I have enjoyed this series so much that I have bought each following book even before I have finished the previous one. The story is fun, the characters (as much as they are developed) are fun and the idea is interesting. My main beef is the treatment of the women in the story especially kellea and the lack of interest of the main character for the new cultures and places he visits, which essentially means we don’t get to find out about the cultures and places he goes to. All the other characters adopt human modes of speech and follow human entertainment, but we never find out what their own interesting figures of speech are, or their forms of entertainment.
The treatment of Kellea is rather disturbing, and rather shameful. At first I thought when they broke up it was a pity, but they I realized that after the way he treated her, it was for the best for her. It is also disturbing that after everything she still tries to reconnect, and the fact that she is brown skinned. Perhaps that is why she is treated with such little respect by the author and the main character…not a complaint that is limited to this book, but a common feature where brown skinned women are shown, which is rather rare. Or perhaps it is because she is also a captain and has a bigger ship than he does.
It would also be nice if some of the other characters had relationships it is a bit of a strain to think that they would not be able to.
But other than those issues, enjoyed the other aspects of the book. Where the main character is not interacting with females, the story is fun and engaging, when he is, it is a bit cringe inducing.