Plague of Memory

I've just finished reading S.L. Viehl's Plague of Memory and, like the rest of the series, it's filled with things I don't like, and things I love; both of which compel me to read further.

Plague of Memory begins with Dr Cherijo Torin's alter ego Jarn back aboard the Jorenian ship Sunlace, trying to find her way. She is in the body of Cherijo, but has no memory of her. You'll recall that Cherijo's persona was wiped away courtesy of a couple of gunshots. But you'll also recall that Cherijo is nigh immortal.

Jarn is called to the Hsktskt home planet to try and cure a plague that is turning the reptiles murderous and suicidal; for her to do so, she must remember Cherijo.

I've read a lot of reviews that expressed disappointment in the last two books: Rebel Ice in particular came in for a lot of criticism for departing from the strong story line and turning Cherijo into someone else. In Plague of Memory, it was expected that Cherijo would once again emerge. But I have a problem with those naysayers.

If you've read Eternity Row, and read it properly (no skipping bits), you'd have found the clue: Cherijo leaps out of a transport, is caught by Duncan, and both are caught by Hawk. She's is roundly chastised for the foolhardy stunt, to which she replied that she was immortal and wouldn't have died; hurt a lot, yes, died, no. But if she'd landed on her head and sustained critical brain damage?

And that is what I think alot of people missed. Rebel Ice demonstrated what would happen and Plague of Memory continues that theme. You can't replace the esoteric, the memory part of the brain if that matter is destroyed, you can only make new memories. The author makes that very clear and so Jarn and Reever have to move on.

What I hated about this book was Reever's manipulations for selfish reasons. To me, he's not displaying love, but obsession and he has done this repeatedly throughout the books. Worse, the Captain of the Sunlace joins in with the manipulations; both men deciding what Jarn can and cannot do as if she has no right to decide her own future - Xonea because he understands how critically injured Cherijo was and the cultural difficulities of Jarn's background, and Reever because he's obsessed with Cherijo and will do anything to keep her by his side, whether she wants to or not.

What I loved about the book was that Jarn is not afraid to use weapons. She has distinct ideas about how to act, even if they go against the community she's been manipulated into re-joining. Not that Cherijo was spineless, but Jarn is more than capable and not restricted by the medical code of ethics of doing no harm. Jarn will and has used the knives for less than saving lives.

As interesting as this story is, I deduced the perpetrator of the plague early on. There was only one true suspect, but I enjoyed Jarn's meeting with the evil-doer. There was one aspect of the book I did not see coming and my response was "you sick, evil bastard!" Always a good reaction and one of the reasons I so enjoy Viehl's work - she will always throw in a good OMG moment, doesn't stint on consequences and lays the ground work for the next book with subtlety.

I'll have to be patient for the next book in this excellent series.