Shards of Earth

Excellent storytelling. Tchaikovsky weaves social fiction, sociology and some rather predictable characters into a first volume that doesn't disappoint. Looking forward to finding out what happens to the crew of the Vulture God next

The author rather throws the reader in at the deep end, with a whole load of concepts and characters, right from the beginning. That meant that I struggled to get into the book, although the glossary helped. However, once I'd read the first couple of characters and begun to understand its world, I found there was a lot to like. There was quite a lot of fighting, but the author takes care not to glorify it. There are some interesting feminist perspectives. There is a nice reference to H.G. Wells (the Thunderchild battleship features in War of the Worlds). There is an amusing use of 'pronouns' in which 'they' refers not to a different gender but a species made of multiple individuals. I liked that the aliens are properly completely different and alien, which is a refreshing change from much sci fi. All in all, a lot to like, and I'm definitely adding the sequel to my 'to be read' list.