Fortune's Pawn


Fortune's Pawn
Rachel Bach, 2013

Premise: Devi Morris is a merc with a goal: get into the most elite unit on her home planet. To do so before anyone else her age, she plans to get some bonus points spending a year pulling security duty on a ship known for trouble. But with a crew full of secrets, and even more trouble than Devi's got plasma shots, she may not make it out at all.

I'm going to come out on one point first. This book has a lot in common with a lot of current urban fantasy. First person female narrator, mysterious love interest, action, drama.

However, this book is superior, because it's in SPACE!

I had heard nothing but good things going into this book, and I can see why. Devi is awesome. Kick-ass, naturally, funny and clever. Stubborn and bad-tempered too, prone to shooting first and maybe asking questions if the other guy pulls through. (Her anger is something I really connect with.) She's not at the start of her career; she's a professional and it always shows. She's an adult, comfortable with her sexuality and her ambition.

I love her.

The world is intriguing and well-constructed. It's not hard sci-fi, but it doesn't pretend to be.

I did have a couple quibbles. Devi spends a lot of this book up against people way out of her weight class. There's a good reason for this, but I just wanted maybe one more out-and-out win for her early on.

The book ends on a cliffhanger that made me rather crazy, until I saw that the first chapter of the second one was in my kindle copy. (Plus, books two and three are already out, so: yay, no waiting!)

Overall, this book lived up to the hype. It's super fun and hard to put down. Devi is my kind of hero.

4 Stars - A Very Good Book

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