2019 SF novella, placed in the Shieldrunner Pirates setting but not
part of that series. Ku Nel-Aoki is the boss of level 2 of the Jane
Jacobs residential module on Ceres. But the Syndicate she works for is
not an easy employer.
All right, there isn't a whole lot to this. One of Ku's fellow
level bosses messes up a job and gets the police all enthused, she's
chosen by the overboss to sort out the problem, and she does. The
police get in the way, and getting them off Ku's back now has to be
balanced against the risk of more attention later. But there aren't
really any false starts or unexpected divergences here.
There's an interesting idea that the Syndicate keeps its promises,
even if they were made by idiots, and that's why people put up with it
as much as they do. There's more about what sorts of crime can be
profitable in this particular place. But there's not a lot of
character, beyond Ku and her underlings, and even they are pretty
thin.
Enjoyable, but slight. Not a good introduction to the setting, though
if you've read any of the novels it's a pleasing extension of them.
Comments on this post are now closed. If you have particular grounds for adding a late comment, comment on a more recent post quoting the URL of this one.