Bretta Martyn

In Bretta Martyn, L. Neil Smith reprises his earlier book, Henry Martyn, by weaving the tale of how the notorious space-brigand's young daughter, Bretta, grows from rambuctious tomboy on a rustic frontier planet to a strong-willed, battle-hardened leader of refugees and sacker of evil empires. All this, and more, takes place over 1000 years in our future, in a galaxy populated, predominately, by human beings who sail the Deep in starships romantically similar to those which once plied the oceans of long-dead Earth. In much the same way as he did in his popular book, The Probability Broach, Smith manages to weave a beautifully fantastic tale of fast-paced adventure and imaginative technology while, at the same time, delivering a strong treatise on the evils of Federalism and the glories of a laissez-faire, free-market system. Political value aside, Bretta Martyn is a fabulous yarn guaranteed to activate every last emotion in any reader, and spark the imagination of young and old. :)

I really liked this book. The back made it sound as if it were going to be different, but the way it turned out was just fine, too. I gave it 4 stars because the book was a little slow in some parts, and I did not like how the prologe/epilogs were written, but other than that, it was a pretty good book.