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Trader #1
Prelude
War beckons, in the first part of this interstellar tale, of an orphan and her lover. No secret daughter of the high and mighty, with a destiny cast in stone. No powers supernatural, mystic abilities or fey creatures to aid. A simple hauler pilot, skirting the law, eking out a living. Forced to confront the perils of an uncertain future. Lies, deception and corporate intrigue mire the waters. In league with dubious allies and enemies, relying on her wits, a gun and a combat burnout to shield her back.
Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
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About the author
C.C. Cortland
4 books3 followersBorn and brought up in the Highlands, the author still resides there. They have traveled around the globe at times, but not for long, always seeking to return home. Starting many a novel over the years, Trader – Prelude is the first completed.
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July 14, 2022I cannot rate my own effort, the thought is weird and rather self indulgent. Though I decided an update might be helpful, post revision.
The Trader Trilogy is about the nature of Power. Who controls it, who wields it and what happens when you confer it on someone who has none. The first book is more of an exploration and adventure. The ups and downs of travelling in space before the war begins. A war no one asked for and cannot be averted. Since the place they live in, Gehenna, is simply the battlefield. The people are not the true enemy, just victims, though they have their own agendas. The second continues with a personal account of the war and the third is the reason why any of it mattered.
Keira Rache, can be pronounced as the hard German Rack, or abused as I do softened like Rash. The actual meaning for those who wish to know is Dark Revenge (Irish/German). She is our main protagonist and can be viewed as a number of different things/lights to different people. Whether you the reader, like or hate her, largely depends upon your own world view. A hero, villain, devoted lover, sociopath, murderer or saviour. She is street smart rather than an intellectual, a cocktail of impetuous, cunning, naive and cynical. Raised in an orphanage, having a origin she knows nothing about, she does not really care. Just a fact of life. She skirts the law and always fears getting caught.
Her essential goals in life are a family and a ship of her own. She acquires both, to an extent, in the first few chapters. End of tale, well of course not really. Slowly at first, the couple get drawn into the tangled web of competing corporate interests. The more these hidden manipulators elevate her power/status, like a cork she rises to the surface and exploits it. They bathe in the successes and despise the methods and approach.
There are a series mentors, father figures, which she relies upon and abuses, but her one true love is Ella. For whom she would destroy the universe to protect, regardless of the consequences. Mad, crazy, delusional, Ella is the only one to keep her in check, grounded in reality. As her circle of friends, pseudo-family grows, she tries to do the same for them, though not always successfully. And holds a dim view of betrayal.
Ella is equally broken, disillusioned, obsessed and cynical, so they are a fine mismatch. Ella often treats Keira like a wayward child. A parent, she tries to protect Keira, educate, nurture and comfort. More gregarious, pragmatic, worldly, Keira idolises Ella, places her atop an unshakeable pedestal. In time Ella begins to see, scratch beneath the surface, much the same.
The Trader Trilogy is about the nature of Power. Who controls it, who wields it and what happens when you confer it on someone who has none. The first book is more of an exploration and adventure. The ups and downs of travelling in space before the war begins. A war no one asked for and cannot be averted. Since the place they live in, Gehenna, is simply the battlefield. The people are not the true enemy, just victims, though they have their own agendas. The second continues with a personal account of the war and the third is the reason why any of it mattered.
Keira Rache, can be pronounced as the hard German Rack, or abused as I do softened like Rash. The actual meaning for those who wish to know is Dark Revenge (Irish/German). She is our main protagonist and can be viewed as a number of different things/lights to different people. Whether you the reader, like or hate her, largely depends upon your own world view. A hero, villain, devoted lover, sociopath, murderer or saviour. She is street smart rather than an intellectual, a cocktail of impetuous, cunning, naive and cynical. Raised in an orphanage, having a origin she knows nothing about, she does not really care. Just a fact of life. She skirts the law and always fears getting caught.
Her essential goals in life are a family and a ship of her own. She acquires both, to an extent, in the first few chapters. End of tale, well of course not really. Slowly at first, the couple get drawn into the tangled web of competing corporate interests. The more these hidden manipulators elevate her power/status, like a cork she rises to the surface and exploits it. They bathe in the successes and despise the methods and approach.
There are a series mentors, father figures, which she relies upon and abuses, but her one true love is Ella. For whom she would destroy the universe to protect, regardless of the consequences. Mad, crazy, delusional, Ella is the only one to keep her in check, grounded in reality. As her circle of friends, pseudo-family grows, she tries to do the same for them, though not always successfully. And holds a dim view of betrayal.
Ella is equally broken, disillusioned, obsessed and cynical, so they are a fine mismatch. Ella often treats Keira like a wayward child. A parent, she tries to protect Keira, educate, nurture and comfort. More gregarious, pragmatic, worldly, Keira idolises Ella, places her atop an unshakeable pedestal. In time Ella begins to see, scratch beneath the surface, much the same.
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