Nasty viruses run amok through the food supplies of a futuristic Bangkok. Scientists everywhere are in a never-ending race to produce genetically modified food that won’t succumb to the latest mutations; Thailand has even succeeded. Foreigner Anderson Lake is busily exploiting the locals, hoping for a chance to learn the Thai’s secrets. This is how he meets Emiko, a genetically engineered (and in Bangkok, illegal) human whose sense of self makes her far more than the toy most people think she is—and whose sense of self will ultimately prove dangerous to her and Anderson both.

The cities of Besźel and Ul Qoma are more than just uneasy neighbours: they exist in the same physical space. One can move from Besźel to Ul Qoma and back again without so much as crossing the street, though to do so—to breach—is highly illegal. So when Besz Inspector Tyador Borlú is assigned a murder case that turns up dead ends in both Besźel and Ul Qoma, his job becomes a lot more difficult—and there may be more at stake than just one dead woman.

Again, a quick disclaimer: I’m acquainted with the author, and my opinion may not be wholly unbiased.

Full disclosure: Before I start, I should mention that my opinion isn’t wholly unbiased, since the author’s a friend of mine. Hopefully that will still be the case after she reads this review. . .

A lot of people describe Scalzi’s Old Man’s War novels as military science fiction, but I would classify its sequel Zoë’s Tale as a space opera. It’s a story about, well, Zoë, a teenage girl whose parents are invited to take leadership roles in building a colony on a new planet. Zoë is an enthusiastic member of the group sent to colonize Roanoke, despite the risks—and the risks are considerable even before the political machinations of greater powers boil to the surface. Zoë’s own position in all of this is complicated by her status as a treaty object for an entire alien race, the Obin, who will stop at nothing to protect her.