The Absconded Ambassador

Genrenauts, Episode 2

De: Michael R. Underwood

Narrado por: Mary Robinette Kowal

Fiction is more important than you think. When stories go wrong, the Genrenauts step in to prevent the consequences from rippling into our so-called real world. When a breach is discovered in Science Fiction World, rookie Genrenaut Leah Tang gets her first taste of space flight.

A peace treaty is about to be signed on space station Ahura-3, guaranteeing the end of hostilities between some of the galaxy's most ferocious races, but when the head architect of the treaty is unexpectedly kidnapped, it's up to Leah and her new colleagues to save the day.

Michael Underwood has circumnavigated the globe, danced the tango with legends, and knows why Thibault cancels out Capo Ferro. He also rolls a mean d20. His novels include Geekomancy, Celebromancy, and Shield and Crocus. He lives in Baltimore with his fiancé and an ever-growing library, and when he's not writing/gaming/living the dream, he's the North American sales and marketing manager for Angry Robot Books. He's also part of the Hugo-nominated podcast The Skiffy and Fanty Show.

©2016 Michael R. Underwood (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Big improvement over the first!

I was a little on the fence with the first book in this series, which I felt started off somewhat weak and contrived. This book dispelled those doubts completely, and the stride Mr. Underwood hit midway through the first book has carried through this one in a big way.

I like Mary Robinette's voice work on this one much better too. Particularly

*SPOILER WARNING*

the scene with the alien courtesans, which had me busting out laughing. Something about her "seductive dancing boy" voice was just hilarious!

My only complaint is that the author violates a rule of writing: if a character has a more interesting backstory than this one, you should be writing that story instead. Michael should have made Roman the viewpoint character of this series from the start, as he's easily the most interesting member of the cast. This book does shift to Roman more; I hope that's a trend that continues.