aptain Jani Kilian has been presumed dead for 18 years, ever since a bombing on the alien world of the idomeni. A fugitive since the explosion,
she is haunted by memories of lost comrades, lethal decisions, and the
injuries that nearly killed her. Extensive surgery saved Jani's life, and now, with a new face, she ekes out an existence on the fringes
of human society, processing documents on backwater colony worlds. Avoiding
entanglements with would-be friends, she moves on at the slightest hint of
discovery, and with good reason. If she is caught, she will certainly be
executed, either by the idomeni or by her own people.
But the appearance of an old lover brings Jani's
flight to a pause. The lover, Evan Van Reuter, has risen to a powerful
political position in the Commonwealth--but he is headed for a fall. Hounded
by political opponents and the media, he suspects his wife's recent death
was murder rather than an accident, and he begs Jani to investigate.
Her reluctant acceptance plunges Jani into a world of wealth, intrigue,
and tragedy. Digging into Evan's past, she finds fodder for scandal, and
motives aplenty for homicide. When all three Van Reuter children died in a boating accident, their parents
fell apart. Evan descended into alcoholism; his wife sabotaged his career and gave incriminating evidence to his enemies. The trail leads Jani back to the events of her own dark
past--the diplomatic mission to the idomeni which went so badly awry.
Unfortunately, Jani's health is failing. Chances are good that she will
die before she finds the answers that she and Evan need.
Dark and suspenseful
Code of Conduct is a very particular type of book, and one that will be familiar to most readers. Decades-old mysteries and lone, haunted soldiers are staples of many genres, not just SF, and fortunately author Kristine Smith shows herself to be talented and thoughtful in her approach to this otherwise old ground. She works hard to avoid clichés. Jani seeks closure for the old and bloody events of her life, but her state of crisis is a quiet one, tempered
by time. This is utterly appropriate--she is an emotionally sturdy
character, and it would be unrealistic if her psychic wounds still
visibly bled.
Unfortunately, characters are usually more dramatic when they are closer to the
edge. Smith's realistic and intelligent approach means that Jani is in many ways simply dull. Readers may expect more depth
and resourcefulness from a woman in her forties, who has survived an alien civil war, an attempt on her life,
drastic surgery and 18 years of pursuit by law enforcement. Novels
featuring older women as protagonists are rare things, generally to be
treasured. Somehow, though, Jani fails to shine, fails to make the most of her age and experience and fails to provide a thoroughly admirable heroine.
The intense interplay of human-idomeni relations is rich and well realized in
Code of Conduct. Despite a sparseness of information about the
idomeni and the long-ago civil war, richness and complexity pervade Evan's
household. This tantalizing culture is conveyed in tiny glimpses: the
narrative rarely lingers on the details of the colonies' history, on the
current state of human technology, or even on the society of Smith's
intriguing aliens. When combined with the double
fistful of loose ends at the novel's close, this sense of unearthed riches will definitely leave readers wanting more.
Fun and suspenseful, but it won't feel finished until another whole book (at least!) comes out chronicling Jani's adventures.
-- Alyx
ll of an Instant, Richard Garfinkle's second novel, deals with the consequences of humanity's discovery of a temporal existence amidst a time-ocean dubbed the Instant, and the wars that rage over its control.
The novel opens with a man, Dhiritirashta, who accidentally discovers and subsequently frees himself from the constraints of temporal existence on Earth, which he calls the Flux, and passes into an atemporal existence amidst an ocean of time, the Instant. Once in the Instant, Dhiritirashta finds that he can control and change events in the Flux by directing the waves of the ocean to achieve his desires. He then begins to alter reality to suit his vision of utopia.
Below, in the Flux, stories of a temporal god incite rebellion, and three men discover how to enter into the Instant in order to liberate the Earth. This triumvirate defeats Dhiritirashta, and while they are in the process of molding the world to their vision, another set of liberators comes forth. They eventually become victorious, and in turn are defeated by other factions, each with its own view of utopia.
With every conflict, history is vastly altered below in the Flux. Nevertheless, factions constantly arrive from the Flux, until nearly 50,000 tribal warriors exist within the Instant--all vying for control. Howeverm three groups stand out from the rest: The Ghosts; the Drums; and the Instant's only army. Within these three groups are three remarkable individuals, Nir, the War Chief of the Ghosts, Kookatchi the thief (a Drum), and Quillithe', the leader of the Instant's only army and a master strategist. These three will come to discover the true nature of the Instant and either save humanity from the whirlpool of temporal chaos that rages below in the Flux or destroy it all.
The fourth dimension viewed in two
The idea of time warriors battling for control of history is not new, but Garfinkle's execution of it is extensively thought out. The idea of an atemporal existence, manifested as an ocean, and the physical and metaphysical consequences of this metaphor, drive the plot. The puzzling out of existence in a physical manifestation of time will fascinate readers, especially as seen from the perspective of Kookatchi the thief, whose life span in the Instant is only a minute long! As Kookatchi's life recycles, minute by minute, his understanding of the ocean's true beauty borders on the profound. But Garfinkle's lack of substantial characterization can tend to expel the reader from the moment.
And while Garfinkle's prose is suitable for the philosophical pondering of time, it lacks the emotion needed to convey the passions of Nir, Kookatchi, and Quillithe'. Instead, their motivations are couched in philosophy. Characteristic of this are the Ghosts, a tribe dedicated to preserving the life of the first Homo sapien--The Great Mother--and the first 200 years of humanity from change. They show no human desire or thought and exist simply as warriors. They were once humans, yet they, like all the background inhabitants of the Instant, are portrayed as two-dimensional, rapacious, would-be temporal emperors. Which is a disappointment when compared to the wonders of the theoretical Instant. Yet despite these problems, Garfinkle has created an engaging exploration of
time expressed in an epic tale.
While I found this book to be flawed, the flaws, whether they are the weak characterization or the pervasive maleness of the work, are only so evident because of the reflective joys I gained from the intricate game played out on the pages of this novel.
-- Joe
aptain Jani Kilian has been presumed dead for 18 years, ever since a bombing on the alien world of the idomeni. A fugitive since the explosion,
she is haunted by memories of lost comrades, lethal decisions, and the
injuries that nearly killed her. Extensive surgery saved Jani's life, and now, with a new face, she ekes out an existence on the fringes
of human society, processing documents on backwater colony worlds. Avoiding
entanglements with would-be friends, she moves on at the slightest hint of
discovery, and with good reason. If she is caught, she will certainly be
executed, either by the idomeni or by her own people.
ll of an Instant, Richard Garfinkle's second novel, deals with the consequences of humanity's discovery of a temporal existence amidst a time-ocean dubbed the Instant, and the wars that rage over its control.