Thought I may as well post here.
Basically: Looking for books that give the same feel as the Mass Effect games, though perhaps with a wee bit less cosmic horror robot squids trying to exterminate everyone.
Basically, less "fighting evil aliens trying to invade Earth" and more "befriending cool aliens." Also preferably said aliens aren't just
funky-looking humans.
If it's on Overdrive, all the better. I've got access to a couple of libraries and I think some of them take requests.
Here's a few that I've read so far.
Ones I liked:
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Becky Chambers) -- Yes. This is pretty much what I'm looking for. I've already got the second book from the series on my wishlist.
Ones I didn't like:
The Right to Arm Bears (Gordon R. Dickson) -- To be honest, the only thing I really remember about this was a feeling of vague frustration while reading it.
Space Opera (Catherynne M. Valente) -- I
wanted to like this. The premise sounded really neat. But I think the author might've been overdosing on energy drinks and sugar while writing it because very sentence was some runon monstrosity that veered in a thousand different directions and ended with a punchline. It was... very difficult to follow.
Ones that I'm undecided on:
Stardoc (S.L. Viehl) -- This was also pretty close to what I was looking for and I was enjoying it... well, up until a certain disturbing scene that left me feeling pretty icky (since I shouldn't describe it on a family-friendly forum, check the 1-star reviews). It kind of spoiled my feeling for the entire book.
Less of
that, please.
Chilling Effect (Valerie Valdes) -- I'm some 40% through this. I think I'm enjoying it so far. That might change.
Thanks for suggestions.