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Rating: 
Summary: Role Model
Review: FM Busby created Rissa... at times, I let myself believe that he created her specifically for me. She has been my role model for many years: strong, confident, yet compassionate. Breaking free of her past tramas and stretching out on wings powered by her own determination, Rissa is everything I want to be when I grow up. At 36, I STILL go back and read this series when I need to renew my sense of worth and confidence. Thank you, Mr. Busby!
Rating:
Summary: Role Model
Review: FM Busby created Rissa... at times, I let myself believe that he created her specifically for me. She has been my role model for many years: strong, confident, yet compassionate. Breaking free of her past tramas and stretching out on wings powered by her own determination, Rissa is everything I want to be when I grow up. At 36, I STILL go back and read this series when I need to renew my sense of worth and confidence. Thank you, Mr. Busby!
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: Rissa was very young when her parents were killed covering a news story. Her uncle came to care for Rissa and her brother, but the Welfare system denied him guardianship and took the two to a Welfare Center where they were separated. Rissa gradually forgot life before the Welfare Center and endured day after day of drudgery. When she was selected to be the new secretary for one of the managers, she was able to tap into more information than she was supposed to learn about. She tried to track down her brother, but could never get into see him. When the news came that she had won the lottery and now had enough credits to leave the Welfare Center, Rissa was thrilled. Overjoyed with her newfound wealth and the chance to escape the hated Welfare Center, Rissa soon finds out that the UET, the US government that controls everything, has plans to get all the money back and to send Rissa back to Welfare. Rissa is determined not to let it happen to her, so she follows the advice of an old friend of her parents and escapes to South America, where the Hulzein family trains her in combat, disguises, sex and many other necessary skills to survive. After a year of training, Rissa escapes Earth and rides on the starship Inconnu with Captain Tregare to Planet One of the Hidden Worlds where she hopes no one will find her. Rissa contacts the Hulzein family on Planet One, who take her in, but not before she makes a mortal enemy of del Nardo, one of the government workers with a powerful family. Rissa refuses to let del Nardo beat her and challenges him to combat, which she is determined to win. While she waits for the combat day, she finds that she has started to care for people again and feels that the Hulzeins are a kind of family to her. For the first time in many years, it matters to Rissa if she lives or dies and so she is determined to win the combat and to make a life for herself on Planet One. I was expecting a lot from this book because of all of the glowing reviews. I wonder if I read the same book that they did because I don't see a whole lot of role model in Rissa. There is quite a bit of violence in the book - Rissa is raped daily by her boss at the Welfare Center, she is raped by Tregare while she is traveling on the Inconnu, and she also kills quite a few people along the way. I found Rissa to be a hard character to like because she had no feelings for anything until the very end of the book and by then I had no feelings for her. Some of the story was interesting, but it was written pretty blandly without a lot of excitement and Rissa talks in a very stilted sort of way, I'm not sure why. It was an okay read, but nothing that I will pursue any further.
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: Rissa was very young when her parents were killed covering a news story. Her uncle came to care for Rissa and her brother, but the Welfare system denied him guardianship and took the two to a Welfare Center where they were separated. Rissa gradually forgot life before the Welfare Center and endured day after day of drudgery. When she was selected to be the new secretary for one of the managers, she was able to tap into more information than she was supposed to learn about. She tried to track down her brother, but could never get into see him. When the news came that she had won the lottery and now had enough credits to leave the Welfare Center, Rissa was thrilled. Overjoyed with her newfound wealth and the chance to escape the hated Welfare Center, Rissa soon finds out that the UET, the US government that controls everything, has plans to get all the money back and to send Rissa back to Welfare. Rissa is determined not to let it happen to her, so she follows the advice of an old friend of her parents and escapes to South America, where the Hulzein family trains her in combat, disguises, sex and many other necessary skills to survive. After a year of training, Rissa escapes Earth and rides on the starship Inconnu with Captain Tregare to Planet One of the Hidden Worlds where she hopes no one will find her. Rissa contacts the Hulzein family on Planet One, who take her in, but not before she makes a mortal enemy of del Nardo, one of the government workers with a powerful family. Rissa refuses to let del Nardo beat her and challenges him to combat, which she is determined to win. While she waits for the combat day, she finds that she has started to care for people again and feels that the Hulzeins are a kind of family to her. For the first time in many years, it matters to Rissa if she lives or dies and so she is determined to win the combat and to make a life for herself on Planet One. I was expecting a lot from this book because of all of the glowing reviews. I wonder if I read the same book that they did because I don't see a whole lot of role model in Rissa. There is quite a bit of violence in the book - Rissa is raped daily by her boss at the Welfare Center, she is raped by Tregare while she is traveling on the Inconnu, and she also kills quite a few people along the way. I found Rissa to be a hard character to like because she had no feelings for anything until the very end of the book and by then I had no feelings for her. Some of the story was interesting, but it was written pretty blandly without a lot of excitement and Rissa talks in a very stilted sort of way, I'm not sure why. It was an okay read, but nothing that I will pursue any further.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional start to a wonderful series
Review: This book is like many firsts. It could have been thicker with details but the plot is solid and the books to follow are fantastic. The plot is solid SF fare with a political twist. Basically "what would happen if corporations really DID take over most of the world" is the backdrop for a seriously good read - even the 5th time around.
Rating:
Summary: Exceptional start to a wonderful series
Review: This, the first book in the Rissa Kerguelen series, is a brilliant story that was years ahead of its time. The prologue takes place right about now, in which total government control, alien coverups, and cloning add up to a bleak future for one Rissa Kerguelen. Her parents slain, separated from her brother, the five year old girl is put into a "Total Welfare Center", which is little more than slave barracks. Neglected, abused, and raped, the lonely girl grows up to win her way out of the Center via a lottery. Once out, she decides to go into hiding and get training to survive the Government which has almost total control over the planet earth. Making a valuble friend in Erika Hulzein, the heir to the survival training center, she leaves earth for a better future...and finds more adventure. Rissa is an inspirational feminist; smart, strong, quick, and able to fight for her self and beliefs. I found her to be a classic heroine, on par with Scarlett O'Hara. All in all a wonderful read, and make sure to check out the next 2 books in the series.
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