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Loading... Bitter Angels (original 2009; edition 2009)by C. L. Anderson (Author)
Work detailsBitter Angels by C. L. Anderson (2009)
Amazon preorder,Amazon received (  ) romsfuulynn | Apr 28, 2013 |  I found it confusing and unengaging. (  ) SChant | Apr 25, 2013 | This was a surprisingly good book. What I had assumed was a fairly straightforward military/spy sf type story actually turns out to be a fairly thoughtful novel with some pretty well-drawn characters. Anderson's depiction of a totalitarian society of space stations and gas giant moons in which the ruling family retains control through a system of debt slavery and a monopoly over the water supply is particularly vivid. She really captures the desperation, paranoia and do-anything-to-survive compulsions that coerce otherwise moral people to continually engage in zero-sum games to survive, thereby perpetuating the very system which keeps them down. She also poses some penetrating questions about humanitarian interventions and to what extent a society devoted to non-violence can influence and change a tyrannical one without forsaking its own principles. C. L. Anderson is the pseudonym for veteran author Sarah Zettel and I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for some of her other books. (  ) iftyzaidi | Mar 29, 2012 | Written under a pseudonym by Sarah Zettel, I thought this was an interesting addition to her work. Sarah Zettel is one of my favorite authors, but this didn't quite hold up for me, for reasons I can't quite define. At the same time, its a good read, dealing carefully with very human characters doing their best under ugly, constrained circumstances in a totalitarian state. Given the potential for technologies to enhance the potential of totalitarianism, I think its an important and interesting theme for science fiction to tackle, and she does it as well as anyone out there. ( ) mbg0312 | Feb 14, 2012 | I had high hopes for this book but in the end the plot was muddled. There wasn't enough of a connection to familiar things to bridge the gap into the sci fi world for the reader. In Star Wars, when Leia call Han a "scruffy nerf herder" we get the reference even if we don' t know what a nerf is. There weren't enough connections like that and plot ultimately comes together not in the last 100 pages but in the last 25 or so. I really lost interest way before then. ( ) mpolino | Sep 3, 2010 |
 It's by no means a comforting sort of story; it's ambitious and thoughtful. While at times it's hard to remember who's doing what to whom, and certain aspects of the ending don't really ring true to me, Bitter Angels is otherwise a rather enjoyable book. [Not so much a review as thoughts by the author] “All we are saying is give peace a chance,” John Lennon once sang, from his bed. The question is: What does it take to give peace a chance — and is it an equitable price for what you get?
No descriptions found. An Imploding Star System. A Murdered Galactic Spy. A Woman Seeking the Truth - and Finding the Unbelievable. The Erasmus System is a sprawling realm of slavery, smugglers, spies - and constant, creeping decrepitude. Here everyone who is not part of the ruling Four Families is a slave of one kind or another. But the Guardians, a special-forces branch inside the United World Government for Earth, have deemed Erasmus a 'hot spot.' Somehow, it is believed, this failing colony intends to launch a war upon the solar system. Ex-Field Commander Terese Drajeske, now a mother of three, has been called back to active duty and sent to Erasmus, ostensibly to investigate the murder of her colleague - and friend - Bianca Fayette. At first blush, the death defies explanation: Bianca was immortal. But beneath that single murder lies a twisted foundation of deceptions. Suddenly Terese is plunged into a vortex of shattered lives, endemic deceit, and one dreadful secret. In this society without hope, someone has put into motion a plan that will cast humanity into chaos. And Terese, who has given up her family and her sanity to prevent war, may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice..… (more) (summary from another edition) |
 Google Books — Loading...RatingAverage: (3.48)
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