A Matter of Oaths

First published in 1988, ‘A Matter of Oaths’ reads like a precursor to Ann Leckie’s [b:Ancillary Justice|17333324|Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1)|Ann Leckie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1397215917l/17333324._SY75_.jpg|24064628] and Yoon Ha Lee’s [b:Machineries of Empire|46377628|Machineries of Empire (4 Book Series)|Yoon Ha Lee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1561129121l/46377628._SX50_.jpg|71409766] trilogies. All three are military sci-fi in the same way that [b:Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series|8432716|Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin Series|Patrick show more O'Brian|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1276183955l/8432716._SX50_.jpg|13296149] are military historical; they’re set on ships but the plots are centred upon the crew. ‘A Matter of Oaths’ begins with a ship taking on a new officer with a mysterious, not to say opaque, past. Rafe has had his identity wiped for oath-breaking, yet his previous life becomes increasingly intrusive with time. As with Leckie and Ha Lee’s novels, the plot essentially amounts to office politics writ large across an interstellar navy. This is an approach that I really enjoy: character-driven narrative within a carefully structured and densely imagined future world. ‘A Matter of Oaths’ has an appealing cast of main characters and technological details that have aged pretty well. Spaceships are operated via webbing, which is similar to jacking into the Matrix and has an interesting set of drawbacks and limitations. It requires careful training, talent, and body modification. The experience is addictive and only allowed within a carefully controlled Guild system. Also akin to Leckie and Ha Lee’s worlds, but more unusual for a thirty year old novel, are the casual acceptance of bisexuality and gender fluidity.

Indeed, a major plot point turns out to be that one of the immortal emperors was Rafe's ex-boyfriend. I called this when his current boyfriend was treated with deference by palace guards, so was very pleased when it was revealed. I hardly ever correctly guess twists! Plus, it fitted very nicely into the intrigue of the plot. The romance between Rafe and Joshim was sweet, although my favourite character was the acerbic Commander Rallya. What a role model. Still, perhaps my favourite moment was Joshim boldly asking an immortal whether he had any spiritual beliefs. I would have liked to have spent longer amid the culture of the two empires, as I found the setting very intriguing. A trilogy length of time, perhaps! The plot moves so fast that there isn’t time to learn a great deal, although I can't fault the good share of time given to character development. All told, a satisfying and entertaining space mystery complete with an excellent cast and exciting plot. As Becky Chambers laments in her introduction to the 2017 edition, I wish I’d come across it earlier. During my teenage years it would have made a really nice change from the frequently misogynistic and nearly always heteronormative sci-fi I was reading. show less

A book club pick that I couldn’t quite embrace ;)

This book was endorsed by Becky Chambers, one of my favourite authors, so I ended up suggesting it for my book club.

This is a space opera, set in a universe with two interstellar empires locked in low-grade war. There is also a Guild of “webbers”, those who operate “the web”, controlling space ships via a mind-machine link (a trope that I like very much). The Guild is supposedly independent, offering its services to both empires.

Bhattya, a famous patrol ship, is looking for a new officer. Enter Rafe, a talented webber. It seems that he had done something nasty ten years ago and had his identity wiped as punishment. He needs a new commission, and can’t get one. Bhattya’s show more crew can’t possibly want him, and Rafe’s personality isn’t helping matters. Of course, Rallya the commander is curious. Of course Rafe gets the berth, come on. We want a book to happen, don’t we? Naturally, Rafe’s backstory is not what is seems, so we’ll get reveals, assassination attempts, space battles, spies, kidnappings, daring rescues and stakes going up, up, up. The pacing is uneven, however. The first half of the book drags, and it took me a while to get fully engaged. But once the plot picks up, it becomes more fun. Unfortunately, the latter half of the book also features the most boring and undramatic space battle I ever had the privilege to read about. Also, there are too many coincidences and things left unexplained.

Rafe, the main POV character, is intriguing as he regains his memories and uncovers his true identity. However, the other characters, feel flat and serve primarily to drive the plot forward. The book wants to be a character-driven story as well as a fast-paced space adventure, and it doesn't work. But there is a lot of banter that was very enjoyable:

“Why do I have this insane urge to duck whenever I am in the same room as these two?” Vidar asked Joshim in a loud whisper.
“That’s not insanity. That’s self-preservation,” Joshim answered.

Published in the 1980s, the novel is ahead of its time, depicting a queernormative society with a lot of sexual freedom. Most of the cast are POC, and the commander of Bhattya is a woman in her 60s— a rarity in sci-fi even today. There is a but: this is a case of the author having great ideas, but the time she was writing in/conditioning/something else was preventing her from writing about them without sometimes leaving the reader with an icky feeling. For example, referring to somebody’s partner as “your pretty boy” is not ok.

When it comes to world-building, I think that there is too much of it for such a short book, everything is crammed in. The building-blocks fit together clumsily, and as a reader, I wanted more detail and explanations. This story would have benefited from being told over several books, more leisurely, with more time to explain and get the action right.

In summary, the author tries to do many things, and only succeeds in some areas. I would probably cautiously recommend this one anyway, for being progressive for its time and as an entertaining read. This is either a very weak 4 stars or a strong 3 stars. I’ll go for 3.5 then. show less

In theory I’ve read this before; in practice I only remembered one detail so I came to it fairly fresh... and I enjoyed every minute. Well-paced cyberpunk space opera driven by characters and emotions. I enjoy grouchy old Commander Rallya enormously (it took me most of the book to realise she reminds me of Avasarala, only without the swearing) and warm-hearted, conscientious cinnamon rolls Joshim and Rafe.

I’d really love to see a sequel. But really really.

Full review

I have both a free review copy from the publisher and a fully paid up previous edition.

I really enjoyed A Matter of Oath! It has so many things I love: Space opera, political intrigue, a no nonsense romantic subplot, space empires and not too many fight scenes.
I really enjoyed all of the characters. They felt like people! Brilliant people with huge personalities - as space opera ought have. I really am a sucker for competent people. Oh and one of the two protagonists is a female commander in her 60's or 70's who is so awesome - and she has bad hip.
Nobody really care what gender their partners are. The main romantic pair is two men and they love each other deeply. The sex scenes are steamy but non-explicit.
It's the kind of book that don't hold your hand with the world building but just expect you to keep up. I am a show more sucker for this kind of space opera! Not even the techno-babble feels outdated! show less

Fun space opera with a lovely queer romance and interesting characters. I especially liked the aging but forceful female commander, the highly principled webmaster, and the amnesiac oathbreaker.

Enjoyable as it is, it does have some pretty big flaws. The worldbuilding is intriguing but rather too incomplete. In particular, there are a couple of immortal emperors whose immortality is never explained, which feels like an increasingly glaring omission as the story progresses. The ending is far too abrupt: at a certain point, the plot rockets to its climax and the denouement is almost nonexistent. And Wright should have excised about 90% of her adverbs and used the word "said" a lot more frequently, rather than various synonyms for the show more word.

Still, I had a great time reading the book (when my fingers weren't itching for a red pen), and I look forward to rereading it sometime. show less

Rafe is accepted as an elite webber (a navigator) on a starship but there is a mystery about his past.

The slices of life aboard the starship were well done, but the wider world-building wasn't quite as well illuminated, which meant the background mystery and politicking wasn't as enthralling as it had the potential to be.

Quite a good book, with a surprisingly modern feel for something written in the eighties.
One of the main characters is an older woman who is a commander of a space ship. Several others are gay men. That isn't a common thing in SF even now. On top of that, it's well done. The book is not about diversity, but it has a diverse backdrop.
The personalities are great, and interact nicely. There is a clear feeling of family and loyalty aboard the ship, which I always enjoy.
I liked the story and technology as well, although I would have liked to see a bit more of the webbing, and I would have like to know more about the old web at the end.
Overall, very good.