Shards of Earth

This was a very impressive, epic, science fiction story. While the author seemed to have a whale of a time slowly unveiling a vast and complex future setting (clearly carefully set up to pose challenging ethical questions) he managed to do that without ever giving me the feeling that I was reading an essay - no I was gripping the book hard and reading at every chance I had because this story is told through the eyes of a bunch of ground-level very flawed, yet relatable misfits from a range of backgrounds who I instantly warmed to and really wanted to see to safety.It felt a bit as if the crew from [b:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet 22733729 The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) Becky Chambers https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405532474l/22733729.SY75.jpg 42270825] had been dumped in the middle of a truly epic, species ending, crisis. These are very different crewmates, but there's the same elements of being a family and understanding that we can all be family despite being different (even different species).