Contact Imminent [Mass Market Paperback]

Contact Imminent (2003) is the fourth novel in the Jani Kilian series, following Law of Survival. In the previous volume, Jani has solved the mystery of Le Blond, the point man for a semi-legitimate trade association and the man trying to smear the reputation of both Jani and Tsecha. Ceel, the Oligarch of the Vynsharau, and his suborn Shai have managed to ease Tsecha out of his positions as ambassador and Propitiator, but Tsecha regains most of his status as Intercessor for the Haarin; moreover, now he doesn't have to attend any more boring meetings, can sit in comfortable chairs and doesn't have to wear boring clothes. Furthermore, he and Jani have forced Shai to allow the Haarin to sell a much needed water filter to the Elyans.

In this novel, a year later, Jani, Niall and Tsecha are observers for a mine removal operation on the grounds of the Haarin enclave at Chicago. Something goes wrong and the mine explodes, killing a Terran bomb disposal tech and an idomeni security suborn and injuring Lieutenant Pullman. Jani is suspicious of the official explanations for this incident; since she is leaving for the Outer Circle on business for Tsecha, she asks Lucien to join the investigation team to uncover the true situation.

Jani travels to Elyas in a Neoclona ship with John Shroud and Niall. There she is kidnapped and transported to a Haarin colony, where she finds hybrids much like herself. Soon she is in the middle of a political conflict in the Haarin community between the established dominant and a hybrid challenger.

Back on Earth, Lucien singles out Faber, a comtech who had been on the bomb site in the bunker with Jani and who has been acting strangely since the incident. Lucien has Faber followed and keeps showing up in the comtech's life. Among other things, he notices that Faber is checking out the specs of the latest model military exoskeleton armor.

This novel is an investigative procedural on Earth and a character study on Elyas, with various side stories. Although the author tells part of the story from the viewpoint of Faber, she is able to maintain the suspense up until the final climax. You probably will not want to put the book down until the story is done.

In this story, Jani starts taking on some of the responsibilities of Tsecha's suborn. She acts as more that Tsecha's Eyes and Ears on Elyas, stabilizing the hybrid challenge in a very priestly manner and then gathering a cadre to keep the situation under control after she returns to Earth. While the immediate problems are resolved, this story ends with the promise of more excitement to follow.

Highly recommended for Smith fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of suspense and intrigue, with a touch of romance, in a SF setting.

-Arthur W. Jordin

This tale, the fourth in the Jani Kilian series, has a kick to it. Kristine Smith, smart and sophisticated (she throws in quotes from John Donne) has been a great writer since her debut novel, "Code of Conduct," and she's improved each time out. In "Contact Imminent," she's conquered her one weakness--plotting. In the past I got the feeling sometimes Ms. Smith confused even herself, but not this time. Things just hum along (the climax is a masterpiece of cross-cutting action that's positively cinematic) as Jani, the hybrid human-idomeni, is sent on an intricate mission, in the course of which she finds a club that would want to have her as a member--and it's one she actually wishes to join, too.

The members of her mob are all back--the Shakespeare-quoting Naill, the semi-smarmy Lucien, her doctor chum John who hybridized her in order to save her life, the crafty idomeni leader Tsecha. They're always true to Jani in their fashion--for the most part anyhow, as for the most part they all have their own agendas.

And then Ms. Smith introduces a new character, the terrorist Micah Faber; and through his character she speculates on the idea of virtual reality via hypnosis: a fascinating concept.

As with the previous novels this one is complete in itself. There are no cliffhanger endings. It's clear Ms. Smith has plans for more books in the series, but they'll come at her own pace. At the back of the paperback edition you will not find a preview first chapter of the next book in the series, which in some sense is a blessing although you'll probably grab the next one as soon as it appears.

Notes and asides: Naill refers to MacBeth as "The Scottish Play" because actors consider it to be bad luck to speak the play's true name. One would suppose that Ms. Smith has made Chicago the capital of her "Commonwealth" because she lives in Northern Illinois, as her biography makes perfectly clear.

I'll admit to being a bit disappointed in the latest installment of this series. The first couple of books were action packed, but the pace seems to have slowed in this book. The stakes for Jani aren't quite as high, and for much of the book she seems to be reacting to situations rather than trying to take charge.

That's not to say that I didn't like it. Smith has created a fascinating and believable alien culture, and the conflicts as the idomeni and humans interact are very well drawn. There are characters that you care about, and an interesting evolution in Jani's personal life.

On its own merits it's a good read, even if it isn't quite up to her earlier novels.