K. B. Wagers

I really liked this book because the characters were interesting and well-drawn. The world-building was not too far off a possible future for Terrans. It posits an answer to the question: what would need to be invented for humans to be able to travel out of our solar system?

At its heart this is a political murder mystery. There are a lot of sports-related (mostly kick-boxing) combats that act as the framework around which the story plays out. There is a spare use of “techno-babble”.

It took a bit to get oriented at the beginning – first names and pronouns – but was a good, fast thrill ride after that. One that I would recommend be read in one sitting.… (altro)

Much like the previous one this feels a little bit forced regarding the different permutations and relationships with family and friends. If you're open and tolerant though the rest of the plot remains interesting and insightful. Again a little bit rushed, and perhaps lacking in some of the details that made Hail so much fun. There is a lot going on and we only follow a few characters so many events don't seem to quite get the depth they deserve. Fortunately it looks like the Games won't be making a further appearance, but sadly they're replaced by Jenk's Doge which is gaining capabilities every page. It even has arms now. There's a also an increase in the "Interstitials" which I mostly don't like as they're cutaways to characters we don't engage with in timelines that aren't clear.

The essence is that Ships have been going missing from the Trappist system. It's unclear if humanity has managed to colonize other worlds, but the implication is that they have, and hence unclear again, why we're back on this one. Or why it's the NeoG's job to investigate and then solve the problem. They do have some Navy assistance when they ask for it. The action then skips back and forth between various character's personal problems, the ever-present (but diminishing importance) Games and a couple of different angles around the main quest. I think it's a lack of balance between the characters and the action that I didn't quite get on with. Whether you'll enjoy this depends what you like in your science fiction.

And a fundamental technology plot hole is that a space ships' 'rail gun' fired on the ground will do a lot more than just knock over a few space suits. The principle of magnetic acceleration usually applied to the term doesn't scale down to land war. Wagers has up until now avoided errors like this.

Although I enjoyed a lot of it I'm not sure I'm that interested in reading more of the NeoG, and will wait until Wagers writes in another world.… (altro)