The Devil and Deep Space

Jurisdiction #5

by Susan R. Matthews

Andrej Koscuisko, the Ragnarok’s Ship's Inquisitor, is going home on leave. His ship of assignment is participating in training exercises, and when an observer station unexpectedly explodes –- killing the Ragnarok’s captain -– Pesadie Training Command has to come up with a cover story in a hurry or risk exposure of its black-market profiteering.

There is a conveniently obvious explanation: the Ragnarok did it on purpose. All Pesadie needs are a few confessions -- obtained by judicial torture, which creates its own truth. And a bitter enemy from Andrej’s earliest days in Fleet has been waiting for just such an opportunity to set a trap and bait it with the lives of people Andrej loves.

Andrej will have to fight Fleet itself to bring the Ragnarok the only thing that can save the ship and crew from destruction –- a single piece of evidence with the potential to change the course of the history of Jurisdiction Space forever.

At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

A tightly woven space opera full of grand heroic gestures and characters strong enough to sustain all the action.
-Booklist

Matthews' work here -- of projecting a concentrated vision of the horrors of the last hundred years into a space-operatic future -- is extraordinarily risky and emotionally difficult, but now that she has shown that the Judiciary universe holds hope as well as pathology and pain, I will be able to follow Koscuisko to whatever fate awaits him with an easier mind.
-Locus Magazine

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

After earning an undergraduate degree in psychology, Susan R. Matthews was commisioned into the United States Army, where she was the operations and security officer for a combat support hospital specializing in nuclear, biological, and radiological warfare. Currently working as an auditor for an aerospace manufacturer, Susan lives with her partner in Seattle, Washington.

Reviews

[Juushika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Andrej has the long-awaited opportunity to return home, but fatal flaws in Jurisdiction government are coming to a head. This is the sort of book that does its best by an imperfect series, improving some longstanding problems, leaning into elements which initially grabbed me. The escalation of resistance has been realistically slow and limited in effect, so the move towards concrete rebellion is cathartic--and gives the series structure. The rocky worldbuilding may never be convincing, but it's grown increasingly unique, particularly re: Andrej's culture, here seen in more detail. Most of Andrej's relationships have space to be conflicted if not complex, and I especially appreciate that re: his wife; and these cultural and interpersonal tensions are reminiscent of the much-missed relationship with Joslire in the first book and come straight from the id.

Other longstanding problems persist, particularly in the antagonists, who have flat characterization when compared to the well-realized ambiguity of Andrej. Noycannir has been a thorn in the narrative's side, and the payoff is pitiful. It'll never be without flaws, but this series has grown on me. What it does with Andrej is sincerely interesting: his overpowered role as ~the best and worst state torturer uwu~ is both an idealized fiction and a thematically-tied, interrogated social role, and I like that sort of chewiness in my id-fic.

[Paulina Rae · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Why should they risk their lives—and a death about whose full horror they suffered no illusions—for the lives of an artillery emplacement crew, just recently engaged in doing all they could to set the traps that would ensnare great Ragnarok and every soul on board?
[…]
Because they wouldn’t have gotten into this desperate situation in the first place if they had been willing, as individuals, as a ship, to sacrifice anyone’s life to their own survival, if they thought that there was any way around it.”

I cri

[AncsaT · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garol Vogel után a társa, a másik bírósági titkosügynök, Jils Ivers is kapott egy történetet, amiből ezúttal nem maradt ki kedvencünk, Andrej Ulekszejevics, a flotta legjobb inkvizítora sem. És találkozhattunk végre a feleségével Marával és Anton Andrejeviccsel, a fiukkal is.
Plusz újra feltűntek a Malcontent meleg szerzetesei, de ez már csak a hab volt a tortán, enélkül is megadtam volna az 5 csillagot, mert volt űrhajós csata, politikai intrika, merénylet, árulás stb., mi szem-szájnak ingere.

[Kirk Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid but not exceptional writing. Decent story. By now the world Matthews has built is complex and well-considered. Two is a damn good character. Matthews has backed off the overwrought prose. But still mainly reading because I'm addicted.

[Viridian5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed The Devil and Deep Space, the latest in Susan R. Matthews novels about Andrej Koscuisko. In fact, I devoured it.

It's funny, because I don't seem to like her books that aren't placed in this universe. Colony Fleet was a chore to finish, but I couldn't even get halfway through Avalanche Soldier. Maybe it's that her other books hit you with anvils and have protagonists who are obviously wrong and need to be enlightened. In fact, it was anvils all the way with those two. The Andrej books have more grays, and the narrative doesn't tell you exactly where you should stand. Everybody is corrupt in some way, even the people who try not to be.

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a reread, for a change. The first time I picked this up I couldn't get through the first chapter. Who were all these strange people? Where were my familiar characters? This time I pushed through, and found the result worth reading. (I still don't think I'm ever going to manage Angel of Destruction, though.)

Also, if someone had told me this was the book in which a certain exceptionally irritating villain dies, I would have read it a lot sooner. Finally, we've moved beyond the personal into a wider political tale. I'm looking forward to the next book.

[Alexa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book she returns to her strength of writing about people dealing with their own personal demons, which is what makes her books so much more than simple intrigue or space opera. I also think she is pretty adept at world-building too, which is a necessity in a science fiction writer!

[Kelly Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book in the series has the interesting effect of turning the phrase "reasonable people" into an insult and moral obscenity. Possibly the most plot-driven (rather than character-driven) in the series up to this point.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating concept.

[Annii · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book. It was fascinated to see Andrej's home life, and this book was just steeped in fascinating political intrigue. It was a fast read, and a lot of fun.

[Annii Frazer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book. It was fascinated to see Andrej's home life, and this book was just steeped in fascinating political intrigue. It was a fast read, and a lot of fun.

[Aine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book. It was fascinated to see Andrej's home life, and this book was just steeped in fascinating political intrigue. It was a fast read, and a lot of fun.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Fleet inquisitor must choose between the welfare of his ship and that of his family.

[The Book Coyote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book. It was fascinated to see Andrej's home life, and this book was just steeped in fascinating political intrigue. It was a fast read, and a lot of fun.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good addition to the series

[Rhode PVD]

DNFed at page 66 when I realized much of the drama was apparently going to be driven by bog standard corruption in military. (i.e. An admiral and her pals are making money by stealing and selling military supplies/weaponry.)

There's nothing wrong with that, but I look for something a bit more interesting in my SF these days.

And ok, I'm way over how much all the bonded love our Mary Sue protagonist so very much.