An Exchange of Hostages

Nigel Price04 Sep 2001, 13:22original as archived

Going through some back copies of Locus, I found a review in the July 1997 issue for a book entitled "An Exchange of Hostages", by Susan R Matthews. According to the review, the book follows the career of a sympathetic torturer in a decadent future galactic empire where judicial torture is the norm. Similarities with "Dune" are mentioned, as well as a stylistic similarity to C J Cherryh, but there is no reference to Wolfe or Severian. Has anyone on the list read this book? Is it any good, and does it show any evidence of Lupine influence? On the face of it, "An Exchange of Hostages" sounds perfectly horrid, but then, that's what I thought "The Shadow of the Torturer" was going to be like - before I read it. Nigel, mildly curious in Minety

Inire09 Sep 2001, 01:29original as archived

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--- Nigel Price <nigel.a.price at virgin.net> wrote: Going through some back copies of Locus, I found a review in the July 1997 issue for a book entitled "An Exchange of Hostages", by Susan R Matthews. According to the review, the book follows the career of a sympathetic torturer in a decadent future galactic empire where judicial torture is the norm. Similarities with "Dune" are mentioned, as well as a stylistic similarity to C J Cherryh, but there is no reference to Wolfe or Severian. Has anyone on the list read this book? Is it any good, and does it show any evidence of Lupine influence? On the face of it, "An Exchange of Hostages" sounds perfectly horrid, but then, that's what I thought "The Shadow of the Torturer" was going to be like - before I read it. Nigel, mildly curious in Minety

I read it, and was intrigued enough to buy (and not yet read) the second in the series. The story has little if any Lupine influence, IMO, especially since Matthews seems to get off on horrid descriptions of torture, a touch that Wolfe leaves out IIRC. an okay read, but not crucial. -j ===== Jeff "My dice hate me!" Miller ICQ# 57242517 "The idea of verifying facts about the world through controlled repetition seems alien to just about everyone with the possible exception of Fr Inire, and he's a bug-eyed space monster. . ." -Jim Henley, on the URTH list Gaming to keep War out of RealTime! 85 VF500F 'Contraceptor' **Specify Type Of Goat**