Fair Exchange

Amsterdam Institute #3

by R.Z. Held

Over a century after the events of Dirty Burnout led to the founding of the Amsterdam Institute to help those struggling with the spread of internal-technology, a new adventure begins.

After a year as a civilian mistakenly held by the LSF planetary alliance in a POW camp, Sienna has been offered a chance at freedom, but one that comes at a staggering price. LSF shoved a dead Pax Romana spy's implant into her head and sent her in place of that spy in a prisoner exchange. Now, not only does the Pax Romana empire blame Sienna for the deception, but the implant is leaking, eroding her sanity with scraps of personality and memories of torture. Worse, she must have been expected to die of the procedure once the exchange was complete, because now someone's trying to finish the job.

Trapped at a Pax Romana facility with no one she can trust except perhaps the building's Near-AI, Sienna must find a way home without losing her life or her self.

ebook

First published June 2, 2020

About the author

R. Z. Held is a pen name of Rhiannon Held. She writes speculative fiction, much of it in the apparently disparate subgenres of space opera and weird western. She lives in Seattle, where she works as an archaeologist for an environmental compliance firm.

Reviews

[Alex Scheuermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this novella as part of the Secret Scribes judging group for the Speculative Fiction Indie Novella Championship (SFINCS). This review is my personal opinion and does not solely determine if this story will move onto the next phase of the competition.

Sienna wakes up with an implant in her brain and another person's memories in her head, stuck in an isolated Pax Romana research facility. She hides from her captor using the near-AI which controls the facility security system. Accidentally, Sienna merges the personality in her head with the AI and the two collaborate to keep each other safe and give Sienna the chance to escape.

I had a tough time getting into this story because it was third in a series and much of the characterization, plot, setting was established in earlier novellas. I think this wasn't the best choice for the SFINCS competition because it isn't a good starting point for new readers. Please keep in mind for this review, I have not read the previous two Amsterdam Institute stories.

Sienna's struggles with herself and her unlikely camaraderie with the near-AI were a highlight for me. The gentle buildup of Sienna's trust towards Cyperus was fun and compelling.

At times, the prose was too complicated for it's own good, adding confusion to scenes that were already difficult to wrap one's head around. I struggled to connect with Sienna and was confused by several of her actions. I'm assuming there's an explanation for the drawing interruption scene in one of the previous books, but without that context, I was confused by it.

If sci fi with AI characters and downloaded consciousnesses are your thing, Fair Exchange may be for you. Perhaps start with the first book in the Amsterdam Institute series, Clean Install, though.

[Dave Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for sfincs

Confusing beginning—this really felt like a later book in a series, but it looks like it is a later episode in the author’s series. I struggled with the pacing and had a difficult time especially with the first half of the story. The story became noticeably better once the main character started to interact with other characters (beyond the AI).

[Mackenzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book follows Sienna who is a refugee that has been used as a body for an ai implant of a Pax Romana spy by the LSF. Sienna gets traded for a LSF hostage held by the Pax Romana. Quickly realizing that because of her heritage as a iddylian she is in danger. Sienna can trust no one even while having to rely on the dead generals AI in her head. She also has to contend with Cyperus an injured Pax Romana soldier with his own history with the general.

This book was very difficult to follow at times and I kept having to go back and reread to understand what was happening. I liked the previous book in this world but this one just throws you in 100 years later and doesn’t give you a lot to go on. Even at the end of the book I didn’t have a clear understanding of the characters or the story. I think with some more editing and expansion it could be much better because I liked the premise and I really wanted to love it.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sienna has a dead Pax Romana spy's implant into her head when she is sent on an exchange where she was not expected to survive. The plot revolves around what she does to survive. The world building was incomplete as it was expected that I had read the first two books. This is book three but set 100 years in the future. All in all an enjoyable story but it was missing elements that would have made it better. Interesting characters - especially the near-AI.

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Start with a bang and keeps tension high throughout.