As I've written before, I am totally in the bag for Lois McMaster Bujold. I like her prose style, her characterization, and the way she constructs a plot. The woman is, to put it simply, good at her job.

'Falling Free' is the fourth novel in Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. However, it requires no prior exposure to the Vorkosigan series and works as a stand-alone adventure. If, like me, you hesitate to jump into multivolume science fiction sagas, this is a great book. If you find that you love Bujold's writing, there's plenty more to discover. If your response is a simple "Meh," you'll still get a satisfyingly complete reading experience.

Here's the setup: a mid-career structural engineer lands an assignment at a space station in the far boonies. Things at the station, however, are not what they seem. The engineer faces a profound moral dilemma, and there's your novel.

Notice that I've told you virtually nothing about the actual story. Frankly, this is the kind of book you're best going into cold: in fact, I wish Goodreads gave me the option to hide the cover art. That said, you're going to have to trust me on this one.

Recommended for science fiction fans, as well as those who like a good adventure and aren't sci-fi averse.

Glad I didn't start the Vorkosigan saga in chronological order, because this didn't live up to the love I had for the Cordelia books. A solid story, but it doesn't quite seem to go anywhere. Maybe events in this will pop up in future books and my view on it will change as I read more.