Lone Huntress is a novel by Andrew Miller, set a thousand years after the "Recivilization" of the twenty first century, when humanity learned of the existence of decidedly hostile aliens bent on conquest via subterfuge, working through collaborators - the assorted governments of the developed nations. After truly epic levels of bloodletting, humans proceeded to explode onto the galaxy, colonizing worlds and developing a thoroughly paranoid and ostensibly libertarian Federation, complete with agencies specifically focused on providing oversight of government leaders, with additional oversight of said agencies for good measure. Different worlds settled by different groups gave rise to some markedly unique cultures, and one particular world - Gaia - is home to a hunter-gatherer society of well educated tree dwellers.
Lisa herself is a native of Gaia, but kidnapped by her tribe's murderers and left physically and psychologically scarred. Her adoptive father has trained her as a bounty hunter, and she spends as much of her time as possible hunting pirates as a cathartic release. But when the head of the Federation Intelligence Agency considers her a worthwhile investment for more challenging work, Lisa finds herself forced out of her self-imposed loneliness and routine, and begins to grow both professionally and as a person.
The sequel, Bems and Bugs, picks up where the first book leaves off.
Lone Huntress is available here.
Contains the following tropes:
- Alien Invasion: Albeit having taken place in the distant past. Nonetheless, the Fey infiltration, and the subsequent Purge and Recivilization, continues to hold a dominant influence on humanity and the Federation even a thousand years later.
- Bruiser with a Soft Center: Lisa's Berserk Button is people harming children. Brock qualifies too, not hesitating to do everything he can for the traumatized orphan he inadvertently rescues.
- Cool Starship: Lisa lives in one. It's actually quite comfortable, and with way too much firepower for a ship its size.
- Death Glare: Lisa's better at this than she ought to be, given her insecurities. The Glowing Eyes help.
- Emotional Bruiser: Partial subversion. Lisa doesn't believe in bothering her clients with her personal issues, so they have no reason to suspect she's anything more than a Consummate Professional. She prefers to wait until she's alone so she can cry in private.
- Face of a Thug: Not only is she frightening to behold when angry, but she's convinced that everyone staring at her is both terrified of, and repulsed by, the towering amazon. It isn't until she meets Sara that she begins to consider people might be attracted to a six-foot-nine muscle goddess with the Most Common Superpower.
- Friend to All Children: Not only is Lisa this, but she learned it from Brock.
- Gentle Giant:
- Lisa's a veritable giant of a woman, with impressive musculature and a cybernetic hand. While doing violent acts to pirates and monsters pays the bills, she'd rather be curled up with a video game and eating something involving plenty of animal protein.
- Brock also qualifies as this. He responds to attempts to initiate a Bar Brawl by standing up and silently looming until they go away. Then he sits back down and squees like a Fan Boy at the prospect of having a retired professional athlete join them for dinner.
- Glowing Eyes: Due to microevolutionary adaption by Lisa's ancestors. It helps Gaians to see in low light conditions and during times of stress. It gives her an impressive Death Glare, even though it's due to terror and not anger or hostile intent.
- Impossibly Delicious Food: A thousand years is plenty of time for the residents of the planet Lone Star to really work on their barbecue game. And for the people of Kunlun to make amazing ice cream. And for the workers of Golden Rule to develop an entire cuisine based around the stuff growing in the tanks of plankton that provide the oxygen they breath. But the grand prize goes to the kitchen staff of the royal palace of Furcadia, who do things with chocolate that teaches Lisa the true meaning of the expression "royal treatment."
- Laser Blade: Lightsabers aren't actually lasers, though. Instead, electromagnetically charged fields rotate at extreme speeds, creating an impossible thin blade that strips the electrons from any molecules it comes into contact with — including the molecules in the air, creating the trademark glowing effect. The inertia from the spinning creates the illusion of heft, and they're not just for combat — when Lisa gets attacked by a small army of mining drones, their drills are lightsabers.
- One-Man Army: Boy, is Lisa ever... and boy, does it give her reason to Angst. She tries not to let it reach the levels of
Wangst. - Powered Armor: Lisa's favorite outfit. It was a gift from her adoptive father, Brock. They were close to the same size, by the time he was ready to retire.
- The Republic: What most humans live under, as a result of the Recivilization.
- Space Pirates: Lisa hates these, with good reason.
