Humanity has colonized the planets – interstellar travel is still beyond our reach, but the solar system has become a dense network of colonies. But there are tensions – the mineral-rich outer planets resent their dependence on Earth and Mars and the political and military clout they wield over the Belt and beyond. Now, when Captain Jim Holden’s ice miner stumbles across a derelict, abandoned ship, he uncovers a secret that threatens to throw the entire system into war. Attacked by a stealth ship belonging to the Mars fleet, Holden must find a way to uncover the motives behind the attack, stop a war and find the truth behind a vast conspiracy that threatens the entire human race.

I’m honestly not sure about this one.

There is some amazing science fiction in here – stuff which makes me see why this book is getting nominated for awards.  Some of the plot near the end of the book, in particular, was amazing, and totally worth getting through the first half of the book.

But.  You knew there was going to be a but in there, didn’t you?  I found it very hard to connect with any of the main characters.  For me to really get into a story of any kind, I need at least one character that I can connect with, resonate with, if you will, and I just didn’t get it here.  The action was enough to keep me reading, and I’ve ordered the second book, so I didn’t hate this one.  It was just kind of meh for me, especially when you compare it to the other shortlisted books.

So not on my list for this year.  But that’s totally a personal thing.  I will, however, be foisting this on the husband when he finishes his current stack of books, because space opera is totally his thing.  Not that it’s not mine – I adore Peter F. Hamilton’s books, for example – but just not this one.  Still, I’m going to keep reading the series, and we’ll see – maybe it’ll gel more for me on a reread.

*

And this is the end of the novels for me.  There’s always a chance that I’ll magically find the time to read my way up to A Dance with Dragons, but it’s probably not that likely.  I feel bad about that, but I’m just going to do the best I can to cover the shortlists.