Customer Reviews

Cagebird

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

Cagebird, the third novel set in the human/Strit universe, is a fantastic build on author Karin Lowachee's first two novels Warchild and Burndrive. Taking place at roughly the same time as Burndrive and Warchild, Lowachee presents the story of Uri Kirov the young pirate introduced at the end of Burndrive. Writing the novel from Yri's perspective was a stroke of genius as he was a less than sympathetic minor character from Burndrive. However, as the story unfolds, you can see how a child could be corrupted in a corrupting environment. Lowachee is very skillful at ratcheting up the tension as you read spellbound Yuri's decent into hell. There are several harrowing scenes including a gut wrenching description of an attack on Yuri's colony when he was only four years old. But what I like about Lowachee's stories is the possibility of redemption. Characters can and do make choices between good and evil. Cagebird, as well as Warchild and Burndrive, remind me of C.J. Cherryh's best union/alliance books. Like Cherryh, Lowachee has created a compelling and very human universe where character compliments spectacle! I hope this author continues to explore the fascinating human/Strit universe. I know I'll be back for more. One warning though, there are some rather explicit descriptions of sex and child abuse. It fits in the story, but might disturb more sensitive readers.

I read "Warchild" prior to "Cagebird" and I should have reserved my judgement of Karin Lowachee until then. The first book stood out less, it was easier to dismiss as just another "boy grows up to be a warrior" adventure romp in space. "Cagebird," on ther other hand, was discomfiting, left me disturbed (in a great way), and had me thinking back to "Warchild."

The writing is stronger here. Instead of meeting Yuri as a child and seeing his life in real-time, we first get a tantalizing glimpse of him as a young man, mysterious, dangerous, and damaged in some ways. The first several pages grab and intrigue you. Yuri's story is told in flashback, it's a more sophisticated writing device and works here very well. Slowly, the whole picture unfolds of why he is who he is.

Eventually this book will be filed under the label of "Alternate Sexuality." However, there are no labels used in the book. Men and women simply are. The main fixation of Yuri is on his older (male) mentor, but it's so not about that. It's done in a realistic way. Karin Lowachee definitely goes on my list now - recommend unabashedly.

Once again, as in Warchild and Burndive, Karin Lowachee shows her mastery of characterization.
What she also shows is that the versatility she displayed in the structuring of her first two novels was no fluke!

Jos, Ryan and Yuri are each truly themselves only; Not just as seen from the outside, through great description, but *felt* from the inside out.
It takes a special writer to place you inside the heads of three different people and weave such fully unique personalities.

I was not disappointed with Cagebird!!

In Warchild, Karin Lowachee first introduced Captain Vincenzo Marcus Falcone, an ex-marine turned pirate. We caught glimpses of his sickness even then, but it is only fully realized in Cagebird. Falcone's habit of taking on apprentices-protégés-resulted in the eventually recruitment of Yuri. As a child, Yuri watched his as his home fell under alien attack. He grew up a stray on a planet turned into a massive refugee camp, and there he met Bo-Sheng, his best friend. Together they entered into the service of Marcus Falcone, a supposed merchant. Anyone who has read the previous books will know what Yuri really encountered.

Lowachee introduces Yuri's past in a series of fragments that interrupt current events. Readers encounter first the Yuri of today, broken and embittered by a tormented past. They meet him again as a small child, innocent of the stain that would soon overtake him. The book's message is powerful, the imagery captivating and entirely dark. Readers should beware of graphic sexual situations, including rape. If you can stomach the very darkest parts of Yuri's life, you will also be privy to his arc of possible redemption as he struggles with his past and the future he wants to create. Cairo Azarcon and Jos Musey play very fleeting but important roles. More memorable is a new character, Finch, who serves to draw Yuri from his shell. But it's Yuri's voice that really brings Lowachee's writing to the highest level. Warchild was a stunning debut, though Burndive floundered a bit. Cagebird, however, proves Lowachee was not just a one-hit wonder. Her writing produces powerful and relatable characters in a multifaceted culture. Despite the darkness of this book, there is a tiny ray of light that indicates we can expect more from Lowachee in the future. After Cagebird, I can't wait to see what's coming next.

I've been a science fiction reader almost since I could read. Cj Cherryh, Isaac Aismov, Ben Bova, and more, I've read them all, but as an adult with varying views, a special place developed in my heart and mind for well written sci fi books with gay/bi characters in a positive role. This one surpassed my imaginings. Not only is the central character, Yuri, compelling in all his flawed beauty and strengths, but the story itself make sense, a very important thing for me. Sure some authors can write good action, battle scenes or aliens, but making it MAKE SENSE interspersed with the emotional parts of the story...well, there are not many who do that well in including gay/bi characters. Yuri and his Finch, the depth of their relationship rings true and movingly.

Whether you are interested specifically in gay/bi science fiction or looking for a great space drama this is your book, your series: Warchild, Burndive, then Cagebird, definitely books I keep and reread. Very well done, very satisfying, am thrilled I came across these books. Absolutely thrilled!

In the third book in her as yet un-named series, Karin Lowachee produces a now familiar story of betrayal and abuse of a young child.

The protagonist of this tale, Yuri, is another of the strays who at one time ended up inhabiting the world of Space Pirate Falcone. Unlike its 2 stunning predecessors, the main character in this book seems false, and contrived. Since so much of the book is the carried by the situation, reaction and choices of its main character, the whole book seems muddled. There is also a particularly bad (non) ending - where everything just seems to stop.

Yuri actually leads a rather protected life until he is sent out as a 13 year old prostitute. But he isn't just any prostitute he is a Geisha (Lowachee's version) and as such has spent willing years learning the arts of seduction, betrayal, spycraft and murder. And here is the real crux of the problem with the character, Yuri is quite willing to consort with pirates, to kill, torture, maim, steal and betray. His only problem with those actions develops when they disrupt his life, his love affair, and his sense of comfort. He is never as physically devastated as Jos or emotionally tortured as Ryan. He is simply aimless and bored. So he actually chooses to leave his family for a better life, and doesn't much care that he has fallen in with predators.

He was never as shattered by the evil that comes his way as were Jos and Ryan, so his sudden attack of conscience hits a false note. He doesn't care that he has done wrong, he only cares that he got caught. He isn't motivated to leave the life of a pirate because of the emotional pain of all the damage he has done to others, but because he at 16-18 or so, is burned out and can't stay on top of the predators he once thought were his friends. His sudden conversion is simply to save his life.

The author tries to make Yuri, both evil, and innocent. Evil to serve the story, and innocent to protect sales - since if he carried on in his amoral manner to the bitter end it is unlikely that most readers would continue with Lowachee . She wants to show the depravity of the pirate's world, and the harm they do to their young recruits, but she (or perhaps an anxious Editor) is also trying to keep him 'nice' enough for the readers to embrace, and insure that her books continue to sell. So you get a conjunction of Yuri's: The Yuri in love with his sex-teacher/Elder Brother and the Yuri who enjoys displaying the perqs of power by shooting a fellow crew-member for the hell if it. None of the Yuris form a coherent whole. None of the Yuris seem real or their actions, thoughts or feelings believable.

In the first 2 books I believed that the author was telling the stories of 2 young children that she knew, even with the SF trappings they seemed like real people, and their abuse, and reactions seemed real. Yuri seems like a literary construct who was designed to elicit sympathy, horror and finally comfort -- because for no apparent reason, he chooses the path of goodness.

Finch, as his victim/co-conspirator is also muddled and not well done. There is no convincing reason for his ending up in prison, since once he gets there he acts like a babe in the woods, without even the sense to try and bluff to save his own life. Their mutual and instant attraction is another unbelievable attempt to hook Yuri into the good side. That Yuri would rather spend time with and protect Finch than with Rikev who is his `sister', supporter and fellow Geisha makes no sense. As does Yuri's sudden inability to even attempt to deal with Cal, and his crocodile-tears concern for the 6,000 nameless potential victims on the star carrier.

Once Yuri `the good twin' swings into action, he and few other `worthy' characters end up safe with Azarcon on the Macedon. Of course Yuri now has to accept the penance of Azarcon, who some how sees himself as the camp counselor for the galaxy's damaged children, as if he didn't contribute his own child to the sacrificial heap. At the very end we are left with Yuri pondering the fact that he has to make changes in himself to change his life. Duh. The story or plot is simply put on hold for the depiction of this platitude. And the only change in the whole story arc is simply to get Yuri out of prison and onto the Macedon.

Finally Lowachee has taken what was an interesting tool, the reflection of known past events by a different character, and let it become a crutch that fills up way too many pages towards the end of the book. In Burndive we saw a few events that Jos lived through from another angle. In Cagebird there are simply pages and pages of old story regurgitated rather than anything new being developed. It didn't help to make Yuri more believable or more likeable, and it didn't move the story forward - it was just filler that crowded out what could have been an actual tying up of the plot, or a setting up for book 4.

While I have been tough on Lowachee and disappointed by the flaws in this book, I would also say that it is still a better book than most others published in SF. If she had not already shown how she can truly sing with the first 2 books, this one would probably seem perfectly acceptable. But it isn't up to the standards set by Warchild and Burndive. I hope book 4 will redeem Lowachee and that she will stick to working with sympathetic main characters, since she is unwilling (or unable) to allow those lower down the food chain to be as amoral or as evil as they need to be to maintain the illusion of reality.

I don't know what it is about Lowachee's protagonists but they have a way of drawing you in and not letting go. I just finished the last book in this trilogy and I definitely hope that we can get more books out of this series. There's a lot of things left open and I hope it can get a proper ending. I loved this book, the only thing I would have wished for is maybe to have had more interaction between the old characters with the new earlier so it doesn't feel rushed at the end. I hope if another book comes out that it has either Niko or Cairo as the leads!