Cutpurse

This might be a long short story or a short novella, either way, it introduces us to a couple of new characters. As we now expect from author Jamie McFarlane, he walks us into a well-imagined new fantasy world. He brings us two new characters, feral kids from a planet that has nothing to recommend it but rain and gangsters. The plot has unlikely coincidences but this is fiction, right?
This small bit of writing will no doubt pay off later on in the series. For now, we are out of the Sol system, through the barrier between the stars, and into a new solar system.
OH, and Tabby is all fixed up now.
Off we go to the next tale.

The author has the ability to switch his writing style to suit the occasion. He gave a very focused personal view in Big Pete that had an authentic combat soldier point of view. Totally different from the style of the main thread of the series. Here in enters the mind of a street kid and does it very effectively.

Okay, is this my week for novellas masqueraded as novels? 3 under 100 pages, and I feel cheated on every one because I felt like the story was just getting good. This is the second in the Privateer Tales series to weigh in so small. Great story, great development but it still left me hanging. What is the crew going to do with a thief? (Hobbit/Lord of the Rings comes to mind…we need a burglar).

Privateers is a good read with well-developed characters and an entertaining story line. It is the first series that I have read in a very long time that had well developed foundational science on which the rest of the story framework is based. The use of AI, smart fabric, and Internet of things, was very well integrated into the story and extended into the future. The only nits I have to pick with the series are the improbable interrelationships between some of the characters, the illogical expansion from the Milky Way to the Dwingeloo galaxy, which is 10 million light-year away from Earth. There are many other choices much closer, such as Andromeda, at 2.5 million. Additionally, it is unlikely that the 100 to 400 billion stars within the Milky Way could have been explored. One last nick pick, was the reference to the Marny Bertrand, a former Marine, who is referred to as a Master Chief, which is a Navy rank. The correct rank for a Marine E9 would be Master Gunnery Sergeant, or Gunny.

Interesting novella and introduction of a new character. The life of an orphan in a primitive place where the “pigeons” are civilized and have technology while those on the planet live in squalor with 16th century tech. The contrast is pretty apparent with the vast differences between cultures just kilometers apart. Overall a great, fast paced read.

This is a short novella that takes place in the same story universe as Jamie McFarlane’s Privateer Tales and tangentially involves some of the characters fun that story. Having said that, the main character (and entire world) are entirely new to the series and the story holds up perfectly well as a stand-alone with its own HEA. It’s s different sort of story of others in the series (even though labeled as book 6), but has the author’s usual hallmarks of excellent writing, with great action scenes and strong characters in an enjoyable plot. Fun to read

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