War" series in order will lend a much greater understanding of the action in "Marque and Reprisal," particularly the action detailed in the first few chapters. Moon's accessible style of writing lends itself well to development of well-defined characters within a believable star-faring society. The end result is this briskly paced and thoroughly enjoyable interstellar escapade. So, if science fiction adventure

New series off to an awesome start

Marque and Reprisal were letters that would be given to privately armed warships, allowing them to attack other vessels and they would not be considered as pirates. These warships would serve as somewhat of a navy, if none was available. This is the first book written by Moon that I have read, and it was awesome. The setting reminded me of a combination of Lost in Space and Pirates of the Caribbean. Traders must rely on the needs of independent planets and systems and outrun the cut-throat, greedy pirates. And Ky, the young heroine in danger, with no backup, must rely on the protection of a group of stray mercenaries, who have their suspicions set on one of Ky's crew members. Vatta Transport has been attacked, almost completely destroyed with a single, decisive blow by an unknown enemy, and no one knows why. Accounts frozen and credits gone, Ky Vatta is fighting for the life she once knew. On the run from pirates, highly skilled assassins and her other unrevealed enemies, Ky fights back using her military trained mind and her father's command implant. She is determined to stop at nothing to save her father's, once grand, empire. I thought that this was a really well written book and it had an awesome sci-fi warfare plot. I don't think that I will ever be able to put this book down. This book is awesome and I hope to be able to finish the series sometime.

Great Space Opera! Moon Delivers Again!

Once you start MARQUE AND REPRISAL, it's a hard book to put down. I heard Elizabeth Moon read an excerpt from this before it was published, and had to wait impatiently for many weeks to find out what happened next. MARQUE AND REPRISAL is a delightful read for anybody who enjoys a good space opera. If you like strong female characters, you'll love it. MARQUE AND REPRISAL is apparently the second volume of a great new series from the reliably fine Moon. I missed the first in the series (TRADING DANGER). I will go back to read it, as I loved this one. If you read this out of order (as I did), note that Moon does a great job of telling you what you need to know. I never had the annoying sense of having missed something. MARQUE AND REPRISAL delivers everything I look for in a space adventure series novel. The book kept me up late, as chapter after chapter had me asking, "What then? What's next?" At the beginning of MARQUE AND REPRISAL, we meet Kylara Vatta, reluctant tradeship captain. She wanted a military life, a life of adventure, but was expelled from the Slotter Key Spaceforce Academy. Life is looking boring and mundane. Very quickly, though, life becomes anything but boring or mundane. Someone is out to destroy the Vatta family. Someone who had connections with the Slotter Key government. Ky Vatta is up against a conspiracy. They are almost certainly out to get her, too, and she does not even know why. Over the course of the book, Ky gathers a motley crew, a cast of characters we enjoy meeting, and that we will look forward to seeing more of in future books. A very few Vattas survive, and one hooks her up with a charming and unreliable con man, Rafe. We even rescue a Jack Russell terrier, Puddles. I don't want to say much, as I don't want to spoil any surprises. MARQUE AND REPRISAL delivers a satisfying ending, but leaves enough still to explore that we can hope for many more volumes of this highly entertaining series. I am going back to read TRADING DANGER, and can't wait to read the next installment!

Great Read when is the Next volume in the series!!

The second in a series with Captain Kyarla Vatta young scone of the Vatta traiding family on Slotter Key is a great read. I received the book yesterday afternoon and finished reading it for the first time last night. I could not put the book down. The action and the personalities kept me rivited to my chair. Much better than the first book in the series, the author Elizabeth Moon does an excellant job of developing the characters and the plot without any sudden radical twists; yet at the same time keeping you following the story line without the inevitable outcome known long in advance. Not to spoil the story for anyone the ending does not come out like I expected. Still it is a very good read and a wounderful characterization of the young Captain as she developes her skills, adjusts to meet the changed circumsances, and finds she must make many difficult decisions quickly. She has advice from her crew and other employees, however the buck stops with her the Captain of Vatta shipping and daughter of the CFO. Elizabeth Moon has made even relatively minor patricipants real. They are there and you can clearly see them, thier thought processes, and the action. Great Job keep the series coming. I strongly recommend this book. Its even better than the first book in the series; however that book should be read first if you are looking at the whole series. It will place somethings and actions in a clearer context for the reader.