Exo

"I fell in love with Fonda Lee’s writing after reading Jade City so I knew I had to check this series out. While Jade City is much more fantasy, Exo is hard sci-fi. And how refreshing!!<br/><br/>It has been a looong time since I’ve read any hard sci-fi. I became absolutely obsessed with sci-fi, especially space and alien hard sci-fi, after reading Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein as a teenager. I read nearly all of his books and LOVED them.<br/><br/>However as I’ve gotten older, I’ve strayed more and more from the genre which is so dominated by white men who just write abhorrent women characters. I don’t read Heinlein anymore because I know that I just wouldn’t be able to stand reading the formulaic sex bomb women he always put in his books and that I essentially ignored growing up.<br/><br/>This book certainly does the exact opposite in terms of true and believable character depth regardless of gender.<br/><br/>Exo follows the story of Donovan, a 17-year old Stripe who is the son of the Prime Liaison of Earth. Depending on who you’d ask on this future Earth, the planet is now either shared with or occupied by an alien race called the Zhree. The Zhree have a special type of bio-armor that they adapt for certain humans to be able to be “hardened” with. Hardened humans become Exos and help the Zhree keep peace on planet Earth (or keep planet Earth oppressed depending on your perspective) which is now one of their colonies.<br/><br/>Donovan is a sort of cop or peacekeeper for SecPac (Global Security & Pacification Forces) who works to suppress the human revolutionaries called Sapience who are trying to gain freedom from the Zhree and end alien rule on Earth. Donovan ends up getting abducted by these terrorists or freedom fighters and his entire view of the world and belief system is challenged.<br/><br/>What I loved most about this book is that the entire time, I had no idea which side I would be on, Sapience or SecPac.<br/><br/>Would I be embracing the superior alien technology and opportunity brought by the Zhree even if it meant humans no longer governed themselves? I mean humans are pretty trash at governing ourselves.<br/><br/>Or would I be a Sapience freedom fighter/terrorist working to violently overthrow the alien colonizers no matter who died along the way?<br/><br/>This is is a super cool sci-fi with plenty of awesome technology and interesting alien culture. It’s also an incredibly human story making you ask yourself deep questions about right and wrong when the world is so gray and the people we love are on two opposing sides."