Vessel

Executive Summary: I thought this book started slow and ended fast. The middle was good, but overall it made for a so-so book.

Full Review
I'm not sure if this is a book I would have picked up myself. I hadn't heard of it before it was chosen as the July pick for Sword & Laser, and the blurb didn't really excite me much.

I'm not a hard sci-fi person by any means, but I do like for the science to be explained in a way I can follow and doesn't distract me. That is probably harder in a near-future book like this, where it's easier to see how we could get from here to there.

This book focuses more on the human aspect of being an astronaut than the technology side, but the sci-fi aspect plays an important role with how it ends. I felt like a lot of that was rushed and not at all earned by what came before it.

I think the middle of the book is where it shines best when you're focused on the aftermath of such a long time spent in space, and this mystery hanging over the main characters head.

I think it took too long to start revealing the details of that mystery though which lead me to feel like the reveal was rushed and unearned.

Overall I'm glad I read this book, but I wasn't blown away by it. Things set up for a possible sequel, but I'm happy to leave things off where they are.