Rating: 
Summary: The best book EVER!
Review: I've read the first two in the series and I have to say that I'm very impressed! They're well written and the subject matter really makes you think about life and the world around you. Most importantly, though, it makes you think about yourself.
... I've seen many can't handle the subject matter. I personally had no problems with it so I don't really know what they're talking about.
If one can get past their little "queasy feelings" and stop insta-judging Andrej as a monster, they can look a little deeper and see what the bond-involuntaries and everyone else sees in him.
I think the main reason people are so quick to write him off as evil, is because they're comparing him to someone in their own reality, and not in the world created by the book.
The best example of a reason I can think of is.... well, think of Joslire's expectations of him during the book. He expects Andrej to treat him badly, but Andrej doesn't. So, by NOT doing anything to Joslire, he's essentially done the kindest thing for him that anyone ever has, in his history of being a bond-involuntary. What's so great about Andrej, is that he treats people just a little better than everyone else does. He's different, which is a good quality in such a rigid and vicious system. But anyhow... that's just whats been irking me about these reviews...
I heard about this book in a Gundam Wing fanfic. The main character was inspired by Andrej and since I liked the fic, it got me interested. ...
Rating:
Summary: UNFORGETTABLE
Review: I loved this book even as I cringed reading it. The character development is done with such subtle shadings, especially Andrei, the tormented surgeon/torturer, and Joslire, his insightful bond-involuntary (virtual slave), that your heart aches for both of them. Caught in a situation not of their making, their innate sense of honor and longing for justice is used to create some powerful scenes. Watching how Andrei evolves, slowing gaining the respect of those in bondage, you realize the immense consequences of an act of compassion. Any book that can make you think about human nature, the good and the bad, deserves praise. This is the 1st of a trilogy and although the other two are excellent, this one is the best.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredibly violent
Review: "Exchange of Hostages" is both disturbing and exciting reading.
Rating:
Summary: absorbing
Review: This book is absorbing. Andrej Koscuisko is a brilliant surgeon who has been sent to military installation to learn how to become a most refined torturer. Written from several points of view (that of Andrej himself, as well as of his fellow Student, his Tutor, and the two bond-involuntaries (slaves) assigned to him), we watch Andrej's evolution and, perhaps, devolution. The book is well-written, frightening, and I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: High Impact
Review: Boy, the back cover does not lie when it warns that Matthews pulls no punches! It is rather difficult to put a symathetic spin on a person who is essentially in training to be a torturer and finds out that he likes it. A lot. The author manages beautifully and appearently without strain. The society in which Andrej lives is dark and systematic in its savagery and psychological oppression, and yet it is not very hard for a reader to reconcile Andrej the sadistic torturer with Andrej the brilliant surgeon and emphatic physician. I could not bear to put the book down once I opened it. I cannot wait to see further adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Not for everyone, but it should be.
Review: Susan Matthews novel, "An Exchange of Hostages" is one of those books that some people will hate, others will love and very few will read with indifference. Her protagonist is Andrej Koscuisko, a brilliant young physician. Despite his moral objections, he has been forced by his patriarch to undertake an 8 year tour of duty as a combination ship's surgeon/interogation officer. This book describes the training he receives for the latter role. It should be easy to hate Koscuisko. He is the eldest son of a rich family, destined for wealth and power. An unexpected sadistic streak allows him to revel in work which he expected, even hoped to find repugnant. The fact that the author does not allow the reader to condemn him outright will disturb or anger some. However, this book makes an important point. Koscuisko, the Inquisitor is also a "hostage" or victim, and therefore he, too, deserves our sympathy. When he goes to heroic lengths to save an innocent whom his society considers expendible, he also salvages a shred of his own humanity. Is it enough to save his soul? I assume the sequels will attempt to answer this question. I give the book four stars instead of five, because the other student, Mergau is so poorly fleshed out that the author risks allowing the reader to identify her as a villain. Villains exist only in the imaginations of Nazis and Witch hunters. In a truly humane world, there are no villains and no one, not even the Inquisitor (or his enemies), is expendible.
Rating:
Summary: torture makes a science fiction book more interesting !
Review: I found this book hiding in my library and i couldn't put it down until i was finished with it 5 hours later. This book is one of those rare oddities that enthrall you with the idea that no matter what the conditioning the aptitude to become a monster is in all of us. Andrej is in a breed all his own located somewhere in the twisted potential of science fiction. His relationships with his slaves was the most interesting part of the story, when they were not being discussed in parts of the chapter i had an intense anticipation for when i would see them again. I particularly enjoyed the "i love you, Spartacus" scenes if you catch my drift. I only wish that there were more of these homoerotic innuendos. I love this book and i eagerly await the sequel. P.S. if people are so remiss about Andrej's behavior, its probably because they felt guilty about enjoying the torture scenes. I liked them.
Rating: 
Summary: Well written but with a hollow moral core
Review: Ms. Matthews writes well. I found Exchange of Hostages engrossing, and I hardly put it down until I finished it. That being said, once you finish the book, a little reflection reveals that the novel is hollow at its core. There are three huge problems with the novel: 1. the protagonist is a loser. He turns his back on his considerable surgical skills to become a torturer for the state. His motivation: to preserve his privileged status in society and to retain his vast inheritence. One can hardly laude his choice, particularly with its echos of the choices made during Nazi Germany; 2. the premise of the novel is that the state employs torture both as a tool for interrogation and as punishment, and requires skilled and trained people to conduct the torture sessions. Funny, throughout history, untrained morons have proved fully capable of torturing their prisoners. Torture hardly requires extensive training or practice!; and 3. Ms. Matthews has cooked-up the silliest plot device in history: Somehow, everyone around the protagonist loves him, including some of his victims. I can't even begin to explain how twisted and sick this aspect of the novel is. In sum, the hollow moral core of this novel eviscerates any intrinsic value the writing may have.
Rating:
Summary: And now for something completely different ...
Review: Sadist SF! A new approach to the medical SF genre (cf James White's Sector General series). Here we have a new approach to healing and justice -- the medical inquisitor. An interesting story and good setup to the next in the series (there are three so far). Matthews is a very good writer, especially in these uncharted thematic territories.
Rating:
Summary: Really bad cover on an excellent book
Review: All I really have to add to 2 years worth of reviews is that the cover has not one thing to do with the book. If you ever needed proof that the marketing department of most publishing houses is always located at the other end of the universe from anyone who reads the books this is it. I guess they just grabbed the first thing on the pile.
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