I enjoyed this book. Interesting main character and had a nice touch of being a mystery wrapped in a science fiction novel. I liked that Andrea was smart and never seemed to miss the clues that were right in front of her. A tad bit to much explaining at the end but nothing that would distract from what was a nice conclusion. ( )

I'm certain that Adam-Trot Castro's next book is going to be amazing. While Emissaries from the Dead is not absolutely perfect - what a hell of a first novel. All the stops pulled out here: multiple alien species, artificial intelligent entities with godlike powers, a main character with all the flaws you could ask for and a mystery surroudning two murders. Totally forgot to mention that this is set in an artificial cylinder world where the human contingent's living quarters are "Hammocktown" which hangs over the abyss of the rest of the cylinder which is filled with noxious gases and gigantic dragon things - so don't let go, ever. As a who done it, the story works quite well. There are a few small rough edges here and there and that is why I'm ready for the next one.

This is a combination of Huxley, 2001: A Space Odyssey and a mystery all rolled into one. Thank goodness the aliens primary form was not ANTS. Interesting read. ( )

The prologue is golden, although the next few chapters slow down a bit. Some of the early characterization and dialogue felt a little forced to me, although there is some interesting play with the notions of [b:artificial intelligence|27543|Artificial Intelligence A Modern Approach (2nd Edition)|Stuart J. Russell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167881696s/27543.jpg|1362] here, as well as using a human political structure that appears mostly to consist of indentured servants.

It is clearly the beginning to a series, and I ended the book eager to see where the series would go from here. ( )

The writing was a little clunky, but the classic mystery structure drew me in. Also, as a misanthrope, I enjoy reading about misanthropic main characters (e.g. [book: Generation Loss]). ( )