Review: Bitter Angels by C. L. Anderson

Title: Bitter Angels Author: C. L. Anderson Format: MM Available Formats: MM, Kindle, Barnes and Noble eBook, Sony eBook Page Count: 438 Genre: Science Fiction Publisher: Spectra Pub. Date: August 25, 2009 ISBN-13: 9780553592177 Series: Unknown

The Guardians endorse peace. Mostly. Though the rules and edicts strictly forbid any Guardian from killing--even in self defense--the Guardians are not altogether without violence and certainly have enough cunning. Terese lived these edicts once, before she was horrifically tortured and before she retired. Now she tries to live life with her family and forget any duty except to her three children and husband. However, Terese's life is turned upside down when the woman who saved Terese from torture is murdered. Not only is Bianca murdered, but as she died she named Terese as her replacement. Despite reservations, Terese finds herself heading off to one of the 'hot spots' of utmost danger: Erasmus system.

Bitter Angels is a little bit military sci-fi, a little bit spy novel, a little bit ambiguous. The story is ambitious, stretching across worlds, a large cast of characters, and layer upon layer of plot.

Getting into Bitter Angels is a little bit difficult. By which I mean that the author begins with an incredibly off-putting prologue that means nothing until about 300 pages later--and even then doesn't really serve any purpose. Feel free to skip these 4 pages.

The beginning ramps up the interest as soon as the story begins to settle upon Terese's decision, in my opinion. She is by far the most interesting character in Bitter Angels and truly the person the entire story revolves around and hinges upon. Her dilemma of choosing between two types of duty is heart wrenching--should she serve her duty to her family or to preserving the peace? And if she enjoys one more than the other, should she feel guilty?

Although the middle sags a little under the weight of Anderson trying to dispense information, I think it's made bearable by the details. The cast is strong, if not as strong as Terese. (Particularly Amerand, Siri, and Vijay.) Additional technological and social details like the companions (which are basically implanted best friends into the minds of each Guardian) and the Clerks (who watch over everything and provide Big Brother-esque surveillance) are intriguing as well as disturbing.

The only other problem I had with Bitter Angels was a few sketchy parts in the plot, which always seemed to be in regards to Bianca. However, these are easily looked past when considering the truly powerful other elements of the plot. The end especially makes up for any slack in suspense through the rest of the novel, because I was utterly struck by the last three pages.

Quick and Dirty: An Acquired Taste.
In the end, I recommend Bitter Angels with qualifications. It has some truly excellent questions and elements despite some slow parts, a few sketchy sections of the plot, and an utterly useless prologue. Bitter Angels is an incredibly ambitious and riveting novel. And I truly hope to see more of Terese and Amerand in another book.