Science Fiction/Space Opera
What Goodreads says:
Devi
Morris isn't your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of
ambition. It's a combination that's going to get her killed one day - but not
just yet.
That is, until she just gets a job
on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool
isn't misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of
security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds
like that, Devi knows she's found the perfect way to get the jump on the next
part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn't give up its secrets without a fight, and
one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.
Fortune’s Pawn is the second book
from Orbit that I have read recently.
Ancillary Justice was the first.
Both are Science Fiction and both tell really great stories but the way
each author’s tells their story is very different. In Ancillary Justice the
main character is the secret and drives the story. In Fortune’s Pawn there is a secret being kept from the main
character and that drives the story. What they have in common is that both are really good Science Fiction.
Setting: The book is set on the trade ship Glorious Fool. The word around the spaceport is that
the ship is cursed.
The World Building: There are two human powers (Earth and
Paradox) and four alien races that make up this world. All of this is very well defined.
Characters: Devi Morris is the strong female lead
in the story. She is driven and
that drive is what brings her into danger. Rupert, the ship’s cook, is part of the big secret. He is almost too good to be true. Then there are the other characters on
the Glorious Fool. They bring
additional tension and some humor to the story.
Plot: That one is hard to come by. The Fool has a mission that Devi does not understand. There is another group that is trying
to stop whatever the Fool’s crew is doing. There are a lot of secrets and stopping Devi from
discovering what they are seems to drive the plot. Look for many twists and turns and even then some of the secrets will not be reveled.
Writing: The writing is good.
Rachel Bach does a good job moving the story along. All of the characters are well drawn
and each has an important place in the story. Fortune’s Pawn is written in the first person and in the
active voice.
This is the first book in a trilogy
so don’t expect anything to be solved.
In fact don’t expect to have all the facts about what is going on. It ends with a big cliff hanger and
what I call a Scarlett O’Hara ending.
Honor’s Knight, book two, will be released in February of 2014.
Orbit released Fortune’s Pawn by
Rachel Bach in 2013.
I received an ARC of Fortune's Pawn from Netgalley.
Fantasy
by 