Book finished

Rainbows End by Vinge
I thought this was pretty weak. Disappointing at least from Vinge.
It's got some interesting premises, but honestly it's barely even speculative, most of the stuff he's writing about is almost certain to happen, though perhaps the time scale might be different.

There's not much of a story either. Only one thing really happens in the whole book. The character development was just barely at the ragged edge of caring about the people.

If this book had been written by anyone else, I'm pretty sure it never would have made it to the Hugo voting.

Audiobook finished

The Honor of the Queen by David Weber

Honor is part of a diplomatic mission to secure a strategically placed ally in the upcoming war with Haven. The planet in question is highly patriarchal and they are insulted by the very idea of women in uniform, let alone commanding a combat group. She tries to let the insults pass, but of course eventually insult and harm comes to her people, and that's where things turn around.

Wow, this was very good. I found myself laughing and crying at many points through the book. Also, I don't find Weber's stuff predictable; all too often I know the ending of the book by the time I get 1/3 of the way through. I hate that. I mean, sure, Honor is going to survive, because I know there are more books, but she takes a lot of damage and barely makes it through enough to make it very interesting.

I talked to a friend yesterday who shares my tastes for space opera, and it turns out he's already up to book 10. He loves this series too, though he warned me that book 9 pretty much stinks, but book 10 makes up for it.

I normally don't make my book finished posts public, but I thought I would on this one in case anyone was looking for a good series to start on. I've left out my usual spoilers, I'll make a private post for them.