The Outposter

The Outposter is a science fiction novel by award-winning author Gordon R. Dickson. It's part swashbuckler and part space opera and is certainly one I'd've read long ago if I'd come across it. Great fun, with a satisfying conclusion.

from the back of the book:

FORMULA FOR REVENGE

Take one high-spirited little boy.

Kill his family before his eyes.

Allow him to escape.

Give him time to grow up.

You're in trouble.

from the publisher Baen:

The Earth is overcrowded. Chosen by lottery, people are shunted off to the far-flung planetary colonies. But winning this lottery is no prize, for the colonist are largely ignored by the people of Earth, considered disposable. Left to defend for themselves, the colonist are plagued by low supplies and are forced to eke out a hardscrabble existence. Worse, they face an ever-looming threat from without: the alien Meda V'Dans, who routinely attack without provocation.

Fortunately, the colonists have the Outposters to protect them. One such Outposter is Mark Ten Roos, a young man with a score to settle against the Meda V'Dans . . . and the will to bring a corrupt system to its knees.