I completely adore the novels written under the Robin Hobb pseudonym, and was curious to see how some of her earlier novels felt. This was science fiction and so quite different, although still with the signature high-class world building skill. It was a bit slower than some of her other stories and not quite as polished but the characters steadily built and grew. The ending was very good, and overall I enjoyed it a lot even though sci fi is not one of my favourite genres.