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The Terrorists of Irustan
Will revolution erupt from behind a healer's veil?
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The Terrorists of Irustan
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By Louise Marley
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Ace Science Fiction
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$13.95/19.99 Canada
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Trade Paperback, May 1999
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ISBN 0-441-00619-1
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Review by A.M. Dellamonica
 ahra IbSada has a life of rare privilege. On a world where women are rarely taught to read, she has slipped through a gap in Irustan's strict religious laws to become a medicant, a doctor and surgeon. Her devoted husband Qadir is respectable, intelligent and even gentle. Zahra's career widens what would otherwise be her very limited contact with society, and when the time comes to take an apprentice, she can choose from the brightest girls the colony has to offer.
It is her apprentice's arrival that changes everything for Zahra in Louise Marley's The Terrorists of Irustan. Childless by choice, Zahra finds that her relationship with the brilliant and energetic Ishi erodes her carefully nurtured detachment from the world. On Irustan, women are veiled and hidden from everyone but the men of their household. They are forbidden upon pain of death to travel unescorted, to use a wavephone or even to visit with friends more than twice a month. Upon reaching sexual maturity, they are ceded by their fathers to become the wives of strangers, men who are usually 30 years older than their brides.
Even before Ishi comes into her life, Zahra is rebellious, struggling with Qadir to be allowed to treat prostitutes in her clinic. As she and the child become close, she finds it harder and harder to live within Irustan's restrictions. Then danger threatens when a close friend's husband agrees to marry her daughter to a brutal mine worker. Torn between her duty as a healer and her friend's plight, and all too able to envision Ishi falling prey to a similar fate, Zahra must decide if she will cross the line from minor rule-breaking to open revolution.
A world where fanaticism reigns
Marley is unflinching in her portrayal of the repressive and unjust society on Irustan. There are no pulled punches here--Zahra's patients bleed both physically and spiritually, and readers bleed with them. But The Terrorists of Irustan is realism in the best sense of the word--it is neither one-sided nor simplistic. The characters in this novel are drawn with precision, and each has made a different accommodation to the Irustani regime. Qadir, for example, is motivated at times by his responsibilities, at others by his love for Zahra. His actions run the spectrum from villainous to heroic.
The Terrorists of Irustan also boasts vivid imagery, meticulous medical writing and complex relationships, with plenty of terror and suspense thrown in. The pace is as measured as slow poison. Despite its dark tone, the novel entertains while informing. Readers who like happy or tidy endings will not appreciate this one. Nor will those who strongly dislike feminist SF, though The Terrorists of Irustan avoids most of the pitfalls of the sub-genre. Perhaps its only weakness is that, in basing Irustan's culture on civilizations far from North America, Marley is giving readers a chance to distance themselves from the day-to-day horror of Zahra's life.
The Terrorists of Irustan is set apart from other books of its type by an understanding that people are as enmeshed in their societies as Zahra is hidden in her concealing veil. Marley shows readers a world where women collaborate in their own oppression, and where it is life-threatening for even the men to talk of change. Totalitarianism is so absolute that fighting it seems impossible, and it is so diffuse that Zahra and her friends despair of even identifying a target.
Fight they do, however, and though Zahra IbSada pays a high price for her revolution, readers will appreciate the payoff.
This is absolutely super. It is not a happy book, though, or in any way light entertainment.
-- A.M.
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First Evidence
The crimes are inhuman, and the perpetrators may be too
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First Evidence
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By Ken Goddard
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Bantam Books
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$22.95
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Hardcover, June 1999
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ISBN 0-553-10864-6
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Review by Susan Dunman
 t's been 15 years since forensic scientist Colin Cellars has seen his
old college buddy, Bobby Dawson, but a reunion has finally been arranged.
Working in Jasper County, Ore., to assist with the investigation of a rash
of missing persons reports, Cellars waits for a very late Dawson at the
county civic center. As a small crowd enters the center for a meeting
Dawson suggested the two of them attend, Cellars notices some unusual
shadows flickering around the periphery of the building. He becomes
inexplicably apprehensive at the sight of these shadows, and his concern grows as to the whereabouts of his missing friend.
Then Cellars learns he's the scheduled guest speaker at the gathering of
locals, all of whom believe the missing people have been abducted by aliens. The audience expects him to explain how to properly preserve and collect evidence proving contact with aliens, and Cellars decides to humor the group by sharing his expertise in evidence analysis. The meeting is cut short when Cellars receives an emergency request from the local police department to investigate an incident where shots have been fired and where the deputies dispatched to the scene are missing.
A remote cabin in the Oregon wilderness offers Cellars the most confusing murder mystery of his career. A body with a mangled face, along with blood and bullets throughout the cabin, provide plenty of material to analyze, but none of it makes any sense. To make matters worse, something that feels very threatening seems determined to eliminate all of the evidence.
Who done it?
Combining different genres can often offer new perspectives, as long as the elements of each are added in the right proportions. Goddard mixes the detective/mystery genre with science fiction to create an entertaining story that manages to be both realistic and improbable at the same time. The main character, Cellars, has an analytical mind that's downright scary and a heart made for TV daytime drama. Unfortunately, none of the other characters are nearly as engaging, and Cellars is left to carry most of the plot by himself.
Perhaps because of his background in forensics, the author seems to
emphasize the detective components of his story. The text includes a
descriptive list of all evidence collected at the scene of the crime (60
items in all) and a detailed diagram of the murder victim's cabin. There are also plenty of references to firearms specifications and police department operating procedures. Those who like their science fiction without distractions may not care for this approach, but it does convey the many skills needed by successful criminal investigators.
Goddard is also a master at creating atmosphere, and this is where the book really shines. A lot of the action takes place on dark, rain-soaked nights full of sinister happenings. Suspense keeps the pages turning at a fast clip, even if some scenes feel contrived and there are too many convenient coincidences. It's easy to get caught up in trying to determine exactly who was murdered, who or what committed the deadly crime, and the most important question of all...why?
Goddard creates an X-Files feeling as he cleverly demonstrates the problems with extraterrestrial evidence. Forget the beach--save this one for a stormy night with plenty of thunder and lightning.
-- Susan
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