The Ganymedan
The Ganymedan by R.T. Ester
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So, I picked this out of a Netgalley lineup solely on a great cover. I'm not ashamed to admit it--especially after loving the SF much more than I thought I might.

Here's the skinny: It's a mystery with a good deal of back and forth between time periods for Verdot and often slipping into the mindset of a sentient ship. The mystery is a murder that Verdot committed and the full reasons for it, plus his escape throughout the Solar System, with TR, the ship, being an unwitting, indeed, very nice sentient ship as an accomplice. The ship isn't dumb, but it has as fantastic a back story as Verdot.

Great characters. But at least to me, I think I loved the deep, very fleshed-out worldbuilding even more. Every community/space station along the circuit is vibrant and feels lived in, fascinating. So much so that I could swear I was on the journey, that this would have made a brilliant, beautiful video game. That lived-in feeling, the full history and complicated life of Skinners, sentient ships of multiple generations, a war, ethical revenge, and even just the fact that everyone limits themselves out of disgust and barely repressed suicidal ideation is exactly the kind of deep, emotional lived-in-ness I love. TR is moving on, checking on all its friends in the circuit who barely survived suicide in the war. It's heart-felt and very positive--and I fell for it all.

Great SF. I will be keeping a strong eye on this author. Highly recommended.

This was a crazy original concept. If you like anything that is sci-fi, this is for you, but I will say that it is a darker concept. It is not lighthearted. I enjoy things on the darker side so this was right up my alley and it is scary to thinkhow humans and robots are so like-minded.

The Ganymedan by R.T. Ester is a dark and hauntingly melancholic science fiction novel full of mystery and a vivid gritty atmosphere. The story is full of interesting science fiction concepts like AI, sentient ships, androids, backup bodies for humans to extend their lifeforce, and a place called the "After", for those who want to go someplace else. All of these elements made for an incredibly detailed and deep novel that asked questions about sentient and human rights, what makes a person human, and what it means to make your own justice in a universe where its hard to come by.

The story alternates between flashbacks leading up to the action that opens the story and what is happening after that action. This method gave the story a lot of mystery as we were learning about the world, the characters, and what had happened as the novel progressed. Personally, I love this method of storytelling because I'm always wondering what will happen next or what we'll learn about.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and found the plot very unique and different from things I've read before. I loved the characters and the depth they had to them.

I will be following this author closely and looking to pick up any other books they write in the future.