fajrdrako | Hour of Judgment (Reply)

I just finished reading Hour of Judgment by Susan R. Matthews. This is the third book in the series about Andrej Kosciusko. I read the first two books, An Exchange of Hostages and Prisoner of Conscience, a number of years ago – probably before 1999, when Hour of Judgment was published.

I tend to read for style and for character more than plot or setting or genre. The attraction here is the hero – Andrej Koscuisko – I can't recall ever having read any character quite like him. One reviewer said "Andrej Koscuisko is simply the most extraordinary character in science fiction.". He certainly made an impression on me. So much so that though I can recall many scenes, incidents and details in the first books with considerable clarity, I can't recall the overall plots now – just the impact of this fascinating, tormented character.

After reading Prisoner of Conscience I read another Matthews SF novel, Avalanche Soldiers, and was bored. There was no one in it as striking as Koscuisko, and nothing much to be said for the plot.

Someone told me that Matthews has published a new book, and that reminded me that I hadn't read Hour of Judgment yet. I'd missed its spell in print and had to order it second-hand from a bookstore in Georgia. It came quickly – I love ordering books online. It's so efficient.

The blurb on the cover was a quote by Stephen R. Donaldson, saying, "Susan R. Matthews simply doesn't flinch." I confess, I flinched. More than once.

Andrej Koscuisko is a high-born prince of the Dolgorukij. He is a neurosurgeon who, in obedience to family, law, tradition and duty, has become Chief Medical Officer on the Jurisdiction Fleet Ship Ragnarok. The Jurisdiction is an aggressively expanding empire whose legal process – for deterrent, investigation, and penalty – is torture. Koscuisko is a gentle, intelligent man, forced into the position of Ship's Inquisitor for eight years, with no option of refusal. Worse, he turns out to be an extremely talented torturer who enjoys the acts of torture while he is committing them as much as he hates them (and loathes himself) afterwards. He becomes a famous/infamous celebrity for his skill. He believes himself damned for his sins and to be already living in hell. He learns to cope – by compensating with an extreme sense of honour, justice, and compassion, especially towards his own Security bondsmen. And by drinking to excess. His Captain is a sadist whose idea of fun is to watch Kosciusko at work. Captain Bligh, eat your heart out.

I loved this book for the same reasons I loved the first two – mainly, Koscuisko – though I'm generally a little too squeamish for some of Matthews' more extreme scenes. The pay-off is worth it. I can't even claim that the extremity of the violence is gratuitous – it's clear Matthews is setting up mood, motivation and mindset very carefully for emotional payoff later in the book. It works. This is what I have been known to call "moral science fiction', SF in which the plots are based on the moral choices, challenges, and paradoxes of the characters. It is probably more generally called "psychological science fiction".

When the Jurisdiction conquers people they disperse them, enslave them (usually for a period of eight years) and fit their brains with a biochip that makes it impossible for them to disobey authority. One race so treated was the Nurail, a proud hill-dwelling people whose fate is a part of each of the plots. They are vaguely reminiscent of Scots highlanders - they wear 'weaves', or they did before the plaid was outlawed, and they have names like Robert St. Claire.

In this particular story, Koscuisko has finally reached the end of his eight-year Indenture as Ship's Inquisitor. Anticipation of this day is all that has kept him sane over eight years. But it isn't so easy to escape the control of the Judicial Bench, and they draft him for a fate even worse than his current position on the Ragnarok. In despair, Koscuisko takes the only other course open to him, and returns to his position as Inquisitor on the Ragnorok. A this point they visit a newly-colonized planet, where a Nurail bondswoman is brutally raped and beaten by the senior Lieutenant of the ship. Later, he is murdered, and it seems clear that the killer is a Nurail gardener who had befriended the girl and exacted revenge. But what is clear is not necessarily what is true. To say any more about the plot would be to reveal too much, but it's a wonderful unfolding of character, cause and effect that at times had me gasping at the turn of events. I've never seen a story with a climax quite like this one.

I was also impressed by the portrait of a bright, innocent young girl who has a significant role in the plot. She's a type who is rarely depicted convincingly, and usually, if convincing, is not particularly likeable. This girl was both sympathetic and convincing, and in the course of the story undergoes a sort of underplayed coming-of-age.

But though the plot is resolved in the end (and very nicely, too) Koscuisko's life is not. I was left thinking: More! I need more! What's going to happen to Koscuisko now? Matthews' next novel, though set in the Jurisdiction universe, wasn't about him. But now at last – this month, there's a new book, and it's about Koscuisko. The fourth book in the series.

I look forward to it.