So what's this Jurisdiction thing?
There are six Jurisdiction books: (marked * where Stildyne appears)
1 Exchange of Hostages
2 Prisoner of Conscience
3 Hour of Judgment*
4 The Devil and Deep Space*
5 Warring States.*
AND
Angel of Destruction, not part of the main Andrej Koscuisko story but enjoyable and a deeper look at Jurisdiction politics and the Bench. The only known mention of Stildyne's eye color. Also featuring the splendid Cousin Stanoczk and significantly less dark than the rest of the books. Which leads us to:
Warnings
The Koscuisko books contain:
-Graphic descriptions of torture
-Descriptions and mentions of rape (violent and coercive)
-References to suicide and self harm
-Genocide and an entire novel set in a death camp
-Horrific treatment of prisoners
And some of these acts are performed by the protagonist.
None of these topics are glorified or romanticized but they are present and can be triggering.
Why would I ever read these books?
IF-- and only IF-- you enjoy dark scifi:
Because they're a damn good look at the ethics and cultural stain of government sanctioned torture. Because they're page turners. Because the politics are interesting, the protagonist is uncomfortably sympathetic.
Because gendered slurs are something only the bad guys use and then even rarely. Because it's not a utopia but it's not heteronormative either. Because strong female and queer characters. (And if you're a queer woman because the author is one too and she wrote hard-bitten scifi for us, guys.) Because the language and immersion of the books is amazing. Because it's fantastic scifi. Because it's not a distopia-- it's a government like ours, big and stupid and inefficient and grudgingly mutable, and there's hope for it yet.
I would never ask someone not comfortable reading about these topics to pick up these books. 'The guy who did it gets punished' and 'the books get less dark starting with Hour of Judgment' are not good enough reason to ask anyone to read something that will make them uncomfortable.
If you're curious but turned off by that warning section:
The Devil and Deep Space contains references to a secondary character's history of coercive rape but no graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
Warring States contains terrorist attacks that may be triggering but is otherwise safe, if a bit of a political slog that may not make much sense out of context.
AND, even better:
Angel of Destruction is clear of sexual violence and SA, and doesn't require any knowledge of the other books. (Does contain murder)
Avalanche Soldier and Colony Fleet are both non-related scifi by the same author. Her earlier attempts and maybe a slightly clunkier read, but enjoyable.
1 Exchange of Hostages
2 Prisoner of Conscience
3 Hour of Judgment*
4 The Devil and Deep Space*
5 Warring States.*
AND
Angel of Destruction, not part of the main Andrej Koscuisko story but enjoyable and a deeper look at Jurisdiction politics and the Bench. The only known mention of Stildyne's eye color. Also featuring the splendid Cousin Stanoczk and significantly less dark than the rest of the books. Which leads us to:
Warnings
The Koscuisko books contain:
-Graphic descriptions of torture
-Descriptions and mentions of rape (violent and coercive)
-References to suicide and self harm
-Genocide and an entire novel set in a death camp
-Horrific treatment of prisoners
And some of these acts are performed by the protagonist.
None of these topics are glorified or romanticized but they are present and can be triggering.
Why would I ever read these books?
IF-- and only IF-- you enjoy dark scifi:
Because they're a damn good look at the ethics and cultural stain of government sanctioned torture. Because they're page turners. Because the politics are interesting, the protagonist is uncomfortably sympathetic.
Because gendered slurs are something only the bad guys use and then even rarely. Because it's not a utopia but it's not heteronormative either. Because strong female and queer characters. (And if you're a queer woman because the author is one too and she wrote hard-bitten scifi for us, guys.) Because the language and immersion of the books is amazing. Because it's fantastic scifi. Because it's not a distopia-- it's a government like ours, big and stupid and inefficient and grudgingly mutable, and there's hope for it yet.
I would never ask someone not comfortable reading about these topics to pick up these books. 'The guy who did it gets punished' and 'the books get less dark starting with Hour of Judgment' are not good enough reason to ask anyone to read something that will make them uncomfortable.
If you're curious but turned off by that warning section:
The Devil and Deep Space contains references to a secondary character's history of coercive rape but no graphic descriptions of sexual violence.
Warring States contains terrorist attacks that may be triggering but is otherwise safe, if a bit of a political slog that may not make much sense out of context.
AND, even better:
Angel of Destruction is clear of sexual violence and SA, and doesn't require any knowledge of the other books. (Does contain murder)
Avalanche Soldier and Colony Fleet are both non-related scifi by the same author. Her earlier attempts and maybe a slightly clunkier read, but enjoyable.