NOVELLAS, SHORT STORIES, AND MORE IN THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED UNDER JURISTICTION SERIES from John W. Campbell Award finalist Susan R. Matthews. Together for the first time, here are the novellas, novelettes, and short stories that complete Matthews’ epic science fiction series. Plus, supplemental materials that flesh out Matthews’ characters and detailed worldbuilding.
Collected for the first time, here is the complete Under Jurisdiction body of work falling outside of Matthews’ celebrated novels: long out-of-print short stories fleshing out details of the personal histories of favorite characters, including Joslire Curran and Security Chief Stildyne; substantial novellas—two published here for the first time ever—covering critical events in the life of the series, such as the devil’s bargain between Andrej Koscuisko and Captain Lowden on the Ragnarok; and many more novelettes, stories, and vignettes from The Life and Hard Times of “Uncle” Andrej Koscuisko, who is Not a Nice Man.
This is part of the Under Jurisdiction series by Susan R Matthews and is definitely written for the fans. This is a collection of short stories and novellas that fill in the gaps between stories, flesh out character backgrounds, and answer some fan questions about “what happened afterwards?” If you are not already a fan, this is not a book to pick up.
I enjoyed Susan’s writing style. She writes smoothly and doesn’t over simplify things, my problem is that I haven’t read any of the series so I was lost. I spent a few months staggering through this book. I’d put it down to read another book, thinking that maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for it and I would return to it later. I have now put it down and picked it up four times. It has come time to admit defeat.
Some of the stories were enjoyable such as ‘Insubordination,’ others I just could not get through. In fact, there are several stories in this book I walked away from.
Do not get this book if you are not a fan of the series. I have a feeling that if you are only a casual reader of the series then you will still have some problems with a few of the stories.
Because I didn’t finish the book, I should give it one star. This is not something I would pass on to my friends, or even recommend to anyone. The book is not badly written, the writing is good, it all flows nicely, but because I do not know the characters or any of the background I was lost.
I give it three stars, simply because I like the writing style.
Written by: Susan R Matthews
Cover Art by Kurt Miller
Published by Baen Books
How we rate our Books
1 = We finished the book with effort
2 = Readable, but more fluff than substance
3 = Good
4 = Pretty Good and worth passing on to your friends
5 = We couldn’t put the book down
