The Absconded Ambassador

Genrenauts Episode 2

By: Michael R. Underwood

Narrated by: 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.

At any cost.

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.