The Folded Sky by Elizabeth Bear

I had heard good things about Elizabeth Bear’s White Space novels but hadn’t ever read them before, but I had a hankering for good space opera. I wanted space ships and aliens and galactic civilizations! So I was excited when I got an eARC of her latest novel in the series, The Folded Sky, from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. But first I had to read Ancestral Night and Machine, the first two books in the universe, which I enjoyed (Machine much more than Ancestral Night). 

When I dove into The Folded Sky, it was everything I had hoped for! Although the motivation behind the pirates felt a little underdeveloped, everything else about this book was a delight. Our protagonist is a data historian/achivist, and she is on her way to a rickety space station to research an old alien artifact before its star goes supernova. Her wife (who is a wonderful nonhuman character) and her kids end up on that station, along with her chief rival (and exgirlfriend). There is a mystery, parenting drama, and fun first contact stuff. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to diving into the author’s back catalog.