- Warchild
infobox Book |
name = Warchild
image_caption =
author =Karin Lowachee
cover_artist =Matt Stawicki
country =United States
language = English
genre =Speculative Fiction novel
publisher =Warner Aspect
release_date =April 1 ,2002
media_type = PrintPaperback
pages = 464
isbn = 0446610771"Warchild" is a
science fiction novel byKarin Lowachee . It was published byWarner Aspect in2002 . It won the Warner Aspect First Novel Award. "Warchild" was also a finalist for the 2002Philip K. Dick Award .Plot summary
The story starts when eight year old
Joslyn Musey 's parents die in a vicious pirate attack on his home ship, the merchant "Mukudori". Jos, along with a handful of the ships other children, are captured by the attackers. Vincenzo Marcus Falcone, an infamouspirate and captain of the "Ghengis Khan", keeps Jos as his hostage, with the intention of making him a protege. Falcone teaches Jos how to "win people over" with manners and cunning, and especially good looks.The human race, EarthHub, is at war with aliens called the striviirc-na, who are called "strits" by the Hub. When the pirate ship "Ghengis Khan" docks at Chaos Station, which is located in deep space, the station is suddenly attacked by the striviiric-na. Jos escapes Falcone during the attack, but is shot, then captured and is taken to the alien homeworld, Aaian-na, by the Warboy, the leader of the human sympathizer movement on Aaian-na, Nikolas S'tlian. Jos gradually accepts his place on Aaian-na and the Warboy teaches him to be a Ka'redan, or "assassin-priest" which is the ruling
caste on the planet.Jos is trained on Aaian-na until he is fourteen, when he is formally made a member of the Ka'redan. At that time, being told that the only way to end the war is through a treaty with EarthHub's most notorious spacecarrier, the "Macedon", he is assigned to spy on the ship as part of its elite crew. Jos is taught to act like an Earthhub human and sent back to Austo Station in the Hub to join the Macedon. Once on the Macedon, however, he discovers that his previous distinctions between good and bad no longer apply.
Jos battles on the Macedon, eventually encountering Evan D'Silva, one of his former friends on the Mukudori, who he rescues from a pirate ship. He discovers a connection between the Warboy's brother, Ash-dan, and Falcone's pirates, who have been trading weapons to the sympathizers in exchange for aid in hiding captured children.
The novel ends with a face off between the "Geghis Khan" and the "Macedon". The "Macedon" encounters the "Genghis Khan" meeting with the Warboy's brother's ship, and is borded by the pirates. Jos and his unit are captured by the Khan and Jos is interrogated by Falcone. It is eventually revealed to his ship mates that he is spying for the Warboy. However, at that point, the Warboy, who had been tracking his brother, shows up with his ship, and his crew release Jos and the other prisoners and takes them to his ship.
The Warboy's ship then helps the "Macedon" destroy the pirate ships, after which "Macedon's" Captain, Cairo Azarcon, arranges for the Warboy to dock on Chaos Station. Jos encounters Falcone on deck, being transported to police facilities, when Falcone attempts to escape. Jos then stabs Falcone to death on deck, after which he is taken back to the "Macedon" under Captain Azarcon's protection. He is made a liaison officer which Azarcon attempts to negotiate a
peace treaty with the striviiric-na.External links
* [http://www.twbookmark.com/books/98/0446610771/ Publisher's description of Warchild]
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