James Alan Gardner

Each successive novel in Gardner's "Expendable" series is better than the one before and this is no exception. Great political world-building with believable aliens (prognosticating glow-in-the-dark moss?!) and a self-deprecating sense of humour which has you rooting for the good guys right from page one. But who, exactly, ARE the good guys is something the author keeps close to his chest with a Machiavellian plot whose double-, triple-, and quadruple-crosses eventually lead to a spectacular show more ending that plays in your head like a Hollywood blockbuster. Great fun! show less

I plowed through this whole seven-book series in less than two weeks time, joined the author's Patreon, tweeted at him (and received a reply!) and then went looking for more of his books (sadly, there aren't many -- yet!). I don't remember each of the books individually very well (should have reviewed them right away), but I'll leave this review for the series as a whole:
The basic premise is that we aren't alone in the universe, there is a League of Peoples who have agreed to an edict handed show more down by a far superior (and never actually seen) species, which is basically not to cause harm to any member of any sentient species. There are still people living on Earth: those who refuse to agree to this rule or who have already broken it, but the sentient individuals who can abide by it flit around the universe, investigating new planets and species and making trade relationships.
Throughout the series we get to meet various fascinating races of 'aliens' and learn about their cultures and species. We also get to explore the theme of what constitutes "harm" intentional or otherwise, and towards the end make some hypotheses about the nature of this superior race who enforce the no-harm rule by basically immediately killing anyone who has broken it the next time they try to leave one planet for another. The series is packed with fun characters the reader comes to understand and even love, but they are properly flawed and dynamic individuals who are living their own journeys.
I really, really wish (hope?) there were (will be?) more books in this series. You should do yourself a favor and read it. I'll definitely revisit it someday. show less

Expendable is a clever twist on the Star Trek Away Team/Red Shirt. Being the first person on an unexplored planet is very dangerous. Deaths impact crew morale. Except if the dead person is different, disfigured, or otherwise odd, then people are happy to see them go. The human Technocracy uses people with unsightly but non-crippling birth defects as Explorers, Expendable Crew Members. It's all for the greater good.

Festina is one such Expendable. She and her partner are assigned to take a show more senile admiral to Melaquin, a sure one way ticket to out of contact. The story unveils the hidden crimes of the Fleet Admirals, the brutal logic of "that's what Expendable means", and the strange rules of the interstellar League of People, which enforces strict non-violence on humanity. What she finds on Melaquin is an exile community of Explorers, trying to get back into space, and a strange and dying primitive race of transparent humans, created in the distant past by super-powerful aliens.

I loved the style of the short chapters, and Gardner's keen eye for frailties of human nature, from Festina's unrequited romantic problems, to calling the alien super tech drive system the Sperm (sailors. sailors never change), to the simple brutality of the "Oh Shit!", an Explorer term for dying on mission. Explorers all listen to audio-recordings of other away teams, but the Technocracy doesn't bother to inform the Explorers if they're about to listen to a friend's violent death. show less

I plowed through this whole seven-book series in less than two weeks time, joined the author's Patreon, tweeted at him (and received a reply!) and then went looking for more of his books (sadly, there aren't many -- yet!). I don't remember each of the books individually very well (should have reviewed them right away), but I'll leave this review for the series as a whole:
The basic premise is that we aren't alone in the universe, there is a League of Peoples who have agreed to an edict handed show more down by a far superior (and never actually seen) species, which is basically not to cause harm to any member of any sentient species. There are still people living on Earth: those who refuse to agree to this rule or who have already broken it, but the sentient individuals who can abide by it flit around the universe, investigating new planets and species and making trade relationships.
Throughout the series we get to meet various fascinating races of 'aliens' and learn about their cultures and species. We also get to explore the theme of what constitutes "harm" intentional or otherwise, and towards the end make some hypotheses about the nature of this superior race who enforce the no-harm rule by basically immediately killing anyone who has broken it the next time they try to leave one planet for another. The series is packed with fun characters the reader comes to understand and even love, but they are properly flawed and dynamic individuals who are living their own journeys.
I really, really wish (hope?) there were (will be?) more books in this series. You should do yourself a favor and read it. I'll definitely revisit it someday. show less