Burndive    by Karin Lowachee Order:  USA  Can Aspect, 2003 (2003) Paperback Read an Excerpt     Reviewed by Hilary Williamson This is a sequel to the author's Warchild. It is set after the defeat and death of the pirate Falcone, when peace became a possibility between the alien striviirc-na and their symp human leader Warboy, and EarthHub represented by Captain Cairo Azarcon and his crew of orphans on the military ship Macedon. Burndive takes up the story on Austro Station of Azarcon's son Ryan, who has two sides to him. One is a spoilt teenager doing drugs, Silver in particular. The other is a neglected child, damaged by the prominence of his estranged parents (his mother, Songlian Lau, is in charge of PR for the Station) and by his exposure while on Earth to a horrific act of terrorism. Because of threats to the family based on his father's actions, Ryan has a permanent bodyguard, Marine Corporal Timothy Sidney, who is also having an affair with his mother. Then, a girl in Ryan's arms is shot at a flash house called the Dojo. Did the assassin aim for Ryan and miss? Is it a reaction to the peace negotiations just begun by Cairo Azarcon? Ryan's father quickly returns to Austro Station, forces Ryan to join him on the Macedon, and works at being a father to the son he barely knows. Ryan is thrown into the company of Warchild hero Joslyn and his friend Evan, and slowly begins to question his meedee (media) conditioned assumptions about the aliens, symps, pirates, and the war. While he reconciles with his mother and begins to understand his father's background, attitude and actions, the violence that has been part of Ryan's heritage unfortunately continues. Burndive is an engaging read, though slower in pace than Warchild, setting the scene for a third episode, which I look forward to very much. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more SF books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews