Cagebird (novel)
Encyclopedia
Cagebird is a science fiction
novel
by Canadian
author Karin Lowachee
. It was published by Warner Aspect in 2005, as the third book in the Warchild Universe. Cagebird was the winner of the Prix Aurora Award and the Gaylactic Spectrum Awardhttp://www.spectrumawards.org/2006.htm in 2006.
Yuri fakes his own death and his is smuggled out of prison with Finch to Pax Terra, the station orbiting above the earth, where he is picked up by his ship. He finds, however, that his ship has been taken over by his Lieutenant Taja Roshan and is first forced to kill her taking back his ship.
Once that is done, he contacts Falcone's former Lieutenant, Caligtiera, about the Black Op's offer, who proposes that together they destroy the Earthhub Military Carrier Archangel. Yuri finds that he cannot bring himself to do this and informs the Macedon of his plans. He destroys his ship and kills Lukacs, who had intended to use the pirate to gain power, then flees to the Macedon whose crew includes two of Falcone's other proteges.
This story alternates with the story Yuri's childhood, which tells how his colony was destroyed by the striviiric-na when he was four. His family was split up and he was sent to live in the bleak refugee camp
camp on the partially terraformed planet Grace. When he is nine, Falcone recruits him from the camp and takes him on as his protege and eventually as a geisha
.
Yuri falls in love with his geisha mentor, Estienne, and is indoctrinated, but this indoctrination fails when Yuri is forced into geisha duties at fourteen, which is essentially prostitution, with the aid of Falcone's cruelty. Despite this, Yuri is eventually given his own ship.
When Falcone's ship, the Genghis Khan is destroyed, Yuri is sent to seek revenge on the Macedon's captain, Cairo Azarcon, by attempting to murder his son, Ryan Azarcon. He fails on his first try intentionally, but almost succeeds on his second, which is what lands him in prison. This portion of the story is told in more detail, through Ryan's perspective in the Universe's second book, Burndive
.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
author Karin Lowachee
Karin Lowachee
Karin Lowachee is a Canadian author of speculative fiction.Lowachee is the author of four novels, Warchild , Burndive , Cagebird and The Gaslight Dogs . Warchild is noteworthy for its use of second-person point of view for the first several chapters of the novel. This book won the Warner Aspect...
. It was published by Warner Aspect in 2005, as the third book in the Warchild Universe. Cagebird was the winner of the Prix Aurora Award and the Gaylactic Spectrum Awardhttp://www.spectrumawards.org/2006.htm in 2006.
Plot summary
The novel begins with Yuri Terisov, the jaded former protege of the infamous dead pirate, Captain Vincenzo Falcone, and the Captain of the pirate ship Kublai Khan in prison on earth, where his is approached by Black Ops agent Andreas Lukacs. Lukacs offers to free Yuri from prison in exchange for his help in infiltrating the pirate network, which Yuri agrees to in exchange for the protection of his cellmate Stefano Finch.Yuri fakes his own death and his is smuggled out of prison with Finch to Pax Terra, the station orbiting above the earth, where he is picked up by his ship. He finds, however, that his ship has been taken over by his Lieutenant Taja Roshan and is first forced to kill her taking back his ship.
Once that is done, he contacts Falcone's former Lieutenant, Caligtiera, about the Black Op's offer, who proposes that together they destroy the Earthhub Military Carrier Archangel. Yuri finds that he cannot bring himself to do this and informs the Macedon of his plans. He destroys his ship and kills Lukacs, who had intended to use the pirate to gain power, then flees to the Macedon whose crew includes two of Falcone's other proteges.
This story alternates with the story Yuri's childhood, which tells how his colony was destroyed by the striviiric-na when he was four. His family was split up and he was sent to live in the bleak refugee camp
Refugee camp
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees. Hundreds of thousands of people may live in any one single camp. Usually they are built and run by a government, the United Nations, or international organizations, or NGOs.Refugee camps are generally set up in an impromptu...
camp on the partially terraformed planet Grace. When he is nine, Falcone recruits him from the camp and takes him on as his protege and eventually as a geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
.
Yuri falls in love with his geisha mentor, Estienne, and is indoctrinated, but this indoctrination fails when Yuri is forced into geisha duties at fourteen, which is essentially prostitution, with the aid of Falcone's cruelty. Despite this, Yuri is eventually given his own ship.
When Falcone's ship, the Genghis Khan is destroyed, Yuri is sent to seek revenge on the Macedon's captain, Cairo Azarcon, by attempting to murder his son, Ryan Azarcon. He fails on his first try intentionally, but almost succeeds on his second, which is what lands him in prison. This portion of the story is told in more detail, through Ryan's perspective in the Universe's second book, Burndive
Burndive
Burndive is a science fiction novel by Karin Lowachee. It was first published in 2003 by Warner Aspect. Burndive is the second book in Lowachee's Warchild Universe.-Plot summary:...
.