Shards of Honor

Lois McMaster Bujold

Book 1 of The Vorkosigan Saga

Commander Cordelia Naismith is a survey leader on a planet that is at the terminus of a "new" wormhole. She and her team are surveying the flora and fauna, the geology and preparing a report to the Beta Colony administrators so the planet is registered. They are attacked, and while most of her team gets away in the shuttle, she and one team member are injured and then rescued? by a Commander Vorkosigan, who seems to have also been left on the planet for dead by his Barrayaran buddies. Vorkosigan and Naismith turn out to be birds of a feather in terms of how they view the human condition, meaning they are fighting the same war, even though their political affiliations have put them on opposite sides. Maybe this is soft sci-fi, with the plasma reflectors and wormholes and arc guns and nerve disruptors just showing up where convenient.  But it is a fast read and sets the stage for an epic space opera series.

3 stars (out of 4)

Artemis

Andy Weir

This book was written between The Martian and Project Hail Mary. It is a departure for Weir, since it includes more than one character, but is still all about innovation and creativity and problem solving. Here we follow Jazz, a teenaged resident of the Artemis, the only permanent colony on the Moon. In the afro-sci-fi tradition, the colony was created and is managed by Kenyan Space Corp, which is a global space power. But really, earth is only a side character here. Jazz has lived nearly her whole life in Artemis and, like all teens, pushes against the hopes and expectations of her family and those in authority. Jazz's most hated comment to receive is "you have so much potential". She is forging her own path, wanting to get EVA certified, and has her side gig of smuggling contraband into Artemis. And then she gets pulled into a massive scheme to alter everything. Of course, it goes FUBAR and Jazz utilizes her engineering brain and her friends to save the day. Pretty fun, but for some reason not "page turner" like the other Weir novels. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Falling Free

Lois McMaster Bujold

The start of a space opera known as The Vorkosigan Saga, this book is the first chronologically, but stands alone from the series as having taken place 200 years before anything else. The world allows for wormhole travel, so the setting is a remote system with a planet that is purely a resource mine for, in this case, Galactech Corporation. Engineer Leo Graf arrives to a new job posting on an orbiting habitat in this system, and finds that the habitat is a genetic engineering home for "Quaddies", people who have been "manufactured" with four arms for appendages (instead of 2 arms, 2 legs). They are Galactech's foward thinking solution to space construction and there are now 1000 quaddies on the habitat (all 15 years or younger). Just before they are about to take on their first paying job, political and economic winds shift turning this into a story of independence and revolution. Bujold does a pretty good job with the hard science part of the sci-fi, and keeps the engagement high with the storyline. I'll be giving the rest of the series a try. 

3 stars (out of 4)

Murderbot (series)

Martha Wells

Having watched the season 1 series, I have re-read all the murdebot novellas over the past 3 months. See the original reviews here

All Systems Red

Artificial Condition

Rogue Protocol

Exit Strategy

Network Effect

Fugitive Telemetry

System Collapse

In short, there are lots of details I don't remember so I am having fun reading these anew. I also am happy to report that my initial enthusiasm for Martha Wells and this series is warranted. This is a really fun exploration of humanity.

Still 4 stars (out of 4)