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We find our heroine just landed on Mars with the 2nd mission, and naturally, nothing goes quite according to plan, both due to machinations from Earth and also from within the mission crew…

This (for me) was one of the better of the series. Kowal always packs a ton of social/political awareness stuff into her books and sometimes it can be frustrating because it really doesn't actually fit very well. In this case, it did fit well and didn't overwhelm the plot or characters as I've seen it do in past Lady Astronaut novels, so that was a huge plus.

In the end, this was a very enjoyable read overall and recommended.

They do not hit the same as Tony Hillerman's books and this one really got to me. The writing is just so bad comparatively and it's frustrating reading them. The secondary story is actually kind of important in that it highlights the use of Native Americans in association with scammers, but still. I just think I'm done.

3.5 stars. I liked it quite well, but it's a little simplistic in some ways? At least it made a hell of a lot more sense than the movie though! (Which makes sense since I believe the director of the movie is the same guy who did Snowpiercer and just wanted to ram the message home even more in this movie than his previous one.

Oddly, this book reminds me a lot of another nominee, The Tainted Cup. They are both about an alien biology that is a lot more fecund and transformative than ours. But while the world of The Tainted Cup is more controlled, this one is fully uncontrolled alien biology and scientists (and prisoner slaves) have been sent to unravel it while simultaneously needing to justify the political order at home somehow. It is both frustrating and frighteningly plausible given the direction politics in China have gone.

At any rate, a lot of fascinating science, plausible politics and decently well-drawn characters make for a very good read with a lot to think about afterwards. Recommended.