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tyrshand's review
4.0
A good return to Vatta's universe. It in life's all the elements expected from a Moon sci-fi novel and doesn't spend too much time explaining the events of past novels. In some ways this makes it not a great entry point for new readers, but mostly I don't think anyone would be too confused if they started here. They'd just miss out on the character development, as this novel doesn't focus on that at all. I'm excited about the next book -- particularly if it follows one lead more than the other.
peneli's review against another edition
3.0
Disappointed. The last third felt rushed and it felt like certain things were not resolved solely so the author could turn the idea into another series. Like the book wanted to wrap up neatly and she forced it not to. I've never liked her scifi as much as her fantasy bit this was frustrating. It was such a close miss.
bethmitcham's review against another edition
4.0
I like Moon's utter belief in her characters, even when their adventures strain belief. (Aliens?)
sgtbigg's review against another edition
3.0
Started a little slow and seemed like it was going to be an entire lost at sea story, but it eventually picked up a good bit. It's been so long since I read the preceding books that I was a little hazy on how things and ended previously. Looking forward to the next book in the series.
johns's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fast-paced action-filled book that was well written and kept my attention throughout. There were no deep thought provoking aspects to this book - it is a very straight forward adventure.
antij's review against another edition
4.0
For the most part an enjoyable book. I really liked the previous books for their new angle on interstellar conflict, but this book was almost entirely set on one world with our protagonist stuck on a small raft and then a small island with nearly no communication to the rest of the world. That a society with interstellar travel couldn't get to Ky and her crew in less than several months when their basic location was known seemed a little unlikely, but I was willing to give the book the benefit of the doubt as clearly that was the scenario the author wanted to explore. It threatened with getting tedious at times, but usually whenever that happened the status quo changed and brought new life to the story. All in all, well worth the read.
jameseckman's review against another edition
3.0
A decent military SF with some survival bits (reminds me of some stuff in The National Fisherman) and some nice twists.
hyenas's review against another edition
4.0
So glad to see these characters back, highly enjoyable. You know what's not necessary? Animal harm. Not. Necessary.
mercuryseven's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jameskemp's review against another edition
4.0
Cold Welcome is the first in Vatta's Peace, a new series following on from the Vatta's War series. This first book takes Admiral Ky Vatta to a new and unfamiliar place, away from her space fleet and into a desperate survival in arctic waters after a shuttle crash.
You don't really need to have read the Vatta's War series to get Cold Welcome. The book recaps the main elements of Vatta's War. The start scenario is that Admiral Ky Vatta is returning to her home planet of Slotter Key. She is met by the Commandant of the Space Academy that she last met when she was asked to resign at the beginning of the Vatta's War series.
Like the previous series Cold Welcome is based around a conspiracy that the Vatta's and their allies are on the wrong side of. The mistrust is front and centre and several characters come under suspicion to both Ky and the reader. The shuttle taking Ky and a couple of dozen other local military personnel to the surface is sabotaged, giving the Cold Welcome of the title, and also landing them into arctic waters next to a mystery continent marked only as "Terraforming Failure" on maps and atlases. The sabotage extends to keeping the survivors in a comms blackout at the maximum extent of the Search and Rescue operational range.
Both pilots, the Academy Commandant and half a dozen others are killed by booby trapped survival suits, Ky Vatta and her aide survive because they wear the ones they brought rather than the ones provided. When they launch the life rafts they find that the transponders and other kit has been removed.
Much of Cold Welcome is a very well researched survival story. There are loads of details on the situation, the drills and how the various survivors cope (or not) with their situation. Various mishaps occur, and Ky slowly pieces together aspects of the conspiracy. In a parallel track we see her Aunt Grace as Rector of Defence and chief civilian in the Dept of Defence. Grace is doing her own digging to find out why the shuttle went down and who was responsible. Into this mix Rafe Dunbarger, Ky's lover and CEO of the Interstellar Communications Corp appears to help find Ky.
Between them a clearer picture of the conspiracy is built up. It's an ancient centuries old cover up, and predates Slotter Key's war of unification (in which Grace Vatta was a clandestine agent). There's a major showdown as a finale, but it's also clear that this is really just the curtain closer on Act One.
Overall I really enjoyed Cold Welcome. I stayed up late one night to read it, taking advantage of it being a four day holiday weekend. I'm looking forward to more episodes in the Vatta's Peace series.
You don't really need to have read the Vatta's War series to get Cold Welcome. The book recaps the main elements of Vatta's War. The start scenario is that Admiral Ky Vatta is returning to her home planet of Slotter Key. She is met by the Commandant of the Space Academy that she last met when she was asked to resign at the beginning of the Vatta's War series.
Like the previous series Cold Welcome is based around a conspiracy that the Vatta's and their allies are on the wrong side of. The mistrust is front and centre and several characters come under suspicion to both Ky and the reader. The shuttle taking Ky and a couple of dozen other local military personnel to the surface is sabotaged, giving the Cold Welcome of the title, and also landing them into arctic waters next to a mystery continent marked only as "Terraforming Failure" on maps and atlases. The sabotage extends to keeping the survivors in a comms blackout at the maximum extent of the Search and Rescue operational range.
Both pilots, the Academy Commandant and half a dozen others are killed by booby trapped survival suits, Ky Vatta and her aide survive because they wear the ones they brought rather than the ones provided. When they launch the life rafts they find that the transponders and other kit has been removed.
Much of Cold Welcome is a very well researched survival story. There are loads of details on the situation, the drills and how the various survivors cope (or not) with their situation. Various mishaps occur, and Ky slowly pieces together aspects of the conspiracy. In a parallel track we see her Aunt Grace as Rector of Defence and chief civilian in the Dept of Defence. Grace is doing her own digging to find out why the shuttle went down and who was responsible. Into this mix Rafe Dunbarger, Ky's lover and CEO of the Interstellar Communications Corp appears to help find Ky.
Between them a clearer picture of the conspiracy is built up. It's an ancient centuries old cover up, and predates Slotter Key's war of unification (in which Grace Vatta was a clandestine agent). There's a major showdown as a finale, but it's also clear that this is really just the curtain closer on Act One.
Overall I really enjoyed Cold Welcome. I stayed up late one night to read it, taking advantage of it being a four day holiday weekend. I'm looking forward to more episodes in the Vatta's Peace series.