The Maquisarde

Louise Marley's "The Maquisarde" is among the best novels I've read set in the late 21st Century. With respect to style and tone, it most closely resembles John Shirley's "A Song Called Youth" cyberpunk trilogy, especially since it deals with many of the same issues which Shirley wrote about years ago. "The Maquisarde" is a compelling saga about French flutist Ebriel Serique, who loses her husband and young daughter in a terrorist attack which she blames on the military leader of the International Cooperative Alliance (InCo), comprised of North America, Europe, Korea and Japan. It is the late 21st Century and the world has been divided into the industrialized powers which comprised the alliance and the rest, most of which are ravaged by disease, poverty and the lingering effects of nuclear conflict (most notably between India and Pakistan). Ebriel undergoes an amazing transformation from a splendid classical musician to a committed revolutionary terrorist determined to aid those who are not InCo citizens. Marley's dismal, yet still optimistic, view of the late 21st Century is one of the best examples of world-building I have come across in science fiction, and her heroine Ebriel is surely among the most captivating.

I started this book and couldn't put it down..The main character is admirable and strong. The theme is thought provoking and includes romance, mystery and intrigue. I highly recommend it.

When I first read the publisher's description of this novel, I was afraid it would be depressing, but it's not. It's a great story about an unforgettable set of characters whose voices kept returning to me after I finished it. And the future world seems so possible . . . as if it's just a heartbeat away. A great read, and a fast one. Highly recomended!

Once again Louise Marley presents us with a timely subject and nudges us to consider the possible outcome of fanaticism. The Maquisarde begins with an act of terror which is so easy to identify with after 9/11! Ebriel Serique is a fully-realized character who leads us through an emotional journey of loss, grief, rage, and finally a search for justice. Underlying all of Ms. Marley's stories, as in this one, is the reminder of how precious a resource are our children. A good, thought-provoking read!

When the fossil fuels were used up, the world fell apart. Some countries used nuclear weapons on their neighbors while other places used biological weapons. The stock markets crashed and international trade was severely crippled worse than what happened during the Great Depression of 1929. The American and European polities along with Todakai (Japan and the Koreas) joined together in the International Cooperative Alliance, an isolationist organization that has quarantined all nations that don't belong to their organization.Commander General George Glass of Security Corps rules the alliance with an iron fist and he is the person that Ebriel Serique blames for the death of her husband and child. She is determined to kill him and joins the international resistance movement to achieve that goal. When the time comes to kill her enemy, she finds she cannot do it but she is determined, with the help of some powerful and invisible allies, to see that his regime is toppled from power.This is the story of a woman who undergoes a metamorphous from an elitist into a revolutionary, a person who comes to symbolize to the world that there is a change needed in the world order. Louise Marley has an uncanny ability to make the reader feel that the events in THE MAQUISARDE are really unfolding sort of like turning the pages of the Neverending Story. The heroine makes mistakes, learns from them, and gets a second chance at happiness. Readers will admire her grit, determination, and courage, but mostly appreciate Ms. Marley's ability to paint a picture of a world turned much colder and nastier than Dickens worse nightmare.Harriet Klausner