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ryanwriter's review against another edition
5.0
I love stories like this, that deal with differences in how aliens and humans think and feel about things. It also combines science fiction and mystery, which I really enjoyed. Can't wait to read the next book!
majkia's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoy this series. So odd, and yet so very likely, when trying to get along with aliens, who are, you know, really alien.
scamp1234's review against another edition
3.0
This one felt a bit flat for me. I loved the previous ones and all the characters but the story didn't really focus on just one or two of the characters. It spread itself thin by looking at all the various components to this drama.
lilybellreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
marhill31's review against another edition
4.0
How do we view death? Do we respect how others view death?
Those two questions give Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch a thought-provoking theme in the fourth entry of this excellent sci-fi hybrid thriller series.
Bones have been discovered beneath the Martian soil in the main city of the alien culture, The Disty. They evacuate the city believing it to be contaminated. Forensic Anthropologist Aisha Costard finds out the bones belonged to a woman who had disappeared because she was charged with crimes against another alien culture. Also, the dead woman had children disappeared with her and are believed to be alive.
Costard hires Retrieval Artist Miles Flint to find out where these disappeared children are. Flint investigates and learns how the dead woman and her offspring could be the lynchpin to a major human-alien relations incident throughout the solar system.
What makes Buried Deep as well the other books I’ve read in the Retrieval Artist Series is the characters of Retrieval Artist Miles Flint and Moon Security Chief Noelle DeRicci. They started out as partners in The Disappeared: Book 1 of the series and now are on the opposite sides of the law. Both have learned that justice is not always black or white. Because of that reality, their beliefs and friendship have been challenged as the series has developed.
Rusch creates a credible multicultural society without being patronizing or politically correct. She shows the strengths and weaknesses of such a society and how it mirrors our current global culture. Also, the books are intricately plotted and keeps the reader guessing like the best thrillers do.
The Retrieval Artist Series has become to me like those who have a favorite TV Show (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Lost). I have to read each book to find out what happens next. Now I understand how good entertainment can be totally addicting in a good way and the power of excellent storytelling can make you a little more open-minded. I highly recommend Buried Deep like I have with the first three books in this series.
Those two questions give Buried Deep by Kristine Kathryn Rusch a thought-provoking theme in the fourth entry of this excellent sci-fi hybrid thriller series.
Bones have been discovered beneath the Martian soil in the main city of the alien culture, The Disty. They evacuate the city believing it to be contaminated. Forensic Anthropologist Aisha Costard finds out the bones belonged to a woman who had disappeared because she was charged with crimes against another alien culture. Also, the dead woman had children disappeared with her and are believed to be alive.
Costard hires Retrieval Artist Miles Flint to find out where these disappeared children are. Flint investigates and learns how the dead woman and her offspring could be the lynchpin to a major human-alien relations incident throughout the solar system.
What makes Buried Deep as well the other books I’ve read in the Retrieval Artist Series is the characters of Retrieval Artist Miles Flint and Moon Security Chief Noelle DeRicci. They started out as partners in The Disappeared: Book 1 of the series and now are on the opposite sides of the law. Both have learned that justice is not always black or white. Because of that reality, their beliefs and friendship have been challenged as the series has developed.
Rusch creates a credible multicultural society without being patronizing or politically correct. She shows the strengths and weaknesses of such a society and how it mirrors our current global culture. Also, the books are intricately plotted and keeps the reader guessing like the best thrillers do.
The Retrieval Artist Series has become to me like those who have a favorite TV Show (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Lost). I have to read each book to find out what happens next. Now I understand how good entertainment can be totally addicting in a good way and the power of excellent storytelling can make you a little more open-minded. I highly recommend Buried Deep like I have with the first three books in this series.
vailynst's review against another edition
3.0
Notes:
3.5 Stars
- Best overall story out of the first four in the series.
- It still seems odd that the author has chosen to write about two main characters, and yet the series title & book blurbs make it seem like Miles Flint is the only MC.
3.5 Stars
- Best overall story out of the first four in the series.
- It still seems odd that the author has chosen to write about two main characters, and yet the series title & book blurbs make it seem like Miles Flint is the only MC.
tome15's review against another edition
4.0
Rusch, Kristine Kathryn. Buried Deep. Retrieval Artist No. 5. Roc, 2005.
One of the intriguing things about Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Retrieval Artist novels is how much aliens, who are never precisely described, drive the action. The Disty are interstellar aliens who have recently established a large colony on Mars, displacing most of the human population. We really know only one thing about them: they have an extreme corpse phobia. Any contact with a dead body, or even being near one, is considered pollution that must be cleaned by means that may include exile or execution. When human remains are found on Mars buried beneath a Disty building, the entire interstellar alliance is threatened. If Miles Flint cannot find the killer, the Disty may pull out of the alliance and kill thousands of their own citizens in a cleansing ritual. Rusch has the knack of writing well-plotted crime novels that make their science fiction premises central elements.
One of the intriguing things about Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s Retrieval Artist novels is how much aliens, who are never precisely described, drive the action. The Disty are interstellar aliens who have recently established a large colony on Mars, displacing most of the human population. We really know only one thing about them: they have an extreme corpse phobia. Any contact with a dead body, or even being near one, is considered pollution that must be cleaned by means that may include exile or execution. When human remains are found on Mars buried beneath a Disty building, the entire interstellar alliance is threatened. If Miles Flint cannot find the killer, the Disty may pull out of the alliance and kill thousands of their own citizens in a cleansing ritual. Rusch has the knack of writing well-plotted crime novels that make their science fiction premises central elements.
shnuggs's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoy the Retrieval Artist series - the books are a combination of sci fi and mystery, with much of the action taking place in the Armstrong Dome of the Moon and featuring many aliens. (Not in a jokey way.) This isn't the best book of the series, but it was a quick, satisfying read.
coolcurrybooks's review against another edition
4.0
Buried Deep is the fourth book in Rusch’s science fiction mystery series, the Retrieval Artist novels. The first is The Disappeared, but you could likely read Buried Deep as a stand alone if you wished. Each novel contains a separate mystery, although all are set in the same world and involve two of the same characters – Miles Flint and Noelle DeRicci.
In Buried Deep, a forensic anthropologist is summoned to Mars to inspect a human skeleton found under a section of the city belonging to the Ditsy, an alien species which practically rules Mars. The Ditsy have strong cultural taboos surrounding death, believing that all who come into contact with a body are contaminated. The forensic anthropologist soon learns that unless she can find living relatives of the dead woman to preform a ritual cleansing ceremony, she and the other investigators will be killed to cleanse the contamination. Desperate, she turns to retrieval artist Miles Flint.
Here I need to explain a bit of the background of the world. The future universe imagined by Rusch contains many different alien species and cultures, which come together for trading and diplomatic purposes under the Alliance. To allow all these species to interact, the laws state that someone who commits a crime against an alien species will be subject to that species laws, which are often far more severe than human punishments and sometimes extend to the relatives of the perceived criminals. Services called “Disappearance” companies arose, which professionally hid people from alien justice systems. Trackers are bounty hunters who go after the disappeared. The flip side of the coin is retrieval artists, who look for disappeared to notify them of important information such as an inheritance or an acquittal but who also strive to keep the disappeared safe. Miles Flint is one of these such investigators.
While the situation on Mars is developing, detective Noelle DeRicci of the Moon’s Armstrong Dome must decide whether she takes a promotion to a political position that would nominally give her authority over the entire Moon. She and Miles Flint are on opposite sides of the law even if they often agree about what the right thing is.
I find this to be the best entry to the series since the first book, largely because it finally gets back to the ideas involving the aliens which drew me in so much. Buried Deep is fast paced and almost more of a thriller than a mystery. It shows a wide range of POV to depict the ongoing chaos caused by the situation on Mars. This means that while Miles Flint is the protagonist, he has less than fifty percent of the page time. While this could have weakened the novel, I think it actually worked very well by giving a clearer picture of the developments and the relations between the humans and the Ditsy.
The Retrieval Artist series has been one of the most enjoyable and fun science fiction series I’ve come across, and it’s a pity that they are so little known. I’d highly recommend Buried Deep to anyone looking for a fast paced science fiction story involving aliens.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
In Buried Deep, a forensic anthropologist is summoned to Mars to inspect a human skeleton found under a section of the city belonging to the Ditsy, an alien species which practically rules Mars. The Ditsy have strong cultural taboos surrounding death, believing that all who come into contact with a body are contaminated. The forensic anthropologist soon learns that unless she can find living relatives of the dead woman to preform a ritual cleansing ceremony, she and the other investigators will be killed to cleanse the contamination. Desperate, she turns to retrieval artist Miles Flint.
Here I need to explain a bit of the background of the world. The future universe imagined by Rusch contains many different alien species and cultures, which come together for trading and diplomatic purposes under the Alliance. To allow all these species to interact, the laws state that someone who commits a crime against an alien species will be subject to that species laws, which are often far more severe than human punishments and sometimes extend to the relatives of the perceived criminals. Services called “Disappearance” companies arose, which professionally hid people from alien justice systems. Trackers are bounty hunters who go after the disappeared. The flip side of the coin is retrieval artists, who look for disappeared to notify them of important information such as an inheritance or an acquittal but who also strive to keep the disappeared safe. Miles Flint is one of these such investigators.
While the situation on Mars is developing, detective Noelle DeRicci of the Moon’s Armstrong Dome must decide whether she takes a promotion to a political position that would nominally give her authority over the entire Moon. She and Miles Flint are on opposite sides of the law even if they often agree about what the right thing is.
I find this to be the best entry to the series since the first book, largely because it finally gets back to the ideas involving the aliens which drew me in so much. Buried Deep is fast paced and almost more of a thriller than a mystery. It shows a wide range of POV to depict the ongoing chaos caused by the situation on Mars. This means that while Miles Flint is the protagonist, he has less than fifty percent of the page time. While this could have weakened the novel, I think it actually worked very well by giving a clearer picture of the developments and the relations between the humans and the Ditsy.
The Retrieval Artist series has been one of the most enjoyable and fun science fiction series I’ve come across, and it’s a pity that they are so little known. I’d highly recommend Buried Deep to anyone looking for a fast paced science fiction story involving aliens.
Originally posted on The Illustrated Page.
horscht's review against another edition
4.0
Temporeicher SF-Krimi, dessen SF-Elemente nicht nur Fassade, sondern plot-treibend sind. Macht Spaß!