From Publishers Weekly
Although better known for fantasies such as the Byzantine Cross and Crescent, Shwartz returns to her roots with this solid military space opera influenced by Conrad's Lord Jim. Shwartz's Jim is an Alliance weapons officer without a proper mission, like so many other spacers after the devastating Secess' war and its ambiguous conclusion. Loaned out to a civilian ship carrying valuable biological specimens eggs, sperm, zygotes and cryo-slept "shipsicles" Jim struggles with an unfamiliar chain-of-command and a distressingly mercenary crew. When piratical scavengers attack the ship, Jim's heroic actions are nullified by a single bad decision that brands him as a deserter and coward. Fortunately, Commander Caroline Marlow, a fish out of water herself thanks to decades as a shipsicle after suffering a serious war wound, helps Jim find work on a distant world where he can avoid the limelight. When Jim's selfless actions in a crisis draw unwanted attention, he runs again, taking an even worse post on a plague ship responsible for dealing with quarantined vessels. Jim's circuitous route to restore his personal honor is long, and at times his guilt-tripping becomes more annoying than sympathetic. Shwartz's detailed setting and lively pace, however, will hold readers' attention throughout this lengthy examination of guilt and heroism. Fans of the military SF series of Elizabeth Moon, Lois Bujold McMaster and David Feintuch are bound to enjoy this novel. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
A former soldier who now seeks his fortune in commercial space travel, Jim becomes the victim of a scandal when he fails to defend himself against charges of desertion. While he strives to make a new future for himself, his past pursues him as both friends and enemies attempt to understand his motivations and his rigid code of honor. The author of Vulcan's Forge pays tribute to Joseph Conrad's classic Lord Jim in a gripping tale of one man's self-imposed exile. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Conrad's Lord Jim seems a natural candidate for transplantation to the harsh environment of outer space, and Shwartz valiantly tries to reanimate the classic's themes of guilt and redemption. She sensibly adopts a more linear narration and creates a memorable female Captain Marlow, who suffers as she watches Jim's trial for abandoning the Irian Jaya and its thousands of hibernating passengers. Marlow contrives a series of chances for Jim to leave behind his public and personal humiliation, but not until he is offered the opportunity to seek out the pirates who ambushed the Jaya does she feel any hope for him. That opportunity is a covert operation supported by the most revered military man in the Alliance. It takes Jim to a world long abandoned and presumed to be the staging ground for a massive pirate attack. Shwartz surrounds Jim with vivid characters, but he never really comes to life. Read this one for its bleakly beautiful scenes of the lives of people tough enough to survive aboard cramped spaceships and space stations. Roberta Johnson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"[A] solid military space opera influenced by Conrad's Lord Jim . . . . Shwartz's detailed setting and lively pace will hold readers' attention throughout this lengthy examination of guilt and heroism. Fans of the military SF series of Elizabeth Moon, Lois Bujold McMaster, and David Feintuch are bound to enjoy this novel."-Publishers Weekly



Review
"[A] solid military space opera influenced by Conrad's Lord Jim . . . . Shwartz's detailed setting and lively pace will hold readers' attention throughout this lengthy examination of guilt and heroism. Fans of the military SF series of Elizabeth Moon, Lois Bujold McMaster, and David Feintuch are bound to enjoy this novel."-Publishers Weekly



Review
"[A] solid military space opera influenced by Conrad's Lord Jim . . . . Shwartz's detailed setting and lively pace will hold readers' attention throughout this lengthy examination of guilt and heroism. Fans of the military SF series of Elizabeth Moon, Lois Bujold McMaster, and David Feintuch are bound to enjoy this novel."-Publishers Weekly



Book Description
In a departure for this very well-reviewed fantasist, Susan Shwartz has returned to her science fiction roots with a riveting novel of honor and its loss, love and its betrayal, and the exploration of what it means to be a true hero.

What Susan Shwartz has done is to take a well-loved tale and it in an unconventional setting. Second Chances is nothing less than an homage to Joseph Conrad-think of Lord Jim in space. Just as Conrad explored in great depth the perplexing, ambiguous problem of lost honor and guilt, expiation and heroism, Shwartz has created in her Jim a man haunted by guilt over an act of supposed cowardice and his lifelong efforts to somehow atone for that action-whether or not he merited the disgrace.

As Conrad's Jim was a tragic and ultimately noble hero, so too is Shwartz's Jim. A professional soldier whose time has passed, Jim is stationed about the corporate BioShip Irian Jaya security for a commercial venture critical to humanity's continued survival. The war that sundered whole worlds is over and now he's just another "tin soldier," a prop for the military to look good to war-weary civilians. But he's never stopped caring about those who scorn him and the ideals that he still clings to. That caring is tested, however, when he is thrust into a scandal not of his making. He chooses to carry the burden of guilt, no matter what. Because of his pride . . . . and maybe because that's the one thing he has left. Out of this madness will come the biggest battle for his honor and his soul.

And perhaps, a promise of a second chance.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Susan Shwartz returns to her science ficion roots with a riveting novel of honor and its loss, and the exploration of what it means to be a true hero. Second Chances is an homage to Joseph Conrad—think of Lord Jim in space. As Conrad explored the themes of lost honor and guilt, expiation and heroism, Shwartz has created in her Jim a man haunted by guilt and his lifelong efforts to somehow atone—no matter whether or not he merited the disgrace.

As Conrad's Jim was a tragic and ultimately noble hero, so too is Shwartz's Jim. A professional soldier whose time has passed, Jim is stationed as security for a commercial venture critical to humanity's continued survival. Now he's just another "tin soldier," a prop for the military to look good to war-weary civilians. But he's never stopped caring about those who scorn him and the ideals to which he still clings. That caring is tested when he is thrust into a scandal not of his making and chooses to carry the burden of guilt no matter what. Because of his own pride...and maybe because that's the one thing he has left.

That, and a promise of a second chance.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Although better known for fantasies such as the Byzantine Cross and Crescent, Shwartz returns to her roots with this solid military space opera influenced by Conrad's Lord Jim. Shwartz's Jim is an Alliance weapons officer without a proper mission, like so many other spacers after the devastating Secess' war and its ambiguous conclusion. Loaned out to a civilian ship carrying valuable biological specimens eggs, sperm, zygotes and cryo-slept "shipsicles" Jim struggles with an unfamiliar chain-of-command and a distressingly mercenary crew. When piratical scavengers attack the ship, Jim's heroic actions are nullified by a single bad decision that brands him as a deserter and coward. Fortunately, Commander Caroline Marlow, a fish out of water herself thanks to decades as a shipsicle after suffering a serious war wound, helps Jim find work on a distant world where he can avoid the limelight. When Jim's selfless actions in a crisis draw unwanted attention, he runs again, taking an even worse post on a plague ship responsible for dealing with quarantined vessels. Jim's circuitous route to restore his personal honor is long, and at times his guilt-tripping becomes more annoying than sympathetic. Shwartz's detailed setting and lively pace, however, will hold readers' attention throughout this lengthy examination of guilt and heroism. Fans of the military SF series of Elizabeth Moon, Lois Bujold McMaster and David Feintuch are bound to enjoy this novel. (Aug. 20) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

VOYA

In her latest work, Shwartz pays homage to the novels of Joseph Conrad, especially Lord Jim. Her hero, a battle-weary young war veteran, is piloting a civilian bioship through pirate-infested space. Caught in an ion storm, in an instant of panic Jim flees the damaged ship and disgraces not only himself but also the remnants of the Alliance Space Service. As with Conrad's Lord Jim, Shwartz's protagonist spends the rest of his life in a vain effort to redeem himself in his own eyes. After a space station court-martial, Jim flees from one planet to another, trying to make a life, then abandoning his construction for fear of discovery. The novel's narrator, named Marlow in homage to Heart of Darkness, is a detached observer through being frozen for twenty years, but he knew Jim as a bright, idealistic young officer before his disgrace. Now a captain in the Relief Service, Marlow encounters him again as he jumps ship after a heroic mission when exposed by a newsperson. Marlow transports Jim, who is recruited by the Relief Service, to Exquemalin, a colony planet in danger from pirates and wreckers. There Jim must face the demands of redemption. Second Chances is both a suspenseful novel of an exserviceman searching for his place in a postwar galaxy and a philosophical work ruminating on the concepts of honor and ethics. Readers familiar with Conrad's writings will delight in the allusions. Those unfamiliar with his work will read for the story in this solid purchase for high school libraries. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P S A/YA (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12; Adult and Young Adult). 2001, Tor, 384p, $24.95. Ages 15 toAdult. Reviewer: Marsha Valance

Library Journal

A former soldier who now seeks his fortune in commercial space travel, Jim becomes the victim of a scandal when he fails to defend himself against charges of desertion. While he strives to make a new future for himself, his past pursues him as both friends and enemies attempt to understand his motivations and his rigid code of honor. The author of Vulcan's Forge pays tribute to Joseph Conrad's classic Lord Jim in a gripping tale of one man's self-imposed exile. A good choice for most sf collections. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews