Weird is a specialty of Science Fiction. In no other genre of literature is a good story more dependent upon the author unfettering his imagination from the bounds of social custom and the laws of the universe. In such an inventive environment, weirdness is almost an inevitability. Mr. Castro's first novel in a series based on his heroine, Andrea Cort, troubled diplomat, is not only no exception to this weirdness rule, it celebrates its freakishness in ways alternately enjoyable and frightening.
Centuries into the future, humanity has spread across the stars, populating not only planets and moons but artificial habitats which float, fully formed , in deepest space. Humans have not only discovered that they are far from alone in the universe, they've grown comfortable living on already occupied worlds, co-mingling with alien species and even depending upon alien habitats for their own survival. Andrea Cort is, herself, an experiment of interspecies relations. The half-mad product of a social experiment between humans and aliens which went horribly, horribly wrong, she has grown into, to all outward appearances, a powerful, domineering diplomat attached to what we might think of as the judicial branch of human government. Internally, however, Ms. Cort is a roil of uncertainty and confusion, tumultuous emotions which are the legacy of a nightmarish childhood. She is an indentured worker of the state, paying off debts both actual and spiritual. And the latest installment she must pay off? Solving a murder on a dangerous, alien habitat, rife with rivalries, secrets and species no human has begun to understand.
Mr. Castro's biography doesn't exactly inspire confidence; one does not expect great, imaginative fiction from a man who has written Spiderman novels. Shame on me for judging him. This is an excellent piece of science fiction, exactly as it should be: creative, expansive, thrilling, risque and bizarre. I have particular admiration for the sexual relationships Mr. Castro has generated here. Ms. Cort's intimacies with a pair of humans who've chosen to live together telepathically, as a kind of sibling pair, is fascinating and titillating. A well-rounded effort. (4/5 Stars)
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