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displacedcactus's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
This is a relatively fun mystery set on a space cruise. The sci-fi elements are relatively light; for the most part the mystery could have been set on an actual cruise ship, but the space setting makes for fun window dressing, and the advanced technology takes turns helping and hampering the characters.
Your enjoyment of this book will probably be largely influenced by how you feel about ultra-wealthy characters. Tesla Crane is the heir to a major tech company, off on a luxurious cruise with her new husband, a retired private detective. She definitely uses her wealth, privilege, and high-powered lawyer as a bludgeon throughout the story.
That said, Tesla is also disabled. A terrible accident left her with a spine held together by pins and rods, chronic pain, reduced mobility, and PTSD. The author has extrapolated from current scientific advancements to come up with some ideas with how Tesla would manage these in a futuristic setting. She also has a very cute service dog.Gimlet the dog does end up in some peril but she is OK in the end! The dog survives!
I appreciate that this book presents a queernorm future, with gay couples and non-binary people present throughout the ship, and normalization of sharing pronouns.
As always, I like how Kowal writes established couples, giving us a strong central relationship that underpins the story, without needing to develop a romance alongside a plot.
Tesla and her husband Shal have some charged banter and clearly have a healthy sex life, but there's no explicit on-page love scenes. I'd say this probably falls at the mild end of a PG-13.
Your enjoyment of this book will probably be largely influenced by how you feel about ultra-wealthy characters. Tesla Crane is the heir to a major tech company, off on a luxurious cruise with her new husband, a retired private detective. She definitely uses her wealth, privilege, and high-powered lawyer as a bludgeon throughout the story.
That said, Tesla is also disabled. A terrible accident left her with a spine held together by pins and rods, chronic pain, reduced mobility, and PTSD. The author has extrapolated from current scientific advancements to come up with some ideas with how Tesla would manage these in a futuristic setting. She also has a very cute service dog.
I appreciate that this book presents a queernorm future, with gay couples and non-binary people present throughout the ship, and normalization of sharing pronouns.
As always, I like how Kowal writes established couples, giving us a strong central relationship that underpins the story, without needing to develop a romance alongside a plot.
Tesla and her husband Shal have some charged banter and clearly have a healthy sex life, but there's no explicit on-page love scenes. I'd say this probably falls at the mild end of a PG-13.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma and Violence
Minor: Ableism
graculus's review against another edition
3.0
Since I really enjoyed her Lady Astronaut books, not to mention this being a standalone, I was happy when my request for an ARC was granted - unfortunately, the book itself didn't quite live up to my expectations.
The basic premise of The Spare Man is that it's a murder mystery on a space cruise, with our protagonists forced (with various levels of willingness) into investigation - one of them (Tesla Crane) is a famous inventor, famous enough that she's taken on a fake identity to have any semblance of a normal honeymoon with her new husband. She's also dealing with the physical and mental aftermath of a serious accident, which continue to have an impact all the way through the book. When her two-dimensional husband is accused of murder, Tesla tries to find the real culprit, helped eventually by attempting to use the privilege of being famous.
The influences are clear, though the characterisation of the husband in particular just isn't strong enough for this book not just to be all about one character. There's a lot to like about this book in terms of having a main character with all sorts of flaws but then these get put to one side when it's not convenient for the plot - Tesla has a device implanted to manage her pain which she can handily turn up to 11 when needed, her service dog seems to spend as much time being used as a distraction as doing its job, and so on.
All in all, not the worst thing I've read this year and it wasn't a hardship to finish it, but decidedly unmemorable and I'd really hoped for more...
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest opinion of the book in question.
The basic premise of The Spare Man is that it's a murder mystery on a space cruise, with our protagonists forced (with various levels of willingness) into investigation - one of them (Tesla Crane) is a famous inventor, famous enough that she's taken on a fake identity to have any semblance of a normal honeymoon with her new husband. She's also dealing with the physical and mental aftermath of a serious accident, which continue to have an impact all the way through the book. When her two-dimensional husband is accused of murder, Tesla tries to find the real culprit, helped eventually by attempting to use the privilege of being famous.
The influences are clear, though the characterisation of the husband in particular just isn't strong enough for this book not just to be all about one character. There's a lot to like about this book in terms of having a main character with all sorts of flaws but then these get put to one side when it's not convenient for the plot - Tesla has a device implanted to manage her pain which she can handily turn up to 11 when needed, her service dog seems to spend as much time being used as a distraction as doing its job, and so on.
All in all, not the worst thing I've read this year and it wasn't a hardship to finish it, but decidedly unmemorable and I'd really hoped for more...
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest opinion of the book in question.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma and Panic attacks/disorders
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