J. Scott Coatsworth's 3 favorite reads in 2024

I loved the discussions of free will, individuality and humanity here. What makes us human? If we are so changed that we become unrecognizable on the outside, are we still human in any way that counts? And if your personality is transferred into something or someone else, are you still, well, you?

The story draws you into this fascinating world and its myriad cross-currents, culminating in the event foreshadowed by the title. I won’t say any more lest I spoil things, but suffice it to say that the ending is both momentous and immensely satisfying, offering multiple resolutions and character redemptions.

This series is as good a piece of science fiction as I have read in ages, a story I literally did not want to put down, although one has to make allowances for food breaks and the occasional couple hours of sleep. This is a fantastic, towering work of speculative fiction that should win awards, and one that I’d happily read again and again.

This is a fascinating story, a sci-fi tale at heart with an ace romance subplot between kindred spirits who are literally from two different worlds. Wouter and Nif find an unexpected kinship and forge a bond that neither one expects, a love that’s no less real and valid for its lack of a sexual consummation. Which is the point.

I loved the bani, the way this alien race expresses themselves through color that lends the story an additional level of meaning. As bani and human start to figure each other out, it’s also a joy to see the humans though these aliens’ eyes. Humans who live in “boxes” and travel in other boxes, who rub some kind of sticky substance on their bodies and clothing, and who have many different kinds of smiles and hand squeezes, each one conveying a different emotion.

I also loved the side characters – especially Sop, a bani who is non-binary, and Jack, who has secrets of his own (and whom I suspect was actually in a relationship with Ruben before the story began). Jack’s story will be the subject of the next book, so we’ll see if I am right.

Arden’s worldbuilding is first rate, immersing us in bani culture and the alien world they live in, filled with intelligent walking plants, edible (to the bani) algae, and “wilds” – undomesticated creatures who may be smarter than they seem.

The story moves briskly, carried along as much by its emotional subplot as by the action as the bani migrate through forests and mountains to their winter home. And the ending, although I guessed it before I got there, was perfect and sweet.

I’m thrilled that Arden has once again tried their hand at sci-fi (having written Aliens, Smith and Jones, set on Earth, before). I adored their Forester fantasy books. How Six Saved the Frogs is a fantastic science fiction adventure with a well-thought-out alien race that will keep you turning pages until you reach the end.

There are nail-biting space walk scenes, terrifying battles, and some good-old-fashioned negotiating with the person they left for dead on a previous mission, from who they now need for supplies. The whole story exudes a Firefly (or Star Wars) vibe.

A story with older characters shouldn’t seem so daring. It’s refreshing seeing these women, whom society wants to relegate to the sideines, rediscover who they are and kick some ass. Just goes to show that you don’t have to be a hopped up, macho space marine to clean someone’s clock.

A fantastic read, a thoroughly delightful romp through space with an all-female main cast that blends crazy action scenes with deep reflection on what it means to grow older. This isn’t your parents’ Golden Girls.

I just hope they come back again for more.