I went in to the book relatively blind, but I had heard folks say it's like ASOIAF in space, and that the writers have worked with GRRM. As a big fan of the GoT and HotD shows (I shamefully haven't actually read the books, but hope to if they are ever given an ending), I had expected more complex and interesting characters, more politics and palace intrigue, and a denser plot. Instead, the book is a fairly straightforward space opera with some fairly interesting sci fi ideas and some fun twists and some compelling action. This isn't even really a knock against the book, since it never advertised itself to be anything but what it is, I just had some inaccurate expectations that probably lessened my enjoyment then if I had known more of what I was getting into.
The question is, is this series worth continuing? I'm interested in knowing what happens next, but also don't want to spend the next year or so working through a series that doesn't really get better. And the first book has a relatively clean ending, so it feels like a fairly natural stopping point.
For context within the genre, Hyperion and Dune are two of my favorite books of all time, but I also love the Star Wars movies and am not opposed to a more straightforward space opera story.
by ianruns