Emissaries from the Dead (Andrea Cort Book 1)

So I just finished the book a second time because I didn't remember finishing it the first time. I have a very good memory for stories but this one just wasn't memorable. I had very few flashes of deja vu and wasn't until the end that I realized I've finished the novel once before.The setting was interesting and I did keep reading because I wanted to know more but it focused a lot more on the murders. Of all the different sentient species, none were introduced except for the artificial intelligences which aren't even a species. A lot more could have been done with this futuristic setting but we just get a very narrow view. Half of the mysteries were obvious especially the one involving Gibb. Andrea was not a very likable main character.With all that I would have given it three stars if not for the following. From the beginning I was wondering about the location of Hammocktown. It feels like it's located at the bottom of the growth. No actual description or explanation. I can make assumptions it's more open and easier access for transportation but isn't it more human to want to be higher up without the view of a plunging death below? There's also an assumption throughout that once you let go of a vine death is inevitable. What prevents someone from grabbing a new one? Sounded like the vegetation is dense. I hate when there are flaws in the logic so it loses one more star.

Adam-Troy Castro's "Emissaries from the Dead" (it'll take a while before you realize how many ways that title refers to various events in the book) is sci-fi noir at its most relentless. And in Andrea Cort it features a damaged heroine who makes Walter Jon Williams's Caroline Sula of the Dead Empire trilogy and Kristine Smith's Jani Kilian look relatively normal.Andrea, former child-murderer, is indentured into the multispecies diplomatic corps, and in her role as judge advocate she's dispatched to an artificially constructed (by AIs) world that has a habitable area Andrea describes (the narrative is first person) as "an Uppergrowth of knotty vegetation clinging to the interior station axis." Only the upper atmosphere is "congenial to the life forms the AIsource had engineered." Chief among those were "brachiators," who are sentient beings that seem to be a primates with some slothlike elements. Also present are indentured humans, who've been invited there by the AIsource. A murder has been committed, and Andrea must solve the case, and not lay the blame on the AIsource.The plot takes the usual noiristic turns, and follows the usual conventions--with one difference. The AIs know who the perpetrator is, but they have their own reasons for wanting Andrea to make the discovery herself. And they also inform her that her life (as she's already suspected) is in danger. Clever that: Mr. Castro has neatly sidestepped the problem of having that annoying kid who exposed the naked emperor from again piping up to remind us all that "if the AIs know everything, why do they need Andrea Cort?"Andrea perseveres, of course--we know that because of the first-person narrative (to say nothing of the appearance of a second volume of the series), and in a most interesting manner. Acrophobic, nail-chewing Andrea overcomes some of her own demons along the way (not without the aid of the friends she makes--the friends she keeps insisting she doesn't want), and she wraps the whole thing up in the grand hardboiled tradition. (4.5 stars.)

An unlikable protagonist, deliberately so, but you'll be spending a long time with her in this too wordy novel. Some twists and turns and changes at the end, but they're not enough to make we want to go further in this series.

What do you want from a scifi novel? How many times have you started a book with high expectations, or at least hopes, and found that although the subject matter of the book was promising, the author just was at best average; you don't want to waste your time, and you skip ahead frequently. Mr. Castro is an excellent writer and storyteller. That's all you can ask.

Andrea Cort is one of my favorite characters. I've been waiting for the Kindle version of this novel for some time. It completely lived up to my expectations. Hughly recommended.

The thing about this novel is that you have a trifecta of goodness: Good character development of the main character, whom you like despite her misanthropic outlook; a crazy new world where down is up and up is down and life is in the bottom of trees where you fight not to fall up (and where our protagonist is deathly afraid of heights!); and a murder mystery that's more convoluted than anything I can recall reading in years. Top that with prose that is engaging and well written, and this start to a series is very, very worth your reading time.If you like military sf tales, mysteries or hard science sf, you will likely find the drama and tension in this book works for you.

This is my first experience with Adam-Troy Castro's work and I started reading this book enthusiastic for it's premise, protagonist, and setting. The setting (a highly elaborate space station created by AIs) was great, the protagonist (a sort of anti-hero named Andrea Cort) was better than average, but the premise (a murder mystery) took too long to begin and too long again to reach fruition.I recommend this book to anyone who wants a solid work of science fiction and who doesn't mind if the story slows (and sometimes meanders) now and again.

I especially liked how he designed an alien theology based upon their world-view. Immense depth to his world. The plot was almost superfluous to his world-building. Yet, it too was meaningful and convoluted. Until the 'Heckler' is actually named I was still guessing.My only complaint is that the title seems to imply a series, but the end of the novel wraps up too many loose ends (or at least foreshadows the resolution).This is one of the strongest 'first' novels I've read in a while.

As a PKD Award winner (joint, 2009) I had high hopes for EftD. Perhaps, in fairness, too high. However, it failed to live up to them on every basic level. The world Castro has created is neither convincing or compelling (ingenious humans capable of interstellar travel live in big floppy bags hanging from the ceiling -- how resourceful is that?). It also fails as a mystery thriller, basically because it contains no interesting characters, no tangible clues, and no real mystery. The main protagonist is annoying and her behaviour is often bemusing and at times irrational. Much of what she does neither makes sense or drives the vague, diffuse plot forward. At its best Castro’s writing fails to engage and at it’s worst is downright irritating, especially when he tries to be tricksy. I finished it because I wanted to review it, and I never review anything I haven’t completed, but reading it was an empty and somewhat dispiriting experience. It’s hard for me to think of anything positive to say about this book, and that’s a darn shame. Safe to say I shall not be reading any more of the Andrea Cort novels.

This lay in my to-read pile for fair few months so that by the time I picked it up and was halfway through it I was pleased to find that a second novel about the lead character was in print.  Third Claw of God, the (Andrea Cort Novels)  I'm now halfway through that and hoping a third may be in the offing. Here a male author has managed to create a credible female view-point character set in a far-future where humanity has spread over vast areas of space and had to cope with many alien encounters not all of them physical. Indeed the major alien race Andrea encounters here is an infinitely long-surviving AI conglomeration most of whom are bored to distraction by eternity and seeking a means of terminating their existence but with a rebel minority who wish to go on living. The implication is that all the material races are and have been manipulated by these entities and the complications this proposes should make for a series as varied as Ian M Banks' Culture universe or Kage Baker's Company novels. Well worth a go for any SF reader. Third Claw of God, the (Andrea Cort Novels)

A gem! Beautifully written principal character who has a sharp tongue and a wit, in the context of a mystery in a mysterious setting. Enjoyable and underrated. Do read it!

Definitely belongs to the best SciFi books I've read. Extremely thrilling. And Andrea Cort is an absolutely fascinating character with a very unique personality.