Aurora Rising

I was pretty surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Alastair Reynolds name is one I've heard come up before, but never investigated, so I'm glad my book club keyed me into this one. The story is a sort of noir space opera, and the writing is sharp and even funny at times. It maybe has a few too many super-competent female characters who for one reason or another have serious dependencies on Dreyfus, but they are also characters enough in their own right to not make that tendency too glaring. Also, space pigs. If you like a good mystery and a good space romp, give this one a try.