Matthew's Journal

Third of the Hugo shortlist, and the best so far by a comfortable margin. The premise here is a small band of almost-immortal mercenaries; what they do with their time, what it's like being a new (and very old) immortal, and what happens when someone thinks they might be useful to Big Pharma...

This was more interesting and less just-endless-fight-scenes than I was expecting (though the fight scenes are very well done!), although it was still a fairly predictable plot (while Obbxre tvivat Naql na rzcgl tha was a twist we didn't spot coming, we both said "Zreevpx'f fgvyy va gur cragubhfr" when gur yvsg jnf frra tbvat qbja). Some of the character motivations around key plot points felt a bit flat, though. I'm not sure the plot as a whole entirely stands up to scrutiny, either...

I did like that all the characters are pretty competent (including the villains), and that most of them (the exception being Merrick) have complex motivations. I like that there's a central queer relationship that isn't just one aspect of the relevant characters. And the fight scenes are very well done :)