Cagebird [Mass Market Paperback]

Karin Lowachee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2005

Pirate Protege At age four, Yuri Kirov watched his home colony destroyed by the alien enemy. By six, he was a wounded soul, fending for himself in a desolate refugee camp, and still a child when the pirates found him. Now twenty-two, Yuri is a killer, a spy, an arms dealer, and a pirate captain himself-doing life in prison. That is until EarthHub Black Ops agents decide to make Yuri their secret weapon in a covert interstellar power grab. Released from jail, but put on a leash by the government, Yuri is more trapped than ever. Controlled by men even more ruthless than the brigands he's ordered to betray, Yuri is back again in deep space where his survival depends on a dangerous act: trusting a stranger's offer of help...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Lowachee's third space opera depicts the conflict begun in Warchild (2002) and burndive (2003) from another point of view, that of a young pirate. Although only 22, Yuri Kirov is a former pirate captain now in stir doing a life sentence. Then Earth Hub black-ops agents make him an offer he can't refuse: to return to the pirate organization as their agent. Lowachee interweaves the past and the present, showing the episodes in Yuri's past that formed his present attitudes and actions. She uses this technique skillfully, and produces a seamless whole featuring some memorable characters, including Ryan Azercon, the protagonist of Burndive, as Yuri sees him. This installment in the series stands on its own very well, so there's no need to know its predecessors before plunging into it for good action reading's sake. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446615080
• ISBN-13: 978-0446615082
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #687,553 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as the first two., April 17, 2005

By 

EternalEponine (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cagebird (Mass Market Paperback)

In Cagebird (sequel to Warchild and Burndive) the reader is taken to darker places than we have been before. From age four on, Yuri's life is never easy, and his choices, when he has them, are never simple.

I found this book harder to relate to than the previous two, but I didn't care about Yuri any less than the other narrators, nor was I less invested in his story. This book will drag you down into the darkness with him, and it's an incredible ride.

As another reviewer said, I would not recommend starting with this book. Cagebird does not stand alone as well as the first two might. One needs the background from the first two to really get into Yuri's story and know what's happening. Which isn't a bad thing, of course, because Warchild and Burndive are well worth reading.

My only complaint about this book is that it seemed a little rushed at times, and it ended far too soon!

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow, April 7, 2005

By 

Shaz (FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cagebird (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow. Just that. Wow.

Warchild made me love.
Burndive made me think.
This one made me feel.

It's uncomfortable, it's raw, it's not easy. It drove me to finish. And Karin did it, made me feel something I never thought I would. She made me care for Yuri. She made him real, not some movie villain. I can understand why he did what he did. I don't agree with it, but I understand it from his point of view now.

I wanted more of Jos, and I still do. I wanted more of Ryan, heck I really expected we'd see a lot of him, which we don't. But I got so caught up in the story of Yuri that I honestly didn't miss either of them until the book was over. And frankly, it leaves me wanting more, which is the same feeling I've had since I first read Warchild. Most books, I read them, I finish them, I move on. Not these, they get under your skin. These are books that will end up dog-eared and worn from multiple re-reads.

I would NOT recommend starting the series with this book. But for anyone who has read the other two, buy it. Now. And if you haven't read Karin's other books, you really don't know what you are missing.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There is no such thing as a bad boy..., May 22, 2005

By 

Jules Mazarin (Richardson, TX) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Cagebird (Mass Market Paperback)

Lowachee is clearly a writer of great talent and promise. Her first three books (Cagebird is the third of a related series) feature compelling characters, two of whom experience life-shattering atrocities during their childhood. The third protagonist (Burndive) grew up in a reasonably wealthy family--but has his own demons to conquer.

Lowachee has the capability to draw me completely into the emotional context of the character's experience. That is a sign of powerful writing. But considering the nature of some of some of those experiences--particularly in Cagebird--this induced empathy is sometimes hard to take. As I read Cagebird, I wondered more than once how much more Lowachee could ratchet up the catalogue of horrors before I'd have to stop reading the thing. I also wondered where Lowachee is going with this. Is it all just emotional titillation? A little dramatic catharsis for those of us who are so jaded that nothing less than child rape and androgynous 13 year old assassin-prostitutes will shock us? (Let the gentler, more sensitive reader beware.)

Or is there a deeper matter in this work, does Lowachee have something to say about the mistreatment of children and the consequences of war? I know very well that the atrocities that occur in Lowachee's books happen in our world every day. There are children today who are being abducted by thugs ("pirates" whould be to grand a word for them), systematically raped, sold into slavery--and some of them grow up to do the same things to other children. If this kind of moral lesson is intended, then I think this is a heavy burden to be borne by a space opera. There are precedents of course--the allegory is a well known literary form. I cannot tell how to read Lowachee: allegory or mere hyper-drama? Perhaps that's my problem, not hers.

I do hope that Lowachee matures a bit over the next few years. For one thing, I hope she learns to convey the meaning of suffering without bringing it on by the bargeload. I also hope she learns to write about old people. One can't help but notice that every significant character in the Lowachee books is a pretty male adolescent. Azarcon is is probably over 30, but he is nothing more than a fatherly stereotype. If I could put in a request, I'd like to see a middle-aged woman as the next Lowachee protagonist.

Note: I only criticize authors I really like.