- Mass Market Paperback: 260 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Science Fictio (Jan 1 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0380803143
- ISBN-13: 978-0380803149
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 10.4 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 91 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #763,272 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
As Chief Medical Officer aboard the Jurisdiction Fleet Ship Ragnarok, Andrej Koscuisko's duty is to care for his shipmates; as Inquisitor, he must extract confessions and administer punishment. But while the doctor takes pride in his healing skills, the torturer knows only self-loathing. As the planet Burkhayden prepares for the arrival of its new governor, a brutal attack on a Nurail slave woman by a ship's officer sets in motion a chain of events that culminates in murder, Called upon to minister to the injured woman, Andrei is soon pressed into duty as Inquisitor after a prime suspect is taken into custody for the murder. In this minefield of intrigue and deception, where a single misstep means death, Andrej's precarious equilibrium will be strained to the breaking point -- and beyond.
Ingram
As Chief Medical Officer aboard the Jurisdiction Fleet Ship Ragnarok, Andrej Koscuisko's duty is to care for his shipmates; as Inquisitor, he must extract confessions and administer punishment. When a brutal attack on a Nurail slave woman by a ship's officer sets in motion a chain of events that culminates in murder, Andrej's precarious equilibrium will be strained to the breaking point--and beyond.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
I can hardly wait for the next instalment,
By A Reader (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hour of Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Susan Matthews is the most underrated sci-fi writer around.,
This review is from: Hour of Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)
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.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent read.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Hour of Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)
This novel had much less of the sadistic torture involved and so I liked it better than its predecessors and I felt better about myself reading this one. The story however depends on the previous more violent novels for support. This novel does not stand alone without its predecessors.It was a good novel and a good read in any case and I had difficulty putting it down. I very much look forward to Ms. Matthew's next novel I the series and how it is out soon.
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