Infidel (Bel Dame Apocrypha, #2)

Apr 21, 2013 Sineala rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books, fantasy, fiction, lesbian, queer, science-fiction

This book is one of those rare instances where I ended up liking the second book in the trilogy better than the first. In some ways I think that's down to the worldbuilding, as one of the things that put me off about the first book was that it took me so long to get the worldbuilding clear in my mind, and this book, being set in the same world, already starts with everything established. But most of it, I think, is that I actually liked the plot better. While the first book went with a more stan...more

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Sep 07, 2012 Jacqie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm going to keep on with this series. In this book, we get to see the political dangers and physical dangers of privilege, safety, and the jungle. The book still feels self-contained, although it would certainly help to be familiar with the characters from the first book. There is resolution to the story of this book, instead of a cliffhanger waiting for the third book in the series.

I didn't get into it quite as much as the first book. I'm going to explain why, and it's almost too bad that I'm...more I'm going to keep on with this series. In this book, we get to see the political dangers and physical dangers of privilege, safety, and the jungle. The book still feels self-contained, although it would certainly help to be familiar with the characters from the first book. There is resolution to the story of this book, instead of a cliffhanger waiting for the third book in the series.

I didn't get into it quite as much as the first book. I'm going to explain why, and it's almost too bad that I'm going to do this, because it will make the book sound worse than it is. I've already given a lot of praise for the first book in this series, God's War, and I'm not going to repeat it here, so this review may contain more negatives about this specific book as opposed to the positives of the world and characters that I've already discussed.

The plot in the book, on one hand, was simple. Nyx was trying to finish a job before people could kill her. Much like the first book. On the other hand, I'm not sure I ever quite grasped who was playing whom, who was a double agent, and exactly why all the different players were trying to kill Nyx and her team. Still good action scenes, still brutal violence, but they didn't seem to hang together quite as well. Maybe this was partly because I didn't need to figure out setting and was paying more attention to the plot.

Still not getting into the Nyx/Rhys relationship. It's bad for both of them, and not in any stereotypical romantic way. I had some sympathy for Rhys (and his family) in this book, but he's still kind of a patriarchal jackhole who judges people a lot. Khos still didn't get much page time and was not interesting when he did, which made me sad. Inara was not my favorite character from the first book. She is interesting here, but I still didn't really like her.

Nyx is starting over again with a new team, so there are new characters and the team from the previous book really doesn't have much interaction. The book was set up that way, but it was kind of a waste of some really great characters and relationships from the first book. I'd wanted to see those relationships continued, not learn about new characters that I didn't have a ton of buy-in for.

The series could really go anywhere from here, and I'll definitely keep reading to see what happens next. Kameron Hurley is an author to watch. (less)

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Jul 13, 2012 Jerry Dowless rated it 5 of 5 stars

I plunged into this novel mindless of the fact that it was a sequel, my own fault for failing to notice the page just inside the front cover marked "Other Books by Kameron Hurley." Considering the world Ms. Hurley has crafted and its various imaginary nations are so detailed, her characters' backstories so complex, and the fantastic elements of the story so unique and unpredictable, if Ms. Hurley had been any less remarkable a storyteller I would have likely put the book down, or run screaming f...more I plunged into this novel mindless of the fact that it was a sequel, my own fault for failing to notice the page just inside the front cover marked "Other Books by Kameron Hurley." Considering the world Ms. Hurley has crafted and its various imaginary nations are so detailed, her characters' backstories so complex, and the fantastic elements of the story so unique and unpredictable, if Ms. Hurley had been any less remarkable a storyteller I would have likely put the book down, or run screaming from it out of sheer confusion.

But luckily for me Ms. Hurley has a spectacular command of language and narrative. Her sensory descriptions, whether an ordinary household scene in a kitchen on another planet, or stomach-churning otherworldly violence, crackles with realism as if they were observed firsthand. She deploys this skill especially well in the numerous fight scenes in "Infidel", which rank among the very best I've read in science fiction, and which help to brutally propel the story forward. A reader simply can't spend too much time musing about what a given cultural detail reveals about the world, because there is always on the next page another betrayal, another ambush, or another need for this world's thankfully spectacular medical technology to do undo some or other horrific sword injury.

Of course, "Infidel" is not just a bit of socio-religious speculation sprinkled liberally with blood and guts. Ms. Hurley's protagonist Nyx could easily come off as an example of a somewhat fashionable cliche, the hard-as-nails, self-hating, self-destructive warrior, given a last breath of novelty in that the warrior in this instance is a woman. But Nyx is far more complex and interesting a protagonist than many characters with a surface similarity appearing in science fiction on basic cable, comic books or lesser novel series. Some of "Infidel"'s best scenes involve her haphazard and ineffective attempts to explain why she is doing what she is doing, or more specifically, why she is undertaking to save a social order she no longer believves in, and why she is willing to take cavalier chances with her life and her friends' lives in doing so. And I hope I am not giving too much away when I say that perhaps the novel's best moment is when her closest friends are given an opportunnity to save her life, and instead of just doing it actually have a closely argued debate about whether it would be better off to just let her die, which leaves the reader not entirely sure what would be the best option.

For me, that moment in "Infidel" distills the novel to its essence: Kameron Hurley has created a world so complex, and peopled it with characters so flawed and thus so resonantly human, there just are no easy answers. And nowhere is this more apparent than in what Ms. Hurley has to tell us about this world itself. It's impossible to read a science fiction novel in which most of the humans that have colonized a given extraterrestrial world are Muslim, and not wonder about any commentary the author might be making on all the contemporary debates in the West about Islam. And when the novel in question features as its protagonist a hard-drinking, assertive and atheist woman, it's impossible for us not to consider what's being said about Islam and women. And when we are informed the world the novel is about has been engulfed in war for 300 years, it's impossible for us not to consider what the novel might be saying about Islam and violence.

And here as otherwise, in the hands of a lesser talent than Ms. Hurley the results could be crass and phobic, propaganda for the New Right's fear of an Islamist takeover in the west or a New Atheist indictment of religion generally. Instead, "Infidel" is more nuanced and sympathetic, especially as it delves deep into the emotional lives of women living in these societies committed to the conservative code they've inherited. There's an uncommon grace to these chapters and to these other voices, which helps to remind us of the difference between a polemic and a novel. For I don't think for the most part Kameron Hurley is holding out right or wrong answers the way a polemicist would. Instead she leads us toward the true complexity of these questions of tradition, belief, and choice.

She does that, and provides us with enough violence for a Tarantino film festival, and depicts fauna so strange and voracious as to be worthy of China Mieville. Not bad for $14.99. Not bad at all. (less)

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Dec 26, 2011 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, ladywritten, specfic

This is the second in a trilogy, with the third book not yet out. The first book established protagonist Nyx as a hard-ass loner and emotionally repressed (super)hero. This one picks up several years later, after the dust of those adventures has settled. Nyx is older, creakier, approaching an age that almost no-one in her line of work ever reaches. She's getting a little more reflective, a little less certain. She's also, possibly, getting a little idealistic in her old age--or at least developi...more This is the second in a trilogy, with the third book not yet out. The first book established protagonist Nyx as a hard-ass loner and emotionally repressed (super)hero. This one picks up several years later, after the dust of those adventures has settled. Nyx is older, creakier, approaching an age that almost no-one in her line of work ever reaches. She's getting a little more reflective, a little less certain. She's also, possibly, getting a little idealistic in her old age--or at least developing deeper conflicts about Queen and country, and the never-ending war.

The story clicks along at a great pace, with plenty of action and intrigue. Because this is the second act of a three-act work, we also see the characters at some of their lowest points. Nyx took a boatload of punishment in the last book, but it's nothing to what she (and others) go through now. Hurley has fully learned the lesson that you have to make your characters bleed.

There are some new developments in the world-building here, which are satisfying and (as always) interesting. Hurley is an amazing world-builder, a real original. One of the greatest pulls for me in these books is just living in her world for a while. I'm fascinated by how she takes elements of our own world and extends, transforms, or otherwise mutates them into her own. Her work doesn't feel didactic--it's not trying to teach me that, say, the repression of women is wrong. Instead, it takes elements of our own familiar patriarchal system, upends them, what-ifs them, and ends up with a complicated, multi-layered world that doesn't look much like ours at all, and has plenty of its own problems.

There are a couple of copy-editing glitches along the way, which are frustrating when they jump out. And the resolution of a final scene felt a little forced and abrupt to me--but came with high drama and realism that satisfied in other ways. I'm curious to see where Hurley will take this in the final book. When does that come out? Soon, I hope.(less)

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Dec 28, 2012 Kam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

It's not often I pick up the next novel in a series so soon after I've started the first one. As I've mentioned frequently before, I like spacing out the books I read in a series so that I don't get fatigue with the series, as has happened before with others whose books I've read one right after the other, riding the wave of enthusiasm and enjoyment the first book may have engendered.

This time around, though, the situation is somewhat different. After getting Hope into God's War, by Kameron Hurl...more

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May 30, 2013 Ian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia, sci-fi

I liked Infidel better than the first book, possibly because the world and the characters were already established, which helped push the plot along faster and with less distractions (and trips to the dictionary). Maybe also because I got a little less squeamish about all the bug-based technology.

Being a middle book, is it true that the more things seemed to have changed, the more they stay the same. Nyx is still a wreck, Rhys is still torn and undecided, and the team members seem on the verge o...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Nov 22, 2011 Ranting Dragon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: caitrin

http://www.rantingdragon.com/infidel-...

The sequel to God’s War, a novel I loved and reviewed at the beginning of the year, took me by surprise. I wasn’t aware that it would be out so soon, so imagine my excitement when I received a copy in the mail because Hurley remembered my name! I read it quickly and waited for another reviewer’s review to see if our thoughts matched up. Unfortunately, they were unable to review it due to real life commitments so I got to do it. While Infidel certainly does...more http://www.rantingdragon.com/infidel-...

The sequel to God’s War, a novel I loved and reviewed at the beginning of the year, took me by surprise. I wasn’t aware that it would be out so soon, so imagine my excitement when I received a copy in the mail because Hurley remembered my name! I read it quickly and waited for another reviewer’s review to see if our thoughts matched up. Unfortunately, they were unable to review it due to real life commitments so I got to do it. While Infidel certainly doesn’t suffer from sophomore slump, I was acquainted with the fantastic worldbuilding that Hurley created already and the few new things we learn could never match up. Thus, Infidel isn’t as good a novel to me as God’s War was. Overall, however, it is a solid novel that I will probably be rereading for years to come.

Time marches on…
…And it is now six years after the ending events of God’s War. Hurley doesn’t give you any kind of a primer before dropping you right back in with Nyxnissa. This was something I praised in my review of the first novel—how we were dropped right into the setting with Nyx without any lifelines. But I had trouble remembering what exactly happened in that novel to split up the crew, so I was lost when I started Infidel. I almost wanted to reread God’s War just so I could catch myself up to speed. I wish Hurley had made a few references to refresh our memories so that a reread of the first novel wouldn’t have felt needed. I pressed on and soon I was immersed again with Nyx, but throughout the novel I struggled to remember why Rhys had left Nyx.

Emotional connection
I’ve heard that some people can’t relate emotionally to a character like Nyxnissa, who can quite often be unsympathetic and brutal. For me, this was never a problem. I find that Hurley does a masterful job of portraying a woman who is basically created by her world to be hard in order to survive, and Nyx’s emotions and heart are still relatable to the reader. She always cares for her crews deeply, even though she always knows that one will eventually betray her. She does what is right in the big picture despite the personal consequences to herself. I love that Hurley manages to pull off making Nyx seem like a cold and heartless b**** while also showing that Nyx is doing it because she cares. She will sacrifice the few for the many.

And it’s not as if Nyx comes off as perfect, either. Sometimes she does dumb things, sometimes she is too stubborn, and sometimes she does the wrong thing—and so does everyone else. These are all characters who feel believable and human. I love it when a novel makes me feel, and both God’s War and Infidel achieved that effect. It’s not only Nyx who pulls on my heartstrings or riles my anger—Rhys and Khos suffer devastating losses by helping Nyx. They also ditch her at the end of God’s War, and more about that circumstance comes out in a well-written scene near the end of the novel. I love that it enriches our understanding, interwoven in a small paragraph that’s a blip in the overall storyline but makes the entire story richer and believable.

Can you guess the ending?
Unlike most novels, I was unable to either guess the ending or the villain mastermind behind the rebel bel dames. Instead, I learned along with Nyx, through all her missteps and mistakes as well as her successes and triumphs. It is never an easy time for any of the characters of the novel and everyone suffers. Infidel is just as dark as God’s War, though the consequences don’t have the same weight as the aliens in God’s War did. These consequences hit closer to home and smaller in scope but just as dangerous for Nyx’s country. If God’s War was aliens versus world scenario, then Infidel is more of an internal affair, with two parties in the country with different visions of where it should go and what it should do. Both sides have understandable motivations but you have to decide for yourself if the cost is worth the end game. Does Nyx pick the right side? Is she only in it for the hope of being a bel dame again? Do you agree with her? It’s all thought-provoking.

Why should you read this novel?
Fans of the first novel, God’s War, will definitely enjoy this sequel. I wouldn’t recommend Infidel to anyone who hasn’t first read God’s War because you get very very little background to help you understand what’s gone on before and why certain things matter. Infidel is a superb science fiction read.(less)

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Dec 06, 2011 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi-fantasy

In July of this year my wonderful hubby got be a Nook for our anniversary. While I had fought the notion of an electronic reader for a few years, I finally got on board when I realized that I missed reading. You see, the amount of time I spend driving my son from school to school to other things he needs to do, reading is more than difficult. It's almost impossible. Books tend not to fit into bags without being somewhat destroyed and forget going to a bookstore. So, an eReader made perfect sense...more In July of this year my wonderful hubby got be a Nook for our anniversary. While I had fought the notion of an electronic reader for a few years, I finally got on board when I realized that I missed reading. You see, the amount of time I spend driving my son from school to school to other things he needs to do, reading is more than difficult. It's almost impossible. Books tend not to fit into bags without being somewhat destroyed and forget going to a bookstore. So, an eReader made perfect sense.

This eReader also opened up an entire world of books I NEVER would have bought in paper form. "God's War" was one of the books I grabbed on a recommendation from the Barnes & Noble engine.

Boy am I glad that engine spit that book out.

There was something about an angry woman, a desert, blood, guts and gore that drew me in. The richness of the religion drew me in as well. In fact, the fact that it is a religious and political book are probably the two main reasons I enjoyed this book and was looking forward to the next book, "Infidel."

As much as I liked "God's War," I liked "Infidel" more. There is a richer sense of the world, in fact I now know the name of the world this time - Umayma - where I don't remember seeing it before. There are more cities, more flavors, more colors, more of a sense of place in "Infidel" than in "God's War." The story is richer as well.

I don't want to give too much away, but let me say this.

If you think you might want a book about story with characters who are believable, maybe not fully likable but definitely believable, then check out this series by Kameron Hurley. The motivations of the characters are realistic for the world in which they live. The capabilities based on the rules of the world are realistic as well. I especially loved it when an older magician was able to do more than he thought he could (towards the end of the book - no spoilers here) and was able to bring the rest of us along for that ride.

One more thing that makes this sophomore attempt even better than the initial book - there is one goal and you know what it is from almost the start. You are dropped into the lives of these characters 6 years after the first book, but you know the last 6 years were not boring - just that there wasn't much to report between then and now. Where the first book introduced us to the world, the characters and life on Umayma, "Infidel" pulls you in even more.
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Feb 19, 2013 Jenny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read2013, sci-fi-fantasy

I picked this up when the third book of the trilogy came out, after being surprised at how much I enjoyed the first one, God's War. I don't quite want to say that I think the author has written herself into a corner, but this book seemed to spend most of its time dealing with the consequences of the world that has been created and Nyx's actions in the first book.

The world that has been created? Well, if your timing is right, you can be regenerated by magic and bugs, pretty much indefinitely. The...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Larry Kenney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This series is one of the most highly original series I've ever read. Realistic gritty and flawed characters prevail. Her take on a female dominated society is interesting, as well. When the men are off dying in a religious war, the women take over all the traditional roles. If you are looking for Lara Croft, you are barking up the wrong tree. If you want hard as nails females, then you are in the right place. The world is an interesting blend of Arabian culture, guns, biopunk, and magic.

The fir...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Robert Verde rated it 3 of 5 stars

I snapped up this book as soon as I saw the author, this is the second in a planned trilogy of martial science-fiction novels. It didn't grip me as completely as the first in the series, but it really expanded upon the world portrayed in God's War, providing a travelogue of sorts to some of the other cities and environments in this colonial world setting.

One note of warning; this is not a book for the squeamish or insect-phobic. I really liked it for the explorations of a complete ecology built...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Worthy sequel to God's War. To my mind this series is among the best and most creative high octane, take-no-prisoners, noir-adventure series I've ever read. The world Ms. Hurley has invented is staggeringly imaginative, yet feels fully complete. Every nuance it present: the people, culture, religion, technology. Characters are very well written, and also feel complete. I can't wait to see what she does with Inaya next!

Readers seeking a similar thrill should read China Miéville's Perdido Street...more

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Dec 25, 2011 Nicholas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, kindle

A lot of what I liked about Infidel can be summed up by saying it reminds me of Ani Difranco's song Untouchable Face.

Hurley does a great job balancing relationships and conflict and not reducing relationships to either their conflict or the resolution thereof. Multiple ongoing relationships in this story find interesting paths that allow the characters to remain true to themselves without compromising into generic social norms. This, of course, brings pain, but it ends up being much more satisf...more

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Oct 19, 2011 Benjamin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, first-reads

Probably closer to a 9 than a full ten, nevertheless Infidel is an excellent sequel to God's War in which Nyx and some other old characters are back along with a few new ones in this bug-and-blood filled second book. Politics and war take center stage as the Bel Dames stage a coup against the Nasheenian monarchy. Or do they? Better watch out because it's hard to tell who's a friend and who's an enemy with traitors and manipulators popping out of the bug-secreted. We start to get a wider sense of...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Rrain rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, speculative-fiction

I look for reasons not to give books five stars, because it's not something I want to hand out to just anything, even if I like it. Five stars means the book has something special. This book has something special.

I really liked the first book in the series, God's War, but I struggled a bit with some of the characters. I don't know what was different this time, whether they were written with more dimensions that allowed me to empathize with them, or whether the change was in me. Whichever it was,...more

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Jan 05, 2013 Paul Bonamy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed God's War enough to make we want to continue reading the series, but it's various first-novel flaws could be a bit jarring at times. I am pleased to report that Infidel manages to pay carry the promise of God's War while also cleaning up much of the weirdness.

Infidel picks up long enough after its predecessor to allow everyone to have settled into new lives, but not so long that everything is radically different. Striking that balance can be tricksy, and it's handled well here. We als...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Terence rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy

I can’t recommend Infidel as enthusiastically as I do its predecessor, God's War, because it suffers from the middle-book-of-a-trilogy syndrome: It doesn’t go anywhere, and reads a bit too much like filler. I hope that the final book in the series, Rapture, will restore the energy that carried God’s War along.

I also didn’t like the overly manipulative way Hurley tries to get our sympathy with the stories of Rhys’s and Khos’s families, which have established themselves in Tirhan after fleeing Nas...more

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Jan 23, 2013 Kayin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia, sci-fi

Frustrating read. It was good at times, some of the scenes were worth reading, but I had major issues with the plot and characters this time around. I think I wanted to dive in even deeper, but something about the approach in book 2 pushed me away and kept me twiddling my thumbs, all the while disgusted at what happened in the plot (I won't give any spoilers). And I was disappointed with the end after all that.

Anyway, I'll definitely be reading book 3 as book 1 was so good and book 3 will probab...more

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Nov 03, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy

Nyx gets some of the old gang back together to take on a cabal of (of all things) rogue Belle Dames. The blood/sweat/mucus/general bugginess seemed to me a little overdone (enough, already!), but like the opener there's action, treachery, murky motives, terror, horror and violence aplenty on a world afflicted with permanent war and a particularly harsh tailored environment. Note to self: keep reading, but be prepared for an exhausting yuckfest.

Favorite line: "Nyx had a way of finding herself in...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Katy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of dark fiction/deep thinking

Shelves: ebook

Book Info: Genre: Dark fiction/science fantasy
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: fans of dark fiction, deep thoughts.
Trigger Warnings: killing, biological warfare, murder and torture (including of children)

My Thoughts: This is the second book in the Bel Dame Apocrypha series, following God's War (review linked here where formatting allowed). The third book was recently released, and it is called Rapture.

This book is very dark, but there were rare moments of humor that brought a laugh out of m...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Lauren Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: war, science-fiction, feminism, arc-review-copy, ebook, dystopia, gender, religion, reviewed-on-blog

Nyx had been better dressed, better armed, and better supported, once: running with her bel dame sisters instead of a cocky boy shifter and a reformed venom addict. Now, instead of collecting blood debt, she was babysitting diplomats and cutting up petty debtors when the First Familes paid her in hard currency. It felt more honest. But a lot less honorable.

This is how we find Nyx at the opening of Infidel, the second book in the Bel Dame Apocrypha series. The Nyx we met at the beginning of God’s...more Nyx had been better dressed, better armed, and better supported, once: running with her bel dame sisters instead of a cocky boy shifter and a reformed venom addict. Now, instead of collecting blood debt, she was babysitting diplomats and cutting up petty debtors when the First Familes paid her in hard currency. It felt more honest. But a lot less honorable.

This is how we find Nyx at the opening of Infidel, the second book in the Bel Dame Apocrypha series. The Nyx we met at the beginning of God’s War is now just a memory of when she “used to be young, and fiery, and strong. She used to be able to cut off a head in forty-five seconds with a dull blade. She used to be able to drive a bakkie like a demon”. Now, at 38, she is old, tired, and ashamed of the way her life has lost dignity and meaning, although she’s still very much the emotionally dysfunctional hard-ass from book one. Nyx is offered a chance to reclaim the prestige of being a government assassin when a rogue bel dame tries to kill her. A member of the bel dame council asks her to hunt down such rogues and in return, Nyx can have her bel dame status reinstated. The catch is that the rogues are going after the Queen, starting a civil war to bring down the monarchy and give the bel dames power over the country. This will weaken Nasheen, making it vulnerable to Chenja in their ongoing centuries-old war, and Nyx is nothing if not a patriot. Still, it’s a lot for her to handle, especially when she finds that she’s been infected with a strange, debilitating virus that does far worse than simply threaten to kill her.

Meanwhile, Rhys, Khos, and Inaya are living in the prosperous, genteel city of Tirhan, after abandoning Nyx at the end of God’s War. They’ve settled into quiet domestic lives: Khos and Inaya are married, Rhys has a beautiful if scatterbrained wife, and each family has two young children. But both Rhys and Inaya are involved in government work related to the plot that Nyx is caught up in, and you know it’s only a matter of time before she arrives in Tirhan to disrupt if not ruin their lives. Not that Nyx needs much of an excuse; it’s been six years and she still misses Rhys badly, even thought she would never admit it.

Their strange relationship was one of my favourite things about God’s War, after the excellent writing and worldbuilding, all of which made up for a somewhat lacklustre story. In Infidel, Rhys and Nyx are far apart for much of the novel and the writing is good but less arresting. Hurley continues with her excellent worldbuilding, but although Umayma is still an unusual planet, it’s now familiar and less exciting. On the bright side the story is stronger, better paced and more focused. It’s a good book, but less notable that its predecessor.

Read the full review on my blog, Violin in a Void (less)

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Sep 13, 2012 heidi rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebook, wiscon, reviewed

She thought about Alharazad’s offer. Wondered if it meant things were as bad as they looked. Decided they were probably worse.

Nyx is right. It's as bad as it looks and worse, and the body count is going to rise astronomically, and because it's a middle book, no one is going to actually get significant change.

Thing I love: Nyx is a big woman. On seeing her for the first time in years, Rhys notices: "She'd lost a staggering amount of weight. Loss of mass meant loss of leverage, loss of strength....more

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Mar 27, 2012 Brandon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For anyone on the fence about this book or the series all I can say is buy it now!!

Is this going to be the next Dune? No but is it an excellent action packed science fiction book in a rich and unique world.. absolutely.

I started the series a little bit unsure if I would like it as bugtech felt a bit weird, but that worry soon passed.

Kameron Hurley has built an amazingly rich and unique world that lives by its own rules. I can not remember the last science fiction book I read that had such a u...more

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May 29, 2012 Zeke Chase rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Rating: 6/10

This book is probably a fairly good book. In fact, it's probably a very good book. But compared to Hurley's first, God's War, this simply doesn't hold a candle. God's War was beautifully crafted. Infidel was choppy. God's War was tight. Infidel seemed to have a lot that was superfluous. God's War introduced stunningly deep, rich characters. Infidel took those characters and added very little to them and seemed to ignore the depth of the first. God's War proportioned the characters pe...more Rating: 6/10

This book is probably a fairly good book. In fact, it's probably a very good book. But compared to Hurley's first, God's War, this simply doesn't hold a candle. God's War was beautifully crafted. Infidel was choppy. God's War was tight. Infidel seemed to have a lot that was superfluous. God's War introduced stunningly deep, rich characters. Infidel took those characters and added very little to them and seemed to ignore the depth of the first. God's War proportioned the characters perfectly. Infidel gave too much attention to Inaya, and too little to Khos, Eshe, Suha and most especially, Anneke. God's War had beautiful, crisp themes regarding gender disproportion and bisexuality, fertility rights, piety, jihad, racism and fertility. Infidel grazed the surface of gender identity and religious intolerance via the shifter discrimination, and a moderate exploration of monarchy. God's War made divine use of the word “cunt”, whereas Infidel snuck it in superfluously.
The one thing I did enjoy about this book was Nyx's intrigue about potential “daughters” or hers running around, although even that was poorly explored.
My mental image of Anneke is now completely butchered. The situation with Rhys' children (not saying for spoiler reasons) was entirely unnecessary. Nyx's love for Rhys seemed so bourgeois that I didn't believe it because it didn't fit with Nyx. Moreover, her long lost love from God's War (whom I believed and felt for) was not mentioned at all, nor was virtually any of Nyx's softness that she could express through sex and relationships as seen in God's War. The one instance of softness we see of Nyx in this is the book of poetry, but even that is a mere shell of what it was God's War.
In short, God's War left some big shoes to fill, and Infidel, for all it is, doesn't rise to the challenge. I will still read book 3, Rapture, mainly because I'm curious about the title (although Infidel left something to be desired in a title), and because I still love Nyx for all the sloppy handling of her character in this.(less)

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Nov 22, 2012 Sachin Dev is currently reading it

Very impressive - I switched books by mistake and got through a good 30% before I realized my mistake and jumped back to God's War. But for all practical purposes, this book reads like a stand alone. Super impressed with the depth of the imagination, the sheer novelty of the whole bleak setting smtime in an apocalyptic world on a desert planet with two suns, one a blue one at that and an innovative technology that runs on BUGS :)

Will finish this book and write a coherent review!

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May 05, 2012 Moebius Machiavelli rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book in series. When I first explored these books I found myself thinking of Sir Richard Burton, and George Alec Effinger (this is meant to be a compliment). These books didn't really delve into their own cultural roots so much as intentionally create a bastardization thereof, and yet they are well crafted. I appreciate innovations with gene manipulations, insects, and what seems to me a mild type of telekinesis.

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Nov 15, 2012 Chade66 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, read-2012, science-fiction

If you read my other review for God's War, you know that I was torn about Nyx and her progress through the story.

Well, she didn't learn much in the way of life lessons in this book either. Now that Khos and Rhys are basically out of the story, I'm not sure there is any reason to read the next book. If you read that third one and like it, please let me know. But I found the ending of this book very unsatisfying.

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Jun 10, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kameron Hurley write noir-styled adventure in a bug infested future world. Gritty and creative all at the same time, her world building is unique in the world of speculative fiction. Infidel follows the brilliant God's War characters into a civil war that may well bring the whole world to its knees. Night Shade books is quickly becoming one of my favorite publishers.

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Mar 18, 2012 Mikolaj Habryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

I like this better than the first book. The fascination with its own ickiness feels toned down, and the characters I kept track of stayed interesting, although I found my attention wandering in the first half of the book, and I failed to track a lot of the minor characters' storylines. Good ending, too.

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Infidel (Bel Dame Apocrypha #2)

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