An Exchange of Hostages

An Exchange of Hostages is the first novel in the Judiciary series. In the future, the Judiciary system, faced by a series of revolts and other civil unrest, has determined that torture may be used to interrogate prisoners. However, only bench certified personnel are granted the Writ to Inquire and there are strict Protocols governing the type and level of torture allowed. In addition, the Judicary have created the involuntary Bond, a form of imprisonment without walls; the prisoner is implanted with a "governor" that punishs any disallowed thoughts or feelings. The imposition of torture and creation of bond-involuntaries has been increasing in recent years.In this novel, Andrej Ulexeievitch Koscuisko is a graduate of the Mayon Surgical College with highest honors in Surgery and honors in Pharmacology. The Koscuisk family has a tradition of the eldest son joining the Fleet and, despite his desires to practice medicine as a civilian, Andrej is forced into Fleet Medical by his father. Since his father's time in the Fleet, however, the Writ to Inquire on its vessels has been taken from Security and invested in the Chief Medical Officer; that is, the CMO is responsible for the torture of prisoners under a judicial writ. So Andrej has to attend Fleet Orientation Station Medical where he is taught to torture prisoners. Unfortunately, he is good at torture and, to his shame, he enjoys it.A fellow student at the Ship Surgeon's school, Mergau Noycannir, is not a Fleet officer, but a Clerk of Court from the Chilleau Judiciary, an experiment in certifying Inquisitors who are not medically trained. Noycannir is a manipulative, controlling personality who intends to make a good impression on the staff at any cost and soons begins to hate Andrej because of his social ease and his medical brilliance.At Fleet Orientation Station Medical, Andrej is assigned a personal bond-involuntary, Joslire Curran, and has to accept his Bond until the end of the Term. This disturbs Andrej even further and he fights the system by getting to know Joslire.This novel is a dysutopia in which both the executive and legislative branches of government have been subordinated to the Judiciary. Since present society seems to be moving in that direction, the author has obviously created a satire of extrapolation to the extreme. The story is capsulated within Andrej, simultaneously a victim of this society and a perpetrator of its evils. While it is a ugly picture, there is a degree of higher truth in the situation.This novel has a Russian ambiance, probably in honor of Dostoevski's Crime and Punishment. This story explores many of the same issues, but in a social rather than a personal context. When is it permissible for an individual or a society to torture or kill its own citizens? Is it permissible for the society to do so, yet still punish such behavior by private individuals? Should the public individuals who implement such punishments feel any guilt for their sanc

I've now read all 3 books in this series. Each one demands to be read to the end. Kosciusko's life is a metaphor for the moral compromises we all make in our daily lives due to the unjust systems we are embroiled in, and how we learn to compartmentalize them. The portrayal of the love a tortured/beaten person so often conceives for his or her tormentor is matter of fact, and this is something that most people are either to squeamish or too politically correct to examine. Yet any battered-women's shelter counsellor can tell you it's the rule rather than the exception. How can Susan Matthews tell a tale of a torturer...even an excellent torturer... and make us love and understand him, and even see the beauty in his craft while sharing his simultaneous distaste and passion for it? I don't know, but I'm looking forward to book 4 (if there is to be one)!

A solid story, and mostly interesting characters, except for the over-the-top depiction of Andrej's rival Mergau. What I liked the most was the thought that went into providing motivations for each character; there always seem to be many, finely considered logical threads involved in a decision or viewpoint or expression of a character's viewpoint. (In that respect, I agree with the other reviewer who said this novel could only have been written by a woman.) In particular, Andrej's relation with his man Joslire is convincing on both sides, and moved me deeply. Concerning prose: it is very clear and direct on the whole, at times extremely good, but occasionally surprisingly awkward. In part I think this stems from Matthews' attempt to hint at the dialects and accents of the various cultures, plus of course the formal conventions of the military; but some of the instances cannot be explained away so easily. In any case, it is only a minor stumbling block. Finally, regarding milieu, although the setting is standard space opera fare, the details are convincing and one has the feeling that there is much left unsaid---that the rest of the universe is really "out there" somewhere. My only complaint vis-a-vis the background is, though, a rather fundamental one: wouldn't there be more efficient, less violent ways to interrogate criminals in the future? After all, the "governors" are halfway there! All in all, though, a fine book; the best I have read in a while. I look forward to reading the sequel.(BTW, the reviewer who suggested that the characters are not human because they use base eight is wrong: there are many references to "hominid classes" in the book. I mention this because I would be put off by a book that saved such a detail as a nasty surprise for the end...)

I've resisted reading this book for a while - I knew it would be both physically and psychologically wrenching and I wasn't sure if I was ready for another round of monster as hero. I've always had a fascination with this type of character - the torturer as person and the emotional torment he/she goes through. I picked it up finally and read it through in one sitting. I literally couldn't put it down. Wow - this book is amazing! The way Susan Matthews handles the characters, imparting depth and caring to what we would normally perceive as an evil monster, blows me away. She draws you in, makes you care about Andrej despite, or maybe because of, all he has done and will continue to do in the future. Her exploration of what humaneness exists in a very inhumane society is simply excelent and one of the best books (along with The Arm of the Stone) that I have read this year. If you can stomach the "gross" parts, please read this book - it's absolutely amazing.