Robots and Vamps

Reviewed by Matt

C. L. Anderson’s debut Sci-Fi novel, Bitter Angels, is one I have been looking forward to ever since the cover art was released. As soon I was able to get my hands on it, the book went on top of my To Be Read pile. As debut novels go this is better than most but there are some issues that I had with story. The world-building was creative, the characters were interesting, the plot was flat out great but the dialogue was the weak point which is a detriment to this type of story.

I really enjoyed the universe that Ms. Anderson has created. Governments are very concerned about wars and they are constantly monitoring other worlds to prevent a galaxy wide conflict from arising. Their most effective tools in this constant conflict are the Guardians. Guardians are individuals who have various enhancements installed into their bodies including a Companion. Think of a Companion as ghost machine that lives inside your head and acts a computer, friend, stabilizer, etc. If the Companion is ever removed from their Guardian, it as if they are taking anyway a loved one and they feel their loss for a very long time. Guardians are sent into a system to evaluate and determine if it needs to be considered a “hot spot”. If it is a system on the brink of war then a larger Guardian force is brought in to sweep it and remove any chance of a wider conflict breaking out. The Guardians oath is, “Peace is my duty. Peace is what I am called to watch and expand. I hold close the knowledge that any death by my hand may start a war without end. Only peace creates life. Only life creates peace.”

The story begins with Field commander Terese Drajeske being brought back out of retirement for an important mission. Her mentor, Bianca Fayette, was brutally murdered in the Erasmus System and Bianca has requested Terese to replace her because she is the only one who can succeed in the mission. The Guardians want to learn who killed Bianca and determine if the Erasmus System needs to be considered a “hot spot”

The Erasmus System is controlled by a group known as the First Bloods. They are essentially a bunch of aristocrats that have maintained power because everything stays within the family and their fortunes earned on the backs of their indentured servants. They keep control of the civil population through the use of Clerks. The Clerks are to used spy on people and if someone’s position is critical enough, the individual will have their own personal Clerk assigned to them and report their actions at all times. If someone is perceived as acting against the First Bloods interest then they are removed from society.

The chapters alternated between several characters but mainly focus on Field commander Terese Drajeske and Captain Amerand Jireu. Amerand is a Chief Security officer in the Erasmus System and his portions of the novel are were you learn the details about Erasmus society.  I really enjoyed the parts of the story when it followed Amerand and other native characters to Erasmus.  The political cat and mouse game set in a totalitarian society provided much more intrigue than storyline involving the murder investigation by the Guardians.

The plot is probably the strongest portion of the novel. The complexity of it easily reminded me of an Alastair Reynolds’ novel. There is overall conspiracy happening and the information dulled out in dribs and drabs but all is revealed in the end. In this way the novel was highly entertaining.

The weakness of the story was the dialogue. If you write a mystery, especially with intelligent characters, the dialogue needs to be crisp and well thought out. Many times I said to myself, “ask this” or “ask that” when characters finally start to figure some facts as to what is going on. There is that nothing drives a reader crazier than characters who have no curiosity about their situation. If the dialogue was stronger then it is likely this would have been one of my type five novels at the end of the year.

Overall, I did enjoy Bitter Angels and I am excited about any future novels from Ms. Anderson.

Author’s website: In the Future, Tense

To discuss this book, please visit Robots and Vamps Book Club