A review by pjonsson
Emissary by Mike Shepherd
4.0
This book ended up in the category of books that I got because it was part of a series that I liked but I had my doubts about this particular book so it gathered imaginary dust on my virtual shelf for quite a while.
The reason I had my doubts about the book was the title and the book blurb. Kris as an emissary sounded way too much like a story focusing on politics and the usual scheming and backstabbing related to that subject which is not at all what I am looking for in a book.
Sure enough there is a fair bit of this but as I found out while reading, it is Iteeche politics and, as I also found out, Iteeche politics can be a real killer (pun intended).
Actually it does not take long at all for Kris’ to have to rely more on her battlecruisers than her negotiation skills. Not surprisingly Kris’ mission is not exactly a mission for a traditional emissary, at least not one in human terms, and there is more than one surprise in store for her as she enters deeper and deeper into Iteeche space as well as their social and political structures.
That the Iteeche are different from the humans was clear from the beginning. Now it becomes clear how different they are. Well maybe I should say different from the humans in the part of the globe where I live. I am sure quite a few people would say that the Iteeche are pictured after this or that society or religion but I leave that to each one to decide.
Anyway, as it turns out, the Iteeche are stubborn, deeply racist, oppressive towards the females of their society, fanatic about procedures, as far from a democracy that you can get and quick to resort to violent and less than honorable methods for solving their “issues”. I am sure that you can see one or two small problems assigning Kris’ as an emissary for a situation like this. At least if you were expecting a peaceful solution.
Well, the Iteeche did not really want an emissary anyway but what they actually wanted (some of them at least) actually surprised both Kris and myself as a reader.
Unfortunately I personally feel that the author went somewhat over the top with some of the Iteeche fanaticism and strange thinking. It just did not feel very believable at times. Same goes for the (over)use of smart metal. It is really a bit over the top now. Have a problem? Just throw some smart metal at it.
Overall the book is very good but these two things are dragging it down for me. It does set up quite an interesting scenario for the next book though which I am now quite looking forward to.
The reason I had my doubts about the book was the title and the book blurb. Kris as an emissary sounded way too much like a story focusing on politics and the usual scheming and backstabbing related to that subject which is not at all what I am looking for in a book.
Sure enough there is a fair bit of this but as I found out while reading, it is Iteeche politics and, as I also found out, Iteeche politics can be a real killer (pun intended).
Actually it does not take long at all for Kris’ to have to rely more on her battlecruisers than her negotiation skills. Not surprisingly Kris’ mission is not exactly a mission for a traditional emissary, at least not one in human terms, and there is more than one surprise in store for her as she enters deeper and deeper into Iteeche space as well as their social and political structures.
That the Iteeche are different from the humans was clear from the beginning. Now it becomes clear how different they are. Well maybe I should say different from the humans in the part of the globe where I live. I am sure quite a few people would say that the Iteeche are pictured after this or that society or religion but I leave that to each one to decide.
Anyway, as it turns out, the Iteeche are stubborn, deeply racist, oppressive towards the females of their society, fanatic about procedures, as far from a democracy that you can get and quick to resort to violent and less than honorable methods for solving their “issues”. I am sure that you can see one or two small problems assigning Kris’ as an emissary for a situation like this. At least if you were expecting a peaceful solution.
Well, the Iteeche did not really want an emissary anyway but what they actually wanted (some of them at least) actually surprised both Kris and myself as a reader.
Unfortunately I personally feel that the author went somewhat over the top with some of the Iteeche fanaticism and strange thinking. It just did not feel very believable at times. Same goes for the (over)use of smart metal. It is really a bit over the top now. Have a problem? Just throw some smart metal at it.
Overall the book is very good but these two things are dragging it down for me. It does set up quite an interesting scenario for the next book though which I am now quite looking forward to.