Degrees of Freedom by Simon Morden

Science Fiction

Today is a glad and a sad day.  I finished listening to Degrees of Freedom and I am glad to find out what happened but I am sad because there will be no more Samuil Petrovitch for a while.  I checked all three audio books out from the library so I can’t go back and listen any time I want just to get a Petrovitch fix.  I guess I will have to go buy the books.  That will have to last me until the next book comes out and that will be quite awhile.

If you are a fan of Science Fiction I highly recommend the Metrozone series.  Samuil Petrovitch is an unlikely hero.  My reaction to him reminds me of my reaction to Lisbeth Salander in Girl With a Dragon Tattoo.  Sometimes neither of them is very likeable but I could not help but pull for both.

In Degrees of Freedom almost a year has passed since the last book.  Sam still is not with Mattie, Sonia still wants him, Michael is still buried under the Oshicora tower, the CIA is causing trouble, and The New Machine Jihad is around again.  To add to all of that what appears to be an Armageddonists bomb has been found.   Sam is about to have a very busy two days.  Just tons of fun for the listener.

Recorded Books produced Degrees of Freedom in 2011.

Toby Leonard Moore narrated all three books and he was very, very good.

Equations of Life by Simon Morden

Science Fiction/Audio Book

I checked Equations of Life out when I saw Science Fiction on the spine of the audio book.  I was not familiar with Simon Morden but did know that Equations of Life was the first book in a series so I decided to give it a try.

Equations of Life is set in the London Metrozone.  Earth has suffered from a disaster that wiped out some countries and damaged others with nuclear fallout.  Samuil Petrovitch is a survivor of the fallout in St. Petersburg.  He is keeping a low profile as a PhD student in the Metrozone. He has a new name, a bad heart and his rule of life is getting involved = a bad idea.  Then he does just that, getS involved, when he stops a kidnapping saving the daughter of one of the most dangerous men in London.

From there things go from bad to worse.  Russian mobsters, the New Machine Jihad, the police and the Japanese Yakuza all take an interest in Samuil.  The London Metrozone is in danger of being destroyed and only Samuil has a solution that will save the day.

This is a true blood and guts story.  Samuil, like a Timex watch takes a licking and just keeps on ticking. There are some interesting characters in the book but not much character development.  The plot is familiar but does have interesting twists and turns.  The book ends with a cliffhanger but since this is a series you know Samuil will be back.  Samuil as part of his PhD studies makes an interesting discovery that is not really part of the story line in Equation of Life.  I will be checking out the next book to see if that discovery is developed in the next book.

Recorded Books released Equation of Life by Simon Morden in 2011.