Vendetta

by M.S. Murdock

"Am I to understand," Ran Corbin continued, "that my orders were not carried out?" "Yes, sir--no, sir. That is, until the bodies were actually counted, the child was not missed." "You will find her, Captain, and soon...or your name will replace hers on the list of casualties."

With the full weight of the supreme military commander of Dynt on her trail, five-year-old Coryelle Foxxe was doomed to slaughter. Her one hope for survival, the legendary rebel leader Eban Foxxe, was Corbin's bitter enemy and as difficult to find as the creature whose name he bore, but miracles happen. A slave's kindness changes both their lives and sets them on a path full of danger, pursued through spaceports, outlying planets and forest wilderness by a ruthless mercenary, each choice a slim path between life and death. And they just might be the pivot point of the kingdom's deliverance . . .

Genres: Science Fiction

292 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 1, 1987

About the author

Melinda Seabrooke Murdock (born 30 April 1947; age 70) is a Star Trek novelist, author of Pocket TOS #10: "Web of the Romulans". Murdock has also contributed a series of novels to the Buck Rogers line.

Reviews

[Kerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread for me. I found the original paperback publication by chance many years ago and enjoyed reading both it and the sequel, Dynteryx: Chronicles of the Lost King. They were on my list of books to buy if I ever saw them, so when the ebooks turned up on Kindle, I bought them both. I've just been waiting for a time that felt like the moment to reread it.

They are fairly simplistic books, but I still enjoyed it very much and plan to reread the second one in the near future.

Sadly the story was never finished and I remain hopeful that the rest will turn up one day. I did see that there is a self-published paperback of a book called The Lost King up on Amazon and also here of Goodreads. I have no idea if this is the long-awaited last book or not - if anyone knows anything, please tell me. It's only available in paper and it would cost me nearly twice the cost of the book in shipping, so it's more than I can justify on the off chance it's the book I'm looking for.

[yellowbird · Rating 2 out of 5]

A teenage slave saves his young master from certain death by helping her escape into the wilderness after her entire family is killed by a political rival. They are taken in by a mysterious witch woman who teaches the slave an esoteric martial art and eventually adopts him as her son. The girl grows up to be beautiful, the bad guy who killed her family gets what's coming to him, one of the background love stories has a tragic but heartwarming ending, and the slave is put into a position where people will serve and respect him.
So all in all, the story is pretty predictable, except for one groan-worthy and unnecessary twist near the end. Also, the introduction of science fiction elements into what at first seems to be a fantasy or even historical tale was done very clumsily.
Aside from those two issues, this is a good book. The story drew me along almost against my will, the characters were for the most part believable, and the main battle between the bad guy's overwhelming star fleet and the good guy's gutsy rebel force was actually very well done.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A teenage slave who helps the only survivor of a vicious massacre escape, ends up becoming more important than he could ever have guessed.
This is a good adventure story which I have thoroughly enjoyed a number of times in the past, rereading it recently due to discovering the sequel! :-)

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending is rather sudden but the plot is more than acceptable. A trial by fire path.