I was killing time in the library a week or so ago, and I found myself in the science fiction section, randomly picking up books based entirely on their covers. This one not only had intriguing cover art (it pictured a gorgeous bald woman with tattoos on her head and unusual hands, and a portal behind her that reveals a space station which suggested "space opera" to me), but an intriguing jacket blurb. So it came home with me.

This was a fun book to read. The hero, Thiadora Murphy, was born in space (in low, but not zero gravity). "Floater" societies differ from planet-based societies in real economic and social ways that Mitchell clearly links to the physical circumstances of space living. Floaters are second class citizens who are oppressed economically and socially. I was really impressed by the world Mitchell created -- it makes sense and feels real, two things that don't always go together.

When Murphy decided to go to the academy and join the military, she spent almost a year adapting to the slightly-higher-than-Earth-gravity world that housed the academy. She was the first "floater" to attend the academy, and consequently endured painful hazing and prejudices, that she, of course, overcame. The meat of the book is about what happens to Murphy as she nears graduation and the powerful corporations that run human society fight over her future. She's caught up in all the usual space operatic intrigues and fighting and fleeing and posturing. It was all great fun to read.

I recommend the book, and I will be reading more of Mitchell's work in the future.