Revenge and Identity in War Child

Serena has been prepared to serve other people's ambitions before she can choose her own. In Scott Michael Decker's War Child, she is taken from her mother's body during a betrayal in a battle for the galactic core. A foreign empire raises her and trains her to kill.

A weapon with a history to uncover

Twenty years later, attempts on Serena's life make her situation even more dangerous. Her training gives her capabilities, but it does not answer the question of who she is. The people who shaped her upbringing have also had power over what she knows about her origins.

The setup joins the scale of space opera with a specific personal problem. Political and military conflict has determined Serena's early life, while her own identity remains something she must investigate rather than simply accept from those who raised her.

Pursuit across the galaxy

Serena's mission against her oppressors unfolds while she is being chased. That combination creates an active search: she must contend with enemies and immediate threats while seeking the knowledge that might let her define her future.

Serena's training equips her to fight, while the search for her origins asks her to question the purposes behind that training. Revenge offers a direction through the galaxy, but her own identity remains unfinished business. Defying her controllers also means seeking a life they have not already defined for her.