Customer Reviews

Emissaries from the Dead (Andrea Cort, Book 1)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Emissaries from the Dead, Adam-Troy Castro's first science fiction novel set in a world of his own making, carries forward a protagonist and setting from his short stories. The world's wonderfully bizarre, an artificial planet built on the inside of a miles-long cylinder by millenia-old sentient software called the AIsource. Each advanced civilization explores space first with its software, and this code has outlived its coders, joining together with programs from other worlds to form one megabloated Windows release that controls the universe.

The software has engineered sloth-like, spider-armed primates who hang from the vines and roots growing on the outer edge of the world, surviving only as long as they can hold on. These creatures are called Brachiators, from the verb brachiate, and they're the most fascinating thing about the novel.

"The battlefield was a patch of Uppergrowth indistinguishable from any other, marked only by the thirty nearly immobile figures wrapped in what their species must have considered to be frenetic combat. There were two groups, whose paths prior to this moment in their respective histories were easy to track by the vines they'd shredded in their wake. They hadn't collided head-on, but rather at an angle, joining in battle as soon as both tribes realized that they'd now be competing for the same patch of their world's ceiling.

"The fresh, juicy manna pears hanging in bunches from every vine in sight revealed the conflict as ridiculous, as even Brachiators forced into a course change could have found more food than they could possibly eat within an hour's travel, but that didn't matter to them; their armies had met, and their war had to be fought. ...

"The Brachiator battlefield looked like an orgy where everybody had fallen asleep in mid-hump."

Unfortunately, the Brachiators aren't the focus. The novel's about two murders that take place in the small colony of human researchers sent to the planet. Cort's an unloved diplomat sent to solve the crimes without implicating the AIsource, and the bulk of the 386-page novel consists of her talking to potential suspects and interacting with the AIsource, who pose a constant threat to go all deus ex machina and kill the suspense. Castro's story is all talk, ending with Cort's uninterrupted six-page Scooby Doo monologue on how she solved the crimes.

Despite the weaknesses in plotting, Castro's setting carries the book and makes the prospect of another "Andrea Cort novel" intriguing. She just needs a mystery that hangs on a species as compelling as the Brachiators.

Adam-Troy Castro has written several novellas set in the richly imagined universe where investigator Andrea Cort does her work. She's not a nice lady. Her bosses are not nice people. The mysterious AIsource is definitely not nice. Pitted against one another, with a group of weary but determined duty-bound human diplomats caught in the middle, it's an exciting ride to find out who's going to win this long battle of nerves.

Andrea Cort is a powerful and interesting character. She's strong-willed, bitter, intelligent, deeply weird, and believable. The past horrors she endured are at the core of this story, and whether she can ever overcome them to become...healthier? Hm.

To solve a murder mystery, Cort is trapped in an eerie, hostile alien environment that I found entertainingly disturbing -- I cannot even imagine living like that for even a short period! -- among people whose motives are good but whose human flaws are inescapable. Even Castro's minor characters are vivid, including an intriguing pair whose unique situation is portrayed quite engagingly.

This first full-length novel is a treat for all of Castro's existing fans and, I hope, many new ones. Oh, and the cover illo is beautiful!

Andrea Cort's a Judge Advocate from "Dip" aka Diplomatic Corps headed for a much-needed vacation when she's assigned to a murder on One One One. Looking at monsters is something Cort considers to be her specialty since she considers herself a monster because she was overtaken by madness at eight and committed murder.

One One One is a cylinder world created by the AISource, which is not for the faint of heart or those suffering from height issues. Only the forested top portion of the world is habitable, which the bottom is a poisonous concoction.

By the time Cort arrives on One One One, a second murder is reported--another woman. Diplomatic Corps advises her that AISource cannot be found guilty of the crimes no matter what--the implications are a war that humanity would not win. Andrea also finds out that she's been handpicked by someone for this treacherous assignment, though no one is telling who. She's not the best choice, since she has height issues which are obvious.

Adam Troy-Castro is a master at world-building. One One One is a fascinating creation with characters both frightening and complex. The Brachiators are a created race which will only consider her as a viable emissary if she is at least Half-Ghost. Plus, there are humans who share one personality over psionically linked bodies.

My only complaint was that I felt Andrea needed some more development. She's somewhat muted from this reader's point of view and needs to speak more strongly for herself. I like her view of herself as a monster and her inner strength of will is impressive, though.

The mystery element was strong and dark. I didn't realize who did it until the end and the end did come as a surprise. My understanding is that a sequel to this novel will follow

Although Adam-Troy Castro has written a number of short stories, tie-in novels, and non-fiction books, this is his first novel set in a universe of his own creation. And it is a great one.

Andrea Cort is a sort of diplomatic troubleshooter. Her mission this time is to solve two murders in a very strange habitat. The "sky" is a forest and the ground is a sea hidden by clouds and a toxic overpressure of oxygen. Cort learns that the AI's who built the habitat may have a connection to her own tortured past.

The mystery and SFnal elements are both treated well. I recommend this novel and look forward to future books in this series.

I bought this book as a shot in the dark - strong woman character, intriguing premise, cool cover (yes, they do convince sometimes), so why not. Well, what a joy to find that this first novel from Castro was such a finely crafted, absorbing bit of SF fun.

It's dark, yes, and creepy, but in spite of my initial assumptions, Castro rewards the reader with ribbons of hope and joy without saccharine or pat resolutions to the deeply broken character of the protagonist. Castro also manages to bring in the good moments without turning the main character into someone else; she stays flawed, but even the flawed get to have a little fun sometimes.

Happily, unlike some space mysteries, this novel does not fall prey to the mystery-over-the-world-building problem, nor vice versa. I was completely hooked on the mystery, but the nature of this galactic setting was equally engaging and made me want to know more about it.

A final comment: many male authors who write female main characters (especially in first person) seem to have a bit of trouble keeping them both believable and female. Too often the "woman" reads more as some weirdly sexed version of a man. Castro does a very nice job of keeping Andrea Cort consistent, strong, and definitely believable.

This entertaining escape into the world of Andrea Cort is SF just how I like it: lots of character, great setting, and a keep-you-guessing plot.

This novel is pure sci-fi/mystery goodness. The cast of characters includes a tramatized, emotionally stunted main character, an all-knowing, eons old Artificial Intelligence, a group of quirky scientists living in an engineered bio-habitat, and a newly created species of sentients that are trying to live their lives and be polite to their wierd, bi-pedal neighbors.

This novel is a murder mystery, a diplomatic dance, and a search for self that is unique and vivid. I look forward to future installments, and highly recommend it to those who don't often venture outside of their "comfort authors".

I especially liked how he designed an alien theology based upon their world-view. Immense depth to his world. The plot was almost superfluous to his world-building. Yet, it too was meaningful and convoluted. Until the 'Heckler' is actually named I was still guessing.

My only complaint is that the title seems to imply a series, but the end of the novel wraps up too many loose ends (or at least foreshadows the resolution).

This is one of the strongest 'first' novels I've read in a while.

Honestly, after reading the first few chapters, I didn't know what to expect of this book. After reading half the book, I still didn't know. Having completed the book, I can't wait for the next Adrea Cort novel. Cort is styled in the role of the typical Film Noir detective - jaded, dark, smarter than everybody around her but fundamentally broken. The change the she goes through during the novel could be hackneyed and irrelevant if Castro didn't handle it with such a delicate touch and its a testament to his writing skill that the very last chapter of the book made me both cry out in pain and laugh with joy.

Adam-Troy Castro's "Emissaries from the Dead" (it'll take a while before you realize how many ways that title refers to various events in the book) is sci-fi noir at its most relentless. And in Andrea Cort it features a damaged heroine who makes Walter Jon Williams's Caroline Sula of the Dead Empire trilogy and Kristine Smith's Jani Kilian look relatively normal.

Andrea, former child-murderer, is indentured into the multispecies diplomatic corps, and in her role as judge advocate she's dispatched to an artificially constructed (by AIs) world that has a habitable area Andrea describes (the narrative is first person) as "an Uppergrowth of knotty vegetation clinging to the interior station axis." Only the upper atmosphere is "congenial to the life forms the AIsource had engineered." Chief among those were "brachiators," who are sentient beings that seem to be a primates with some slothlike elements. Also present are indentured humans, who've been invited there by the AIsource. A murder has been committed, and Andrea must solve the case, and not lay the blame on the AIsource.

The plot takes the usual noiristic turns, and follows the usual conventions--with one difference. The AIs know who the perpetrator is, but they have their own reasons for wanting Andrea to make the discovery herself. And they also inform her that her life (as she's already suspected) is in danger. Clever that: Mr. Castro has neatly sidestepped the problem of having that annoying kid who exposed the naked emperor from again piping up to remind us all that "if the AIs know everything, why do they need Andrea Cort?"

Andrea perseveres, of course--we know that because of the first-person narrative (to say nothing of the appearance of a second volume of the series), and in a most interesting manner. Acrophobic, nail-chewing Andrea overcomes some of her own demons along the way (not without the aid of the friends she makes--the friends she keeps insisting she doesn't want), and she wraps the whole thing up in the grand hardboiled tradition. (4.5 stars.)

Main genre(s): Sci-fi, Mystery

Additional subgenre subjects:
Artificial intelligence, alien lifeforms, non-earth world(s), futuristic technology, distant future setting, murder

This book is:
- Original
- Intelligent
- Very futuristic
- Complex, but not hard to follow
- Written in 1st person (female main character)

I won't summarize the story. The summary Amazon gives (the one on the back of the book) will suffice and it doesn't give anything away. Don't wanna ruin it for ya! If you still need more, the other reviewers here have provided more details.

When I first started reading Emissaries From the Dead (first 30 - 50 pages), I just thought to myself, "Quite strange so far... but intriguing." Then I really started to get engaged with the characters and the futuristic universe, and then I couldn't put it down.

If you really like sci-fi books and the subgenre subjects I listed above, AND you are cool with stuff so very different it sometimes goes into the realm of strangeness, then you will love this book. I know I did.