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Title: Code of Conduct by Kristine Smith ISBN: 0-380-80783-1 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 09 November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.05 (20 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A Fine New Voice in SF
Comment:
Code of Conduct tells a fast-paced story that weaves intrigue, politics, and personal honor into a sophisticated tapestry. With well-realized characters, both human and alien, and a plot full of gratifying twists and turns, this book showcases a fine new voice in science fiction.
About twenty years prior to the book's opening scene, Captain Jani Kilian almost died in a civil war among the idomeni, an alien race just enough like humans to make their vast differences disturbing. Framed for treason and then presumed dead in an explosion, she has spent the years since in hiding. After the blast, her doctors put her together with illegal experiments that combined human and idomeni genes. Now it is catching up with her. Is she dying--or changing into a new species that could threaten the existence of both humans and idomeni?
Jani thinks she is safe--until Evan van Reuter, the powerful Interior Minister of the Commonwealth, finds her. He wants her to solve a mystery that could destroy him: why did his wife die? Author Smith sets-up a wonderfully Byzantine scenario, with the dangerous, augmented Jani as an ideal choice of investigator from Evan's point of view, but a terrible choice as far as Jani is concerned.
One pleasure of this novel is the rich cast, both human and idomeni, that tangles the investigation. To snarl matters more, Evan is Jani's former lover. She finds herself in a political maze that could shake the foundations of the Commonwealth. Smith ties this all together in a well-written story that leaves the reader wanting more.
Smith does a good job with the idomeni, in particular Tsecha, a political and religious leader among his people and an ambassador to Earth. Watching him exasperate his human hosts with his wry personality and audacious nature is fun. The book creates a strong portrayal of an alien, with the nifty twist that eating is a form of prayer for his people. Another strength of this book is the subtle sensuality in the various relationships of the people, especially Jani's interactions with Evan and another character, Lucien. In fact, in general Smith does character well. The motivations and personalities of these people both surprise and make sense, a blend that isn't easy to achieve.
Code of Conduct is good science fiction, good hard-edged suspense, and an all around good read.
Rating: 4
Summary: Fascinating World-Building
Comment: Captain Jani Killian has been on the run for eighteen years. Trained as an expert in the ways of the alien idomeni, she committed the treasonable offense of taking sides in an idomeni civil war. Presumed dead after a transport crash, she was actually hidden and patched together by a trio of doctors using experimental technology. Now she is found by her former lover, Evan van Reuter, who is the current Interior Minister. He wants her to use her expertise to investigate the death of his wife.
Jani agrees to maneuver through the bureaucracy in the heart of the Interior Ministry. But the deeper she digs into the secrets surrounding Lyssa's death, the more she wonders if she is being set up to fail, and by whom? In the meantime the Exterior Ministry is hot on her trail and so is her idomeni teacher Tsecha. Jani's investigation turns into a struggle for survival as she tries to evade capture as she deals with the progressive breakdown of her patchwork body.
The characters are well-drawn and have complex, hidden motivations. The plot is definitely more character-driven than future-technology driven, but Smith includes some intriguing ideas about the importance of "smart" documents.
Code of Conduct is a surprisingly fast and action packed read, considering the fact that a good portion of the book involves chasing down paper trails and documentation. The author has created an intriguing alien culture and throws out little tidbits about their religion and social structures. Likewise, Jani's troubled past is meted out in spoonfuls through flashbacks. It's almost a tease in a way; leaving you wanting to know a lot more about the idomeni than is revealed in this first book by Smith. I like finding a universe that I want to visit again in other books, so this was a plus for me.
Rating: 4
Summary: A great new voice
Comment: A very enjoyable first novel.
I really admired Smith's book for a number of reasons. First, she has put a lot of thought into the future or document control. As we get so used to storing copies online, the question of an "Original" document becomes more and more skewed. In Smith's future, legal documents are on "Smart" paper, paper containing all manner of chips and stored inforamtion. Her characters are bureaucrats who spend most of their time dealing with all of this "paper". What is really ironic is that the most able bureacrats are those (like the main character) who have been trained by an alien race who are themselves masters of "Document control".
Secondly, I like the way the story is told. The book begins 20 years after war erupted on the alien planet, a war in which all the human visitors became inevitably embroiled. The main character was injured in the conflict and presumed dead, and has been in hiding ever since. Her ex-lover from that time is now the Minister of the Interior for the Earth government. His wife has been murdered, and he turns to his old lover to come and help flush out the killer. Smith tells the story from the present viewpoint, but slowly reveals the events of 20 years before as well.
Smith's aliens are her original, her humans have wonderfully complicated motivations for their actions, and her future Earth is intriguingly constructed.
If you are a fan of C. J. Cherryh or C. S. Friedman, then check this book out. It is well worth your time.
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Title: Rules of Conflict by Kristine Smith ISBN: 038080784X Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Law of Survival by Kristine Smith ISBN: 0380807858 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Contact Imminent by Kristine Smith ISBN: 0060503580 Publisher: Eos Pub. Date: 28 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Alien Taste by Wen Spencer ISBN: 0451458370 Publisher: Roc Pub. Date: 10 July, 2001 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
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Title: Warchild by Karin Lowachee ISBN: 0446610771 Publisher: Aspect Pub. Date: 01 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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