Interesting science fiction from a romance writer- that is why I love Luna!

books:


	• The Morcai Battalion Diana Palmer Luna, 2007 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
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Flawed, but still enjoyable

The author tells us up front that this was originally written when she was 17, some 42 years ago before Star Trek and Star Wars. Sadly, it sometimes shows. However, if you can forgive it its flaws, it still makes a pretty good read.

The Terravegan starship Bellatrix arrives at a colony that has been ravaged by the Rojok. Lt. Commander Madeline Ruszel is a doctor and is concerned with getting the many casualties cared for and evacuated before the Rojok forces return. She's aided by her friend and ship-mate Dr. Strick Hahnson. A second ship arrives: a Centaurian warship led by Dtimu, commander-in-chief of the Holconcom, the most elite commando force in the three civilized galaxies. They are looking for any survivors of a diplomatic mission that included two members of the Centaurian royal family and a Jaakob Sphere that contains information that the Rojok could use against the Tri-Galaxy Federation. Unfortunately, the Sphere and one of the royals have been taken and the other royal, a young boy, was tortured to death by the Rojok. Dtimun takes his ship through enemy space in search of the kidnapped princess, and along the way rescues the humans of the Belltrix--and although allies, the Centaurians and the humans do not get along well in the close confines of space--AND there may be agents of the Rojok on the ship attempting sabotage.

There is a lot of action, mostly amongst the quarrelling allies at first. Madeline is sometimes a bit over the top as the feisty ship's doctor, ready to throw a punch or fire a weapon almost at the drop of a hat; only somewhat explained by the fact that she used to be a captain of a squad of female warriors before she went into medicine. Dtimun is almost your archtypical mysterious legendary warrior commander. It's still interesting seeing the characters interact, and although they aren't terribly well-drawn, they are still sympathetic. If you want to see romance, there is little here, although things promise to get more involved between several possible couples.

The two biggest problems I had with the book is that they can clone someone almost instantly AND they retain all their memories (clones are made from DNA from the bodies--but no explanation is given about how memories are transferred). Also, there is "heart surgery [that] still demanded this ancient butchery of opening the ribs to access the heart." Even nowadays they are beginning to operate on the heart without doing this, and this society supposedly has advanced technology. Such things definitely shook me out of the story and kept me aware that the original manuscript was written decades ago. It's too bad that a little tighter editing and some more careful re-writing wasn't done to make this a better book. But the basic story, as I said, was still a good one. Not great, but still good enough that I am interested in reading any sequels.

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Interesting science fiction from a romance writer- that is why I love Luna!

I do not read romance novels, so I was not familiar with Ms. Palmer's other works, though I have heard they are very good. I do like the Luna books because they provide a way for woman writers from sci fi/fantasy genres to try something more romantic without giving up the sci fi/fantasy tradition and the strong heroines. Luna also is Vice Versa- the option for romance writers to show their skills in science fiction and fantasy. I actually was surprised to find out how many woman romance writers like sci fi and fantasy and some dabble in it, so it is nice for them to have a chance to show what they can do.

I know it is not perfect, but the "Morcai Batallion" was very satisfying for me. I liked Ms. Palmer's world building and future technologies, plus her ability to have characters show their best and worst sides- makes them more believable. She has a nice sense of humor, too. Her views on cloning while overstated maybe are very relevant to our times. I also liked the idea of the mentally neutered troops- it is a disturbing thought, but at the same time it allows total equality between men and women but it also means soldiers are in the military for all their career with no thought of having a family- interesting perspective. It was nice, too, to see her examine the Centauran and Terravegan cultures and show what was good and bad about each culture- in the end you have to judge the people rather than their cultures since there were honorable people from each race presented in the novels.

Anyway, I was impressed with her creativity and her strong (and not perfect characters) and I look forward to her other books.

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morcai barralion

I have everything Diana Palmer has written. This book was OK but I doubt I will re-read it as I have most of her other books.

Well worth the read

I actually got this book not too excited to read it...so I waited a week and ended up listening to it on CD while driving to MI from VA. It was painful to turn it off when I had to get out of the car to get gas or food. The characters are engaging...there are hints of future books and stories, and the plot was very interesting with hints of things that have been driving me crazy...I have since listened to it again, and am reading it and still catching glimpses of hints!

I will say that somethings were repeated a little too much - Maddy's calerian medicine, the neutering, and the clone thing. But next to the plot and the possibility of the future for those characters and the hints of romance in the future (I'm a sucker for that stuff) it is only a mild irritation.

I think that the next book should be outstanding...Diana has matured a great deal since writing this book originally...and if she can capture that same imagination and the sort of innocent sort of hinted romance again and mix it with what she writes in her books now, it should be excellent.

I'm waiting for baited breath to find out what happens next!!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

In the very dream of peace lurked a monstrous treachery

The galaxy is on the brink of disaster, the long-awaited truce torn apart by an unprovoked attack. The colony whose residents represented more than a hundred planets has been destroyed, and the new vision for unity in the universe is at risk.

Faced with a war that would mean destruction and chaos, one man has stepped forward to lead those fighting for their lives. Undeterred by insurmountable odds, his courage inspires a team?the Morcai Battalion?to battle for the cause of peace?and love.

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