Fortune's Pawn (Paradox #1) by Rachel Bach ★★★★☆
Devi Morris isn't your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. It's a combination that's going to get her killed one day - but not just yet.
That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn't misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she's found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn't give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.
4.5 stars.
Holy smokes, I didn't actually mean to finish this all tonight but I hit that sweet spot and just couldn't stop. I am trying to resist the urge to order books 2 & 3 immediately because I am trying not to buy a ton of books right now BUT.
Wow, this was a lot of fun. Like, just really good sci-fi fun. Devi is a fantastic narrator, but all the characters were great. And Bach does something really cool with an alien species and their approach to gender which I ADORED. And oh man there are some huge freaking secrets going on here and some of the dialogue in the last few scenes really started to tease out hints of a much larger world and I am just SO IN. And AH that ending. AH.
I had a feeling I was going to like this, but I didn't expect to like it THIS much. If you like spaceship/mission centred sci-fi, mercenaries and kickass lady-types, you should probably pick this up immediately.
