Space Opera Fans discussion

Does anyone know if Fortune's Pawn is any good? I read the excerpt that came with Ancillary Justice and it seems promising, so I'm considering picking it up once I'm done with the Books of the Month

Haven't actually read it yet but I definitely thought it sounded promising too and I've got a paperback coming in the mail. I'm excited to check it out!

In my vast backlog in kindle b/c I get tempted by flash sales this book awaits my reading. I read the sample and liked it so maybe next week Ill read it.

The whole series (3 books) is excellent and the heroine is as tough as Ripley from "Aliens". I loved these books - hope you enjoy them too.

I loved it, I read the whole trilogy over one weekend. I won't repeat myself, but my review is here: http://strangecharmbooks.co.uk/2015/0...

Is this actually military science fiction or is it romance disguising itself as military science fiction?

It strikes me as being military sci fi with-maybe-a-few-romantic-elements, but since I haven't read it yet, I can't say for sure. It has a few reviews from people I know and they don't even mention the romance, just the action and intrigue.

There is a lot of romance style writing at the beginning and honestly it almost turned me off to the character. The plot is really good though and if you stick with it you will be rewarded with a great story

Well based on the reviews of the other 2 books, number 3 in the trilogy seems to have the most flack for romance > plot.

Robin wrote: "Is this actually military science fiction or is it romance disguising itself as military science fiction?"

It is certainly a blend of both. I'm not into romance novels, so there were sections where I was rather bored. But there were also good science fiction moments and a few unanswered questions by the end. I've been meaning to read the second book but I have too many others on my list...

I hear it's good, but I haven't read it myself.

I too was put off by the beginning as I am not a Romance reader I need a lot more than that. I will hopefully read it this month because I am doing a Space Opera challenge to get more familiar with the genre.

I loved, loved, LOVED the first book so much I ordered the rest of the trilogy almost as soon as I finished it. Unfortunately, I thought the series went downhill from there.

Plot-wise, there was a lot of running in place, with the heroine going through all of these different actions/scenarios only to end up exactly where she started. This would have been ok, if it had only happened twice, but the entire second book was one massive try-fail cycle with very little payoff. Book three was better, but the ending was kind of naff.

All up, I won't be picking up another Rachel Bach book in a hurry.

If you're looking for a good space opera in a similar vein (but with more awesomeness), my suggestion would be Code of Conduct by Kristine Smith.

I was given this as a gift and bounced off the first couple pages. That was some of the worst writing I've seen in ages. They actually give infodumps as pillow talk. It was so bad I couldn't go on.

As a story I really enjoyed it, but I wish it had been better researched in terms of science. Rachel Bach is normally a fantasy writer, to the best of my knowledge, and it showed. Lots of things that really needed explanations (because they wouldn't work in reality) didn't get them, and so I was left wanting for information.
Basically it was a great story ruined by its lack of detail for me. I finished it, but I won't be reading any more.

I love love love the Paradox series. I read Fortune's Pawn in 6 hours. Read Honor's Knight in about 8 hours. Most fun I've had reading a book.

Keep in mind the series is sci-fi fantasy like Star Wars.

Devi Morris is perhaps the most bad ass character ever created.

I liked the series and was very well entertained.
But it is popcorn entertainment rather than amazingly deep literature: It's stylistically ok, the plot and world building work but there is nothing extremely new or outstanding in there.
So as I said great entertainment but not much more.
The one big drawback I found was that while the heroine is quite ass kicking and quite liberated she is sometimes unexpectedly stupid and subservient to men which I found was a bit of a turnoff.
Apart from that, if you are interested and looking for light entertainment by all means go for it.

Final note:
This is a book that I feel sits between YA and Adult.
If you are into similar themes but with a bit more adult focus (and by that I mean the style and storyline, not the sex :) ) check out Iain M Bank's culture series or Gary Gibson's Stealing Light series. Both feature strong heroines and romance, too.

Sometimes popcorn is exactly what is required ;-)