Space Opera Fans discussion

The June 2019 INDIE Pick is Space Deputy by Jenny Schwartz. Please use this thread to post questions, comments, and reviews, at any time.

Official description:
A millennium into the future, the Saloon Sector is where the Wild West meets the 1950s, in space, with robots. It’s where careers go to die.

Thelma Bach graduated top of her class after four years at the Galactic Justice academy. But she’s a Rock Sector citizen. The core worlders were never going to let her transcend her background. So she’s been assigned to serve her seven years as a deputy in the Saloon Sector. The message for the Federation’s out-world citizens is clear: you’ll never be our equal, so don’t even try.

The stuffy bureaucrats of the Galactic Justice service chose the wrong person to push around. Thelma will subvert her interstellar sheriff, charm artificial intelligences, fight bandits and hunt the legendary Eldorado Cache. But with the frontier region holding secrets of its own, she needs to choose her new allies wisely because a scary, business-suited enemy is hunting her.

“Space Deputy” is a fast-paced, offbeat space adventure.

I read this last year and enjoyed it very much. I look forward to rereading it for our discussion.

Please note that this is not a book to be taken seriously. It’s a novel but on the short side. Available from Kindle Unlimited as well as buying the ebook from Amazon, but not available elsewhere or in paper.

Thanks, Teresa! I am so thrilled that my book "Space Deputy" is one of your books for June. I'm working on the sequel, "Space Rodeo", right now, so I'm bubbling with enthusiasm and ideas for this world. It's most definitely not to be taken seriously - although who doesn't love cuddly koala aliens? :)

If anyone has any questions I would love to answer them - and hope I haven't scared away all discussion with my enthusiasm (deletes multiple !!! of excitement)

I know I'm a bit early posting but I enjoyed Space Deputy! It's a fun, quirky space opera with a western feel to it! I loved the personalities of the AIs! I look forward to reading the sequel!

I loved the personalities of the AIs! I look forward to reading the sequel!" If I could get Harry to adopt me, I would! :)

I’ve started my reread, since I was in the mood for something light. I’d forgotten most of the plot, and am enjoying my reread.

85% on my reread. I haven’t found any great quotes, but I love the two AI characters.

It's very cool when a book stands up to re-reading :)

One of the things I slipped into Space Deputy - and talking about it really isn't a spoiler, it's so minor - is the Earth Evacuation Archive. I was thinking about how future generations might find the data of the first few decades of the internet both cute and strange with a few gems of unanticipated value. I wonder what they'll think of how we imagined the future?

Finished my reread. I look forward to the sequel. This isn’t a book that I’ll plan to reread every couple of years, but it’s a good one for when I want something light.

This was a fun, well-written little book, with good character development and an interesting plot. Here are what I felt were the weak points.

The world-building was a little weak. For example, we didn't really get a hint of the social structures that allowed anti-Rock-sector-citizen bias to be so blatantly expressed. The sci-fi concepts were also not well-explained - i.e. wormholes (with passphrases? what? is this a Kampia security feature?) and raphus geodes (which are a little too McGuffiny for my tastes).

Ryan, the raphus geodes are definitely McGuffiny! I love that word. Great critique :)

In the little reveal about Lon's background, we discover that he is fairly ambitious. This makes me a little hesitant to accept that he is content in his role as a sheriff's ship in a remote corner of the galaxy. Or is his activity in the AI community and/or assisting Harry in protecting the raphus geode cache sufficient to occupy him?

There's some interesting discussion to be had regarding AI roles. The AIs in this book are warm, and have emotions that are virtually indistinguishable from humans. This is similar to the AIs in Becky Chambers's Wayfarers series, which I recently read. In contrast, Dan Simmons's Hyperion series portrays AIs as something that spun out of human control, and now form their own society. Sometimes their interests align with those of humans, and sometimes they do not. They do not seem to have human-like emotions or altruistic tendencies, except, perhaps, when put in a human body (called a "cybrid). What do you think is the more realistic version of AIs? Which do you prefer?

The sequel is out! Space Rodeo by Jenny Schwartz

Thank You!

The third book of the series is available for preorder, due out in February Space Specter

The fourth book in this series is due out March 22nd. I saw the preorder up on Amazon. Name is Space Baby