Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell - 4 stars

[Joy D]

Quarter Share by Nathan Lowell - 4* - My Review

Quarter Share tells the story of Ishmael Wang, an eighteen-year-old living on a space station. When his mother dies in a freaky accident (within the first few pages), he finds himself stranded with little money and few options. He signs up to work on the merchant vessel Lois McKendrick as the lowest-ranking crew member (where he will earn a “quarter share” for his efforts). He learns the shipboard routines and takes exams to become qualified for more responsible positions. The plot consists almost entirely of Ishmael's shipboard education, training, work shifts in the galley, and gradual integration into the ship's social structure. There are no battles but there are a few crises. As the first novel in a series, it establishes the characters. Readers get to know Ishmael’s cabinmates, officers, coworkers, and a few other crew members.

This book goes into a granular level of detail about ship’s procedures and the formation of a business venture in the form of a cooperative. Ishmael is a likeable character. He is not a quintessential hero, but he enjoys taking responsibility, doing his work well, and treating people with respect. I think this book will appeal to those who enjoy character-driven or even business-oriented books that emphasize teamwork. It will probably frustrate readers who want lots of action. I found it easy to root for Ishmael and it was fun to watch his personal growth. I will likely read the next book in the series (and I do not generally read too many series).

[KateNZ]

I like this series too. It’s surprisingly gentle. I read the first three quite quickly (a couple of years ago) and have just picked up the fourth on Kindle Unlimited with a faint view to reading it this month.

[Joy D]

I am going to read #2 "soonish" which may not be until next year, but I really liked the main character, and this appears to be character-driven SciFi, which is something I think I will enjoy. Gentle is a good way to describe it. I also like the way they came to value the mixture of different skills of each person in the small group cooperative.

[Robin P]

I liked this too, it’s cozy sci-fi, no aliens, no battles, and not even any nasty characters. I have them all on audio. I just listened to the 2nd one which ended a little abruptly.

The author based it on his career in the Coast Guard.

[Joy D]

Cozy SciFi - awesome! I usually dislike "cozy" anything, so this series will work anytime I need to satisfy that type of prompt. I can easily see the connection with the Coast Guard (I figured the author was probably in the military.)

[Robin P]

Maybe more slice-of-life than cozy. You hear about how to make coffee, set up a small business, keep the air on the ship clean, etc. In the 2nd book a big event is clothes shopping!

This reminds me that as a kid, I loved books with magic, but also books about ordinary kids The Saturdays, Roller Skates, Betsy-Tacy, etc. I have always been interested in how other people live day to day, partly because my own family, though great, was atypical. (Mother in a career, father in lesser jobs and being househusband, house mainly built by him so quirky,, politics extremely liberal.)

[Joy D]

The business part was remarkably good. I tend to enjoy "business oriented books" but it was the last thing I expected in a SciFi!

ETA - I'm keeping it in my "cozy" category! It is much better for me than anything murder-related. "Slice of life" works for me too.