Saturday, August 7, 2021

ASSASSIN'S ORBIT by John Appel

 Thanks to Netgalley for an e-ARC of this title. As another disclaimer, John Appel and I have overlapping social circles. I've played one-shot RPG sessions with him in the past. While that doesn't necessarily influence my impression of the story, it did prompt me to read it.

For what it is, Assassin's Orbit is a fun read. It's a space opera thriller about an older female crew of private investigators and mercenaries. There's a lot of action: space battles, shoot-outs, and criminal investigation abounds. 

I love the representation that the book presents. There are numerous human cultures that have developed, and the reason for the exodus from Earth was well-conceived. Props to John for creating such a vibrant world!

I did have some difficulty reading through the book: and mainly that was because of misleading marketing. If you look at the Simon and Schuster page for the book, the hook line is: "Golden Girls meets The Expanse with a side of Babylon Five." I really dug that description! It gives a really particular, character-centric vibe.

I loved the idea of Dorothy, Rose, and Blanche kvetching with G’Kar and Mollari in the Rocinante's galley. To me, it sounds like a Becky Chambers novel with a bit more conflict in the plot. Similar to what Vivian Shaw did for urban fantasy in her Greta Van Helsing series. 

There are great moments of characterization, and even a few humourous moments squeezed into the descriptive language. But it's not at the level of expectation that tag line gave. Marketing matters.


In an interview, Appel is asked to describe the book in five words. His description is a bang-up summarization: "Old women space competence porn." That gives me a much better idea of what the book is, and I still would've gone for it. 

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