Space Cruiser Musashi

This was a good, entertaining story. Not full of deep meaning, but a solid plot that moved forward at a good clip, and showcased likeable, interesting characters and vivid action scenes. I went in thinking “eh, I’ll give it a shot, though I don’t expect much,” mostly because of the kinda cheesy cover. But I became seriously captivated by the end. I’d like to read more of these people’s adventures.

One thing to get past is the sexuality. I’m not offended by it, and the enlightened attitudes are a pleasant change from many stories, but I worry the author might be limiting the reach of the novel because of it.

In the society this story occurs in, nobody cares or even bothers to remark on who is gay, heterosexual, or other. That’s a nice thing to see. The society is also very casual about sex, seeing it more as something to do for fun, and engaging in pairings, orgies, etc. on a regular basis. It makes sense in the world the author has created, and seems like a logical consequence of a society where sexuality isn’t taboo. But it will make the more prudish sorts in our own world squirm.

Surprisingly, with all the mentions of casual sex, there is only one real sex scene in the novel, which really looked like it was added just for the sake of having a sex scene. It’s kind of too bad, because the rest of the novel is really good, and I think the author may be limiting the audience that can be reached by advertising the novel as “sexy” in the first sentence of the description and by including that one scene.

But if nothing in those last two paragraphs makes you uncomfortable, then I’d recommend this book to you. It’s a cut above many space operas you might read.