I doubt anyone would accuse me of being a regular sci-fi reader, especially military sci-fi. I read this book on the recommendation of Miss Gail Carriger. To my surprise, once I got into it, I enjoyed it. It did take me a while, as I'm not used to jumping into the middle of the action with multiple alien races. I felt like I was just waiting for something to happen (which, of course, I was.) If I didn't need to return the book, I might have gone straight into reading book 2.