Nebula Award–winning author Elizabeth Moon makes a triumphant return to science fiction with a thrilling series featuring Kylara Vatta, the daring hero of her acclaimed Vatta’s War sequence. After nearly a decade away, Nebula Award–winning author Elizabeth Moon makes a triumphant return to science fiction with this installment in a thrilling new series featuring the daring hero of her acclaimed … of her acclaimed Vatta’s War sequence.
Summoned to the home planet of her family’s business empire, space-fleet commander Kylara Vatta is told to expect a hero’s welcome. But instead she is thrown into danger unlike any other she has faced and finds herself isolated, unable to communicate with the outside world, commanding a motley group of unfamiliar troops, and struggling day by day to survive in a deadly environment with sabotaged gear. Only her undeniable talent for command can give her ragtag band a fighting chance.
Yet even as Ky leads her team from one crisis to another, her family and friends refuse to give up hope, endeavoring to mount a rescue from halfway around the planet—a task that is complicated as Ky and her supporters find secrets others will kill to protect: a conspiracy infecting both government and military that threatens not only her own group’s survival but her entire home planet.
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This may seem like a smaller scale adventure than readers already familiar with Moon’s military space novels have come to expect. No space battles. Only one (and I thought it was actually a bit disappointing) armed action in the story. This is “lifeboat” story. The hero and some survivors of a sabotages space shuttle struggle to survive stormy oceans, frozen landscape and the saboteur until rescuers can find them. I felt the technology available was unevenly developed. It was hard for me to believe things like the communication dead zone, the inability of rescuers to deal with the storms co-exist with FTL starships, etc. On the other hand, it read like a comfortable, old school adventure (except most of the heroes are women). If you don’t let things like the inability of the rescuers to deal with storms bother you, it was an easy book to enjoy.
Elizabeth Moon does not dissapoint, ever. She brings action, intrigue, malicious behavior, courage and the will to survive vividly to the page. I only wished the BBC or Hollywood would take her novels to heart. Vatta could be a terrific screen dynamic. Anticipation for the second novel is in extreme mode. Thank You.
Elizabeth is a very good writer. This is a hard SF book/series and I’m a hard SF reader. Yet, her writing is good enough that I’ve read and enjoyed all her fantasy books, too.
I often like Elizabeth Moon. I know I read this one and don’t remember much about it. Sometimes Moon nears the end of a novel and seems in a hurry to get out. She collects all her loose ends and throws them at her reader in hopes that they’ll make sense. This might be one of those.
Vetta’s battles with there own country.
I’d been meaning to get around to reading Elizabeth Moon for a while. After reading Cold Welcome, I could kick myself for not getting around to it sooner. I realize that it’s not the very start of the series featuring Kia Vatta (the protagonist), but there’s enough exposition to help a newcomer pick up the back story as they read along without bogging down the flow. (I suspect I might find it even more fulfilling had I started off with Trading in Danger.) Either way, I’ve found a series to stay hooked on for a while.
I’ve read every book Elizabeth Moon has written. Most of them several times. Just finished this book and its sequel. Excellent just excellent.
If like me you love everything Elizabeth Moon writes then you don’t need a review to tell you to buy this book. If you are not familiar with Elizabeth Moon’s writings you wouldn’t go wrong starting with “Sheepfarmer’s Daughter” (her first published novel) and the start of the Deed of Paksenarrion novels or the Vatta’s War series that began with “Trading in Danger”. Cold Welcome takes place in the Vatta’s war universe and is the first book of the Vatta’s Peace series. It does not require that you have read the Vatta’s War series although it does continue the story of Ky Vatta and occasionally refers to events from Vatta’s War. The characters become your literary friends and the story progresses at a pace that makes you very reluctant to to put the book down. There are no wasted scenes
This is part of an interesting series by Moon
Elizabeth Moon does it again! Great start to a new series!
great writing and a good addition to the series
Loved this introduction to a new universe, and eagerly await more! And the plot is both original and riveting!
Loved it. The series has been great!
Don’t read this book without first reading the Trading in Danger series. This briefly covers the backstory and there is a lot of backstory. Even though I read the previous books, this was lacking something. Don’t know what, but it was not a satisfying read. I usually love this author, but was very disappointed.
Outstanding writing
The Vatta series is wonderful. I really enjoy this character. Highly recommend.
I have enjoyed every book in this series and this book was no exception.
I barely remember it, except that it was a page-turner.
One of my favorite authors
enjoyed the read