sdlotu
2/19/2025
If you've read the first two books in this series and enjoyed the repartee throughout, you will continue to enjoy this one. It has all the same wisecracking, snarky, sarcastic dialogue that permeated all the characters previously, and does the same here.
Somehow, though, Scalzi has discovered different personality types can be possible in the world of written language. It creeps in from time to time just often enough to show how badly it is missed.
But that's only the old news. The new news is that this entire work is built on a huge plot hole which even teenagers should figure out in a few pages. The book progresses blithely ignoring the obvious, hoping the reader will do the same.
Sure, you can enjoy this work at a purely superficial level. Just don't think too much about diplomacy, treaty obligations, or alien reactivity. That will only spoil your enjoyment.