11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Susan Matthews is the most underrated sci-fi writer around., March 14, 2001
This review is from: Hour of Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)
One of Harold Bloom's criterion for great literature (he's talking about Dante, Shakespeare and Virgil) is "strangeness." He goes on to explain that the greatest literature in Western Civilization shares two seemingly conflicting characteristics--that the work is unique--he calls it "strange." It's like nothing else that's ever been written before. Yet on the other hand, the work is also familiar. Somehow the work resonantes with the reader--at once both familiar and yet strange. I think Susan Matthews falls into this cateogry very neatly. In terms of science fiction. I don't agree that this series has run its course. Her character, Andrej Kosciuscko-however-you-spell-his- name, is fascinating. He emboies the worst and best qualities of humanity. Sheri Tepper performs the same kind of feat in Grass. Though she has written many other novels, some good, some simple rehashes of her other novels, Grass has that familiar other world feel, but it is also one of the strangest worlds I've ever read. It's better than Ringworld, Gaiea, or any other world that sci-fi writers have come up with. If you haven't read this very talented writer's effort, do read them. Colony Fleet and Avalanche Soldiers are both [bad], especially Avalanche. Colony Fleet is readable but unremarkable, but Avalanche Soldier is really bad.
Susan Matthew's trilogy that feature the torturer, Andrej Koscuiscko(?????) is without a doubt the best series I've read since John Varley's Titan, Wizard and Demon. She's right up there with Joan Slonszewski, Sherri Tepper, Pamela Sargent and David Gerrold.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Kosciusko suddenly turns bland, June 5, 2007
This review is from: Hour of Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)
Ideally, succeeding installments of a multi part saga should build on what's come before, amplifying established themes while exploring new ground. When done right, a long series can hold readers' attention and still present a challenge to the writer--a perfect example of this ideal is Dan Simmons' Hyperion Cantos, a tetralogy whose many virtues were extolled by Bill Sheehan in the previous issue of Nova Express. Most such efforts , however, do not achieve this ideal--a case in point is Susan Matthew's Andrej Kosciusko series. Despite the promise shown in Matthew's debut, the justifiably acclaimed AN EXCHANGE OF HOSTAGES, later novels have not fulfilled this potential.
The character driven EXCHANGE, runner up for the 1997 Philip K. Dick Award, introduced the charismatic Andrej Kosciusko, a brilliant surgeon who discovers he has a penchant for torture, a skill highly prized by the Fleet, the dominating political/military force in a far future interstellar civilization. In EXCHANGE, Matthews created a strong cast of characters and established an intriguing sociopolitical context, all the while milking Kosciusko's fragile psyche to great dramatic effect. Unfortunately, subsequent novels in the series-1998's PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE and now HOUR OF JUDGMENT-have not lived up to the promise of their predecessor. Matthews has written two soap operas in a row, books that squander the excellent work she did in her first novel.
HOUR OF JUDGMENT is set some four years after the events of PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE. Nearing the end of his service aboard the Fleet ship Scylla, Ship's Surgeon/Inquisitor Kosciusko is desperate to return to civilian life. The Fleet, however, has other plans for its most proficient torturer, and is working behind the scenes to force him to reenlist. Asked to treat the wounds of a slave woman brutally raped by a ship's officer, Kosciusko once again finds himself acting in the antithetical role of Inquisitor when that officer is murdered in revenge. To complicate matters, Kosciusko has been marked for death by a powerful enemy--distracted by personal problems and his role in the murder investigation, he fails to sense the many dangers around him.
As in PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE, the formerly dynamic Kosciusko is more spectator than protagonist; his once towering presence, the force behind the success of AN EXCHANGE OF HOSTAGES, has been diminished. He seems to be a different character entirely, less intelligent, passively accepting what fate brings him, rather than mastering his destiny. Distracted or not, the Kosciusko of EXCHANGE would never miss the obvious clues thrust in his face at the murder scene.
In the end, the watered down version of Kosciusko detracts from Matthew's storytelling. Despite her considerable skills, the presence of her inexplicably bland lead proves fatal to the book, which sometimes reads more like an unemotional newspaper account than a story that personally engages its readers. If this series is to continue, Matthews needs to go back to basics, to the more intimate, impassioned storytelling style evident in her debut--only then will she fulfill the considerable promise demonstrated there.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I can hardly wait for the next instalment, May 15, 2001
This review is from: Hour of Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)
I would have given this 5 stars if I hadn't read "Exchange..." and "Prisoner..." first. It's not that the quality of writing is any less, or that the characters have run their course (far from it!), only that there is too great a time gap between the action at the Dommitt Prison and the story in this book. Why was Andrej transferred from Scylla? What happened to Code and Chief Sammons? And, most importantly, what has been happening to Andrej himself? The last question is only obliquely answered in "...Judgment."
The tantalising glimpses that Miss Matthews gives us of the Bench Federation of Worlds might be an excellent way of filling in these frustrating gaps. It would be fascinating to know how the bonds came to be bonds (were they Free Government? What exactly is the Free Government? &c). Miss Matthews - if you read your reviews, how about the story from Robert's point of view, or Joslire's (a wonderful but sadly wasted character)?
Having made the complaint about the series, I have to say that this is a great book, and Bruce Applebaum is gibbering! Andrej Kosciusko is simply the most extraordinary character in science fiction.
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