I thoroughly enjoyed Moriarty's first novel, Spin State. It was a rich mix of hard sci-fi ideas, action, and intrigue, featuring characters with compelling stories about life on distant worlds. I am sad to report, however, that the sequel does not live up to its predecessor.

Spin Control is primarily a tale of the murky war of espionage waged between Israelis and Palestinians several centuries from now. Arkady, an innocent from the galactic frontier, journeys to the ruined Earth, supposedly to sell a biological weapon he discovered during a terraforming expedition. For most of the book, Arkady is shuffled between the various intelligence groups bidding for the weapon. Between the cryptic interrogations, Arkady tries to unravel the Byzantine motivations of the people around him.

As befits an espionage novel, Moriarty aims for subtlety. Every character is mysterious, with hidden, inscrutable motives and conflicting loyalties. Unfortunately, the storyline is too subtle for its own good. Arkady meanders through a world of confusion, and so do we. You are never quite sure what the characters are trying to do, or why, or where the story is headed. In some books, that can be a good thing, building suspense and deepening the mystery. In Spin Control, however, the result is a muddled mess. The story doesn't make much sense, and as a result, it's hard to care about what happens. As the pages dwindled, rather than anticipating the climax, I found myself saying, "Let's get this over with." Not a good sign.

The best parts of the book were the long flash-backs, in which Arkady introduces us to the culture of the Syndicates, a space-based utopian society populated by a limited variety of mass-produced clones. Moriarty does a fine job of exploring their strange but believable society, and in those chapters, Spin Control is as interesting and innovative as its processor. Overall, though, the book was a disappointment.

This is a sequel to Moriarty's 2003 Spin State, which I enjoyed very much. Catherine Li, now an ex-Peacekeeper, and her very dangerous AI lover, Cohen, are back, this time pursuing information from a Syndicate defector. The defector, a Syndicate clone called Arkady, has information about a genetic doomsday weapon powerful enough to wipe out humanity. He's defected to Israel, but the Israelis for some reason aren't buying the story, and have decided to sell it, and Ardady, to the highest bidder. And Li and Cohen have been hired to represent the interests of the Artificial Life Emancipation Front.

In alternating sections we get the current intrigue, with Arkady's confusion at life outside the space-faring clone Syndicates, and especially on old, tired, damaged Earth, Li and Cohen's struggles with their conflicting loyalties needs, and Arkady's last months in the Syndicates, building to the secret of the weapon and the cause of his defection. In Spin State, seen mainly through Catherine Li's eyes, the Syndicates were the ominous, monolithic, threatening Enemy. In Spin Control, seen from the inside, the ominous forces are still there, but it's altogether a more complex and conflicted picture--the Syndicates in some respects (by no means all!) represent a life governed by more humane values than what the UN offers to most of those living under its rule. There's also a good deal more--call it cultural diversity, call it personality differences--among the different clone Syndicates than Li, with her constricted view of them, could suspect. And it's in that diversity of cultural values that lies both the threat and the promise of what Arkady has come to tell someone who'll listen.

Spin State was a very good book. Spin Control is a better book. Highly recommended.