Very literally The Breakfast Club meets Firefly, with the stereotypes and shortcuts that implies, and without the unique charm of either. Would be a Young Adult read except for all the sex.

I enjoyed this because of "the priestess" and "the prisoner" -- would have happily read an alternate (and shorter!) version centred around them! The rest of the plot didn't do much for me, "the asshole" is honestly just a jerk, with a twist, yes, but still ... and "the princess" is on a classic 'upper-class maiden discovers The Poor' redemption arc, meh. 

 Set on the frozen planet Mesklin, its disc-shape formed by its crushing gravity, this story is narrated partly by a human inside comprehensive safety gear, and partly by one of the 15 inch long creatures who've evolved there. The humans have lost something, and are trying to work with the Mesklinites to find it. Complexities ensue. I enjoyed the alien POV most, especially the detail around not being able to imagine projectile weapons -- anything thrown would hit the ground a nano-second later due to the gravity -- and having a deep, rational fear of falling any distance at all, for the same reason. However, this is also a fluffy book in some ways, and change happens rather more smoothly and conveniently than it would be if written today. Fifties sci-fi really just got on with the story! However, it's a fun, short read; recommended to anyone who'd like to try hard science fiction, without committing to a 600 page "physics textbook with plot." 

Moving much too fast for me, no time to care about any characters or see much of the world-building. 

Also a wild amount of swearing! I'm all for people expressing their fucking feelings, lol, but this was relentless.