Adam-Troy Castro

Andrea Cort is a cold, damaged human being. One would think this would make her wholly unsuitable for a career in the diplomatic corps that represents humans in a universe filled with sentient species. But the incident that damaged her as a child is also one that requires she be kept under close watch by the Dip Corps, and so her career as a counselor for that service is essentially preordained. Castro has written three novels and six short pieces about Cort, with a seventh short piece only show more recently completed and not yet published.

With Unclean Hands is the first tale about Cort chronologically, though not the first written.It is still early in her career, and Cort has been given an easy task: she must pass judgment on a deal to trade a human criminal to the Zinn in exchange for some of the valuable technology this much more advanced race has developed. The Zinn are millennia ahead of humans, but are inexplicably dying; the whole species has retreated from what was once an enormous interstellar empire. No one knows why they want a human criminal, but they are prepared to keep him in a good deal more comfort than humans would afford him, even if he is kept isolated from both Zinns and humans. Cort is under pressure to approve the trade when she meets a Zinn child named First Given. And that chance brief meeting leads Cort down a treacherous path to understanding.

Castro sets his puzzle up and then unravels it with care. The story packs a potent emotional punch. Cort is a character unlike just about any I’ve encountered over a lifetime as a Constant Reader. It’s no surprise that it was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2011. I’m looking forward to working my way through the rest of her adventures.

Originally published at http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/sfm-castro-greenblatt/. show less

Thank you, Adam-Troy Castro, for writing a children's book that breaks rules, even rules I agree with, and still makes it work.

The Rules:

1. Oh, look! A book called "Gustav Gloom"! Boys will read it because the main character is named Gustav. Girls will read it because it looks great and, hey, they're used to being COMPLETELY LEFT OUT of all the really fun adventure stories.

(Think I'm exaggerating? Try being a female fan of Tolkien and not having anybody *fun* you can pretend to be unless show more you're willing to have, like, two scenes *late* in LOTR, or are willing to pretend to be male. Then go read the Harry Potter books and see how many scenes you can find where there are only male characters present, and how many scenes there are only female characters. [Hint on that last one: NONE.] Then go and double-check the statistics about how, yes, in countries that aren't actively killing off their female children, women make up *more* than half the population and like having adventures as much as anyone. Then go light some incense in Lemony Snicket's honor. Then tell me, please, how saying "It's really important that we have male main characters, because boys just won't read female main characters but girls don't mind reading male main characters" is ANY DIFFERENT from saying, "Hey, we *have* to have mostly white characters. We can have a cute black or Latina BFF, but white people just don't feel comfortable unless they're the center of the stage. Sorry, but I don't make the rules. I'm just trying to sell stuff." Tell me how that's any different. I dare you. And yes, I've read editors, writers, and agents saying that first one almost word-for-word.)

So, fine. Adam-Troy Castro calls his book "Gustav Gloom." He lets the reader think for the whole first chapter that Gustav is the main character. By the time said reader finishes chapter two, and then chapter three and chapter four, and realizes that -- wait a minute! The girl who just moved in *next door* to Gustav is the REAL main character! -- it's too late, because the reader is hooked. And if said reader is a guy, he won't lose any Manliness points by reading a book with a female main character, because Gustav is all over the cover and *does* play a perfectly important role.

I love that Castro apparently decided that if people are stupid enough to be sexist, he's going to sell them a book with a female main character anyway, AND HE'S GOING TO MAKE THEM LIKE IT. Because you can't *not* like this book. It's just too fun. Well played, Mr. Castro. Well played.

2. You start this book wondering who exactly Gustav Gloom is, where his parents are, and why he lives in that freaky house. You end it still wondering. If you're me, you've screamed in the past about children's books that start off with a huge teasing question like that but refuse to answer the question until at least book two. If you're me, you've stopped reading series' whose first book you otherwise enjoyed, because you find that particular tease so ubiquitous and annoying. And if you're me, somehow it doesn't bother you at all that even after reading the first book in his series, you still don't know who exactly Gustav Gloom is. That's how good this is.

3. This is a humorous book for middle-school-aged readers. Apparently someone forgot to tell Adam-Troy Castro that these books are supposed to have lots of disgusting bodily references, because *all* middle-school kids find that hilarious. Instead, Castro wrote some actual just plain really funny humor -- intelligent, non-condescending humor that will crack up readers of all ages and make them annoy their nearest and dearest by saying "Let me just read you this one funny part" until they've read the whole book out loud.

Yeah, I liked this book. Can't wait for the next one. show less

Gustav Gloom is a strange and unusual boy. He lives at the darkest and creepiest house on the block. No one knows much about him or his house until the What family moves in across the street. Fernie What follows her cat onto the grounds of Gustav Gloom’s house and gets trapped in the house by the dark creatures and weird rooms that inhabit the Gloom household.

The cover and inside art is very eye-catching and are what intrigued me.

There are so many usual and imaginative characters and the show more rules that they seem to follow. I found an issue with those rules because Gustav would first tell the rules of a creature or room and then those rules always seem to get broken. It just did not make sense as to why there were rules in the first place.

My inner child was attracted to this series because of the art and theme. The actual story missed the mark for me. I don’t know if I will continue with the series. show less

This is one of the first Science Fiction in Space books that I've read in a long time that managed to hold my attention. It has likable characters, an interesting world, interesting Artificial Intelligence, and a great mystery.

It does have its faults, for example, Andrea is considered a monster by her society. But, I'm not sure if she is. Also, the AIs seem a bit too human - I'd say more, but I'd be giving away a large amount of the plot. Outside of these two issues, the book is solidly show more written and an enjoyable read. show less