I listened to this audiobook with my son (I read the first book a while ago, he just read it). I quite liked it--a good suspenseful plot, some interesting characters, great world building (people can shift their consciousness into new bodies, a manageable set of intragalatic fights and alliances between different species, etc.). None of the writing was particularly spectacular, John Scalzi gets much better with later books (particularly [b:The Collapsing Empire|30078567|The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency, #1)|John Scalzi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1464097677l/30078567._SY75_.jpg|50498420] trilogy), but it was enjoyable.