I was feeling the need for comfort reading yesterday, but I wanted something new, and Martha Wells didn’t have another Murderbot book out yet, and I’ve read all her Raksura books, so I decided to go back and try her first series. The first book is “The Element of Fire”.
She did something a little odd with it — the first 10% or so of the book, her main character mostly isn’t in. You get a bunch of other characters, most of whom don’t seem very likable. I had a little bit of trouble sticking with it — there was a lot of political maneuvering and somewhat wanton killing, etc., that felt sort of House of Cards-ish, which is not my kind of thing.
But then you start getting to know the main character, and you get to know the other characters better, and the likable parts start becoming clearer, and then I was hooked.
So mostly writing this out in case anyone else is a Martha Wells fan and might bounce off the opening to this. I’m all-in now.