Customer Reviews

Very Hard Choices

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

 

 

Very Hard Choices revisits the characters introduced in Very Bad Deaths, and again presents them with difficult, painful, life-threatening circumstances that force them to consider both the ethics and the morality of the choices they face. To say much more might upset certain surprising turns in the storyline, but suffice it to say that the first reviewer of this book got it wrong. The story does not suggest the US is in danger of being turned into a "religious dictatorship," nor is the story's antagonist working towards that goal. The threat, rather, is framed as a takeover by a very small cabal of extremely wealthy, powerful, and conscience-less autocrats. Sounds more like real life than science fiction to me! If you're an ardent right-winger, you probably won't like some of this book's premises. Everyone else is in for an enjoyable, and thought-provoking ride.

The sequel to Very Bad Deaths was something I had been waiting for with some trepidation: what story was there left to tell? The thrilling yet non-graphic horror that the former book had titillated me with should have warned me.

Although I had been prepared for some more of that insightful prose in that trademark way that Spider writes in, I did not expect that he would take the tale of the suffering telepath Zudie more than one step further. Everyone thinks that being a telepath may be a mild nuisance if you cannot turn the talent off at will. But this tale makes you feel what he feels and makes you understand why he had to retreat into obscurity... damn.. 't is difficult to not spoil the fun for would-be readers. Let me just wrap this up by stating "yes, he's done it again, he keeps evolving, and the stories keep getting more interesting and insightful each step of the way".

See if you can read the introductory chapters over there at the Baen Books website and then keep away from this one... even if you have not read the first book.

I love Spider Robinson. Anyone who admires the Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein as much as I do is a saint my book. Thus it pains to me to say that this novel is a disaster.

Very Hard Choices is a sequel to the pretty good novel Very Bad Deaths. There we meet Russell Walker, the aging hippie, who sets out to help his old college roommate Zudie, who happens to be a telepath, chase down a nasty killer. He has the help of Constable Nika Mandic, the rather hot female cop. All turns out, if not completely well, well enough.

Here, Nika shows up at Russell's doorstep with some news, while Russell is at home visiting with his estranged son Jesse. It turns out the CIA is still hunting for Zudie for purposes unknown, but probably not very good ones, or so everyone surmises. This sets off a chain of events where Nika, Russell, and Jesse try to protect Zudie (short for Zandor Zudenigo) from the CIA agent chasing him. Everything culminates to a final confrontation in the end, but to avoid spoilers I'll stop here with the plot summary.

Unfortunately this novel is more a political or philosophical polemic through the thoughts of Russell Walker than it is a real novel. Yes, a story is embedded here, but the story itself could have been told in a short novella. Instead the prose drags on and on with chase scenes and the musings of Russell, but not in a very smooth or compelling way. I'm not sure if Russell is supposed to be a caricature of Spider Robinson or not, but it sure seems like it. But overall the characters seem more quirky than real, which maybe is the point. But the novel is just not that entertaining.

Very Hard Choices (2008) is the second SF novel in the Russell Walker series, following Very Bad Deaths. In the previous volume, Russell Walker and his friends attracted the attention of a serial murderer for whom they were searching. The killer trapped them in Walker's house, but Zandor Zudenigo used his powers to cause the man to disbelieve in himselves. They buried the body down by the stream.

In this novel, Russell Walker is a columnist for the Toronto Globe and Mail. He telecommutes from Heron Island in Vancouver Bay. The house is well-built, but rather simple. His office in the back yard is extremely comfortable, but downright rustic. Russell has lived alone in this house since the death of his wife Susan.

Jesse is Russell's son. He lives in New York and works in public relations. Jesse earns much more than his father and has all the multitudinous attractions of the City. He blamed Russell for the death of his mother and they have been estranged ever since.

Nika Mandic is a Vancouver police officer. She has recently been promoted to Detective Constable. But Nika is still driving the same old 1989 Honda Accord.

Zandor Zudenigo is an involuntary telepath. He cannot shut it off and most thoughts from other people are painful to him. He lives alone and unnoticed on Coveney Island within Vancouver Bay.

In this story, Charles Haden is a former CIA operative. He drives across the border without any problems. He doesn't even need one of his passports. A few simple questions and he is in Canada. A half hour drive and he is within Vancouver.

Haden changes license plates at the airport and discards his current identity on the Oak Street Bridge over the Fraser River. By the time he reaches the city limits, he is Thomas McKinnon. Then he abandons his car in the police impound yard.

McKinnon is looking for Nika. She had her cousin make a simple query about Zandor and now McKinnon is on her case. When he catches up with her, McKinnon fires a GPS-snitch at her car bumper and then falls back to follow her movements on his transceiver. Unfortunately, Nika notices him on her tail, seems to lose him, and then heads for Heron Island.

Russell is entertaining Jesse in his home on Heron Island. Nika interrupts their tete-a-tete and takes Russell aside to announce her bad news. Jesse counterinterrupts and learns more than he expects about his father and his friends. Then they discover the GPS-snitch.

Russell has not been able to contact Zandor since the previous events, but he tries again. He eventually takes a Zodiac over to Coveney, but loses the motor and his cellphone on the way. Luckily, Zandor is on the island and rescues him. Unluckily, Russell has a collapsed lung on his way back.

This tale faces Russell and his friends with a crisis. A man that Zandor has known and hated many years ago is coming for him. He can hide, but his friends cannot. Sooner or later the operative is going to find them.

Meanwhile, Russell and Jesse are beginning to mend their relationship. Both learn that there is more to know about the other than each has ever suspected. Then their wife/mother becomes a commonality rather than a controversy.

This story is one of the best of the author's works. It has some of the flashbacks of the prequel, but mostly concentrates on the present. The interaction between Russell and Jesse is subtle and interesting. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Robinson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of special operations, ordinary people, and strained personal relations.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I am a big fan of Spider Robinson. But I am not a big fan of this book. I never could actually tell what the heck was going on until the end. It is well written but it is not a sci-fi book. Instead, it is a mystery book with some sci-fi stuff mixed in.

A semi-autobiographical main character is thrown into a dangerous adventure
It's interesting what Spider has done with the heroes and villains. They are sort of comic book style, over the top, but made believable and realistic.
All in all, well worth a read.

As always, Spider's writing takes you someplace you never expected, and never dreamed you would enjoy so much.
This sequel is great, but had just a bit too much backstory interspersed for me. If the backstory had been more of a real story running in parallel, it would have been fantastic.

I very much liked the return of the Nika and Zudie, and the way their characters were developed out. Jesse was a great entry.

The other minor irritations were way too much emphasis on pot smoking, and Spider ended the book in the same way as the first one - you really don't expect a sequel. But I sure hope he does one. :)

-Paul

The main characters from Very Bad Deaths are back, and this time, there's somebody desperately trying to locate Zandor, who is in deep hiding. Only his college buddy knows where he is and how to reach him to warn him that somebody is on his trail. Great ending.

Spider Robinson provided another wonderfully written glimpse at characters that he makes come alive. Unlike other current authors none of the figures in the book are two dimensional, photocopied, trite caricatures. They all live and breathe vibrantly providing an interesting and well composed symphony for the mind. None are superheroes who don't fear, hurt or always know what to do. He shows people making choices and living with the consequences. While the first reviewer implied a threat to US becoming a "religious dictatorship", that was seriously misleading. However, the last 10% does go on a liberal rant which belies the fact that most countries with socialized medicine are not the Utopia so frequently portrayed in MSM (and in this book). He continues with other liberal hyperbole which does detract from the story. Despite that, it is a good read and provides a delightfully formed and well paced story. If you can set aside the politically biased ending, and consider the character development you'll enjoy it immensely.

In Very Bad Deaths aging baby boomer Russell Walker had retreated to a British Columbia island following his wife's death and only wanted to be left alone. His solitude is interrupted by his old college roommate Zudie, aka Smelly, who is so telepathic he can't stand to be around many people, but he had heard the mind of a psychotic killer planning a gruesome crime and seeks out Russell for help. They contact Nika, a very straightlaced though unlucky Vancouver police officer, and the unlikely trio manage to defeat the psycho.

In Very Hard Choices the trio is reunited when Zudie needs protection from a retired CIA agent still on the trail decades after Zudie's escape from the top-secret MK Ultra project in the 1960s. The agent zeroes in on Russell's place, led there by a bug placed on Nika's car. Russell's estranged son, visiting from New York, gets involved in the efforts to protect Zudie. Russell's attempts to help his friends are complicated when his exertions lead to a collapsed lung, something author Spider Robinson is all too familiar with.

The tale includes a series of flashbacks to Russell and Zudie's college days, when Zudie was part of MK Ultra and found a close friend in Oksana, another member of the project. Throughout the story, all of the principals, including the agent, are faced with very hard choices that could change them, and perhaps the world, forever.

Other reviewers may carp about Spider's endorsement of Canada's health care system, but it should be remembered that if Spider were living in the United States, he would probably be steeply in debt because of his lung condition, assuming he were still alive. Instead, he lives in a more civilized country that cares about more than just its wealthiest citizens.