Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This solid sequel to Fortune's Pawn reveals unexpected complexities in its comic-book future setting. Recovering from a mysterious attack, soldier-for-hire Deviana Morris is plagued by amnesia and distracting hallucinations. Forced to choose between allies who use talented children as expendable munitions and enemies whose malice is leavened with humanitarian values, Devi wrestles with unfamiliar moral quandaries. The simplicities of brutal combat come as a welcome relief in an undeclared war where the fates of planets are at stake and the deadliest weapon of all may be Devi's own blood. In Bach's universe, phantasmal horrors lurk between the stars, but the ability of leaders to forgive themselves for vicious acts of exploitation is all too familiar. The novel raises interesting questions about consent and utilitarian moral compasses while remaining firmly rooted in the traditions of epic space opera and military SF. The result is an interesting balance between introspection and action, a sequel that builds, rather than merely killing time. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Independently intelligible second entry (Fortune's Pawn, 2013) in a space opera starring a tough, sexy, armor-clad mercenary chick. Fresh from burying her colleague, Devi Morris boards the battered old freighter known as the Fool. The ship's enigmatic captain, Brian Caldswell, is one of the leaders of an organization, the Eyes, whose mission is to track down and destroy phantoms, huge, planet-busting aliens which few can perceive. Not that Devi's aware of this, since, at the end of the previous book, she had her memories wiped. By Caldswell. Well, it was either that or kill her, since she found out too much about what was really going on. All Devi knows is that the ship seems to be infested with strange glowing bugs that only she can seeis she going crazy?and that she finds the ship's cook, Rupert Charkov, powerfully attractiveyet when she looks directly at him, she feels a visceral repulsion. There are Caldswell's "daughters," who all look like identical, blank-eyed, emaciated kids but have the ability to manipulate plasmex, a sort of cosmic energy field. Devi doesn't trust Caldswell and prepares to throw in her lot with John Brenton, Caldswell's former ally-turned-rival, until she discovers that Brenton's cooperating with alien enemies, the xith'cal. And then there's the creepy black stain that sometimes seems about to cover Devi's entire body. Will Devi recover her memories and figure out how all these peculiar matters relate? Rest assured, Devi will be firing up her trusty thermite blade, working her armor until the rivets pop, and charming or intimidating anybody, human, alien or indeterminate, that gets in her way. And when the smoke clearswell, it pretty much never does: The action's tough, gory and incessant, with revelation piled upon revelation. Fun, with phasers on lethal.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
