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Science Fiction and Fantasy Association of New Zealand |
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Degrees Of Freedom by Simon Morden Orbit Supplied for review by Hachette New Zealand |
Reviewed By: Simon Litten |
| Degrees of Freedom is the third novel in the
Samuil Petrovitch sequence by new author Simon Morden and, as the story stands, completes
the series. Degrees of Freedom is again set in the London Freezone/Metrozone eleven months on from the action in Theories of Flight. Petrovitch is still estranged from Madeleine, his wife, and is working in tandem with Sonja Oshicora in the rebuilding London. Then the clean up crew open Container Zero find the last Armageddonist complete with a dirty bomb and trouble starts – and Petrovitch finds out one of his friends is a catspaw for the CIA and that he is being played. Mayhem and pandemonium ensue in glorious detail. For me this was the most satisfying of the three books in the Petrovitch series. The action held together, the characters remained true to type throughout the situations they found themselves in, and Petrovitch has grown and changed as person. He has become an angry young man with a moral compass, something he lacked before. While this book probably can’t be read as a standalone the narrative doesn’t rely too heavily on details in the previous books. However, those other books do help to understand the motives and actions of the current principal players. With this series Simon Morden has managed to build a cohesive vision of the near future, write three stories set in a post near-apocalyptic London and make it believable by not over inflating the characters or the science. These are fast paced action adventures, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. By the end of book three I was looking around for book four as I wanted know where to from here for Petrovitch and his troupe of loyalists. Mr Morden did not outstay his welcome and deserves to be read a by wide audience indeed. Put a set on your bookshelves today! |
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