Rating: 
Summary: Unexpected - a mystery wrapped in a cloud of unanswered ??'s
Review: I just finished the new book by Susan Matthews and I loved it. The character of Koscuisko is one of the most filled out characters I have read in a long time. He is a character that you can not help but feel strongly about. The book leads the reader on a tortured journey with Koscuisko and his Security that is unbelievable. The book moves fast and I almost could not put it down. The novel takes place years after Prisoner of Conscience and the changes to Koscuisko are drastic. He is a man with out hope of redemption for most of the book. The end just leaves me waiting for the next one, may it be really soon!
Rating: 
Summary: Maintains the standards set by the first two!
Review: I just finished the new book by Susan Matthews and I loved it. The character of Koscuisko is one of the most filled out characters I have read in a long time. He is a character that you can not help but feel strongly about. The book leads the reader on a tortured journey with Koscuisko and his Security that is unbelievable. The book moves fast and I almost could not put it down. The novel takes place years after Prisoner of Conscience and the changes to Koscuisko are drastic. He is a man with out hope of redemption for most of the book. The end just leaves me waiting for the next one, may it be really soon!
Rating: 
Summary: Not as fulfilling as 'An Exchange of Hostages', but good.
Review: I think of this book as a sidenote to an Exchange of Hostages. I enjoyed it, but I felt as if '...Hostages' had more depth. I can't wait to read the next one...
Rating:
Summary: I can hardly wait for the next instalment
Review: I would have given this 5 stars if I hadn't read "Exchange..." and "Prisoner..." first. It's not that the quality of writing is any less, or that the characters have run their course (far from it!), only that there is too great a time gap between the action at the Dommitt Prison and the story in this book. Why was Andrej transferred from Scylla? What happened to Code and Chief Sammons? And, most importantly, what has been happening to Andrej himself? The last question is only obliquely answered in "...Judgment."The tantalising glimpses that Miss Matthews gives us of the Bench Federation of Worlds might be an excellent way of filling in these frustrating gaps. It would be fascinating to know how the bonds came to be bonds (were they Free Government? What exactly is the Free Government? &c). Miss Matthews - if you read your reviews, how about the story from Robert's point of view, or Joslire's (a wonderful but sadly wasted character)? Having made the complaint about the series, I have to say that this is a great book, and Bruce Applebaum is gibbering! Andrej Kosciusko is simply the most extraordinary character in science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: I can hardly wait for the next instalment
Review: I would have given this 5 stars if I hadn't read "Exchange..." and "Prisoner..." first. It's not that the quality of writing is any less, or that the characters have run their course (far from it!), only that there is too great a time gap between the action at the Dommitt Prison and the story in this book. Why was Andrej transferred from Scylla? What happened to Code and Chief Sammons? And, most importantly, what has been happening to Andrej himself? The last question is only obliquely answered in "...Judgment." The tantalising glimpses that Miss Matthews gives us of the Bench Federation of Worlds might be an excellent way of filling in these frustrating gaps. It would be fascinating to know how the bonds came to be bonds (were they Free Government? What exactly is the Free Government? &c). Miss Matthews - if you read your reviews, how about the story from Robert's point of view, or Joslire's (a wonderful but sadly wasted character)? Having made the complaint about the series, I have to say that this is a great book, and Bruce Applebaum is gibbering! Andrej Kosciusko is simply the most extraordinary character in science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: I can hardly wait for the next instalment
Review: I would have given this 5 stars if I hadn't read "Exchange..." and "Prisoner..." first. It's not that the quality of writing is any less, or that the characters have run their course (far from it!), only that there is too great a time gap between the action at the Dommitt Prison and the story in this book. Why was Andrej transferred from Scylla? What happened to Code and Chief Sammons? And, most importantly, what has been happening to Andrej himself? The last question is only obliquely answered in "...Judgment." The tantalising glimpses that Miss Matthews gives us of the Bench Federation of Worlds might be an excellent way of filling in these frustrating gaps. It would be fascinating to know how the bonds came to be bonds (were they Free Government? What exactly is the Free Government? &c). Miss Matthews - if you read your reviews, how about the story from Robert's point of view, or Joslire's (a wonderful but sadly wasted character)? Having made the complaint about the series, I have to say that this is a great book, and Bruce Applebaum is gibbering! Andrej Kosciusko is simply the most extraordinary character in science fiction.
Rating:
Summary: I haven't read a book this good in years!
Review: If you are fond of military science fiction, and don't flinch at the brutality of mankind's actions and thoughts -- then this is the series of books for you. It is brutally honest, written in a unique voice that is brilliant, even though I found the subject matter and story line repugnant. I sincerely look forward to another book by Susan Matthews, but in a setting , plot and theme that is not so depressing and dark.
Rating:
Summary: A look into the dark, tortured depths of "humanity"
Review: If you are fond of military science fiction, and don't flinch at the brutality of mankind's actions and thoughts -- then this is the series of books for you. It is brutally honest, written in a unique voice that is brilliant, even though I found the subject matter and story line repugnant. I sincerely look forward to another book by Susan Matthews, but in a setting , plot and theme that is not so depressing and dark.
Rating:
Summary: Susan Matthews is the most underrated sci-fi writer around.
Review: One of Harold Bloom's criterion for great literature (he's talking about Dante, Shakespeare and Virgil) is "strangeness." He goes on to explain that the greatest literature in Western Civilization shares two seemingly conflicting characteristics--that the work is unique--he calls it "strange." It's like nothing else that's ever been written before. Yet on the other hand, the work is also familiar. Somehow the work resonantes with the reader--at once both familiar and yet strange. I think Susan Matthews falls into this cateogry very neatly. In terms of science fiction. I don't agree that this series has run its course. Her character, Andrej Kosciuscko-however-you-spell-his- name, is fascinating. He emboies the worst and best qualities of humanity. Sheri Tepper performs the same kind of feat in Grass. Though she has written many other novels, some good, some simple rehashes of her other novels, Grass has that familiar other world feel, but it is also one of the strangest worlds I've ever read. It's better than Ringworld, Gaiea, or any other world that sci-fi writers have come up with. If you haven't read this very talented writer's effort, do read them. Colony Fleet and Avalanche Soldiers are both [bad], especially Avalanche. Colony Fleet is readable but unremarkable, but Avalanche Soldier is really bad. Susan Matthew's trilogy that feature the torturer, Andrej Koscuiscko(?????) is without a doubt the best series I've read since John Varley's Titan, Wizard and Demon. She's right up there with Joan Slonszewski, Sherri Tepper, Pamela Sargent and David Gerrold.
Rating:
Summary: Susan Matthews is the most underrated sci-fi writer around.
Review: One of Harold Bloom's criterion for great literature (he's talking about Dante, Shakespeare and Virgil) is "strangeness." He goes on to explain that the greatest literature in Western Civilization shares two seemingly conflicting characteristics--that the work is unique--he calls it "strange." It's like nothing else that's ever been written before. Yet on the other hand, the work is also familiar. Somehow the work resonantes with the reader--at once both familiar and yet strange. I think Susan Matthews falls into this cateogry very neatly. In terms of science fiction. I don't agree that this series has run its course. Her character, Andrej Kosciuscko-however-you-spell-his- name, is fascinating. He emboies the worst and best qualities of humanity. Sheri Tepper performs the same kind of feat in Grass. Though she has written many other novels, some good, some simple rehashes of her other novels, Grass has that familiar other world feel, but it is also one of the strangest worlds I've ever read. It's better than Ringworld, Gaiea, or any other world that sci-fi writers have come up with. If you haven't read this very talented writer's effort, do read them. Colony Fleet and Avalanche Soldiers are both [bad], especially Avalanche. Colony Fleet is readable but unremarkable, but Avalanche Soldier is really bad. Susan Matthew's trilogy that feature the torturer, Andrej Koscuiscko(?????) is without a doubt the best series I've read since John Varley's Titan, Wizard and Demon. She's right up there with Joan Slonszewski, Sherri Tepper, Pamela Sargent and David Gerrold.
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