It's been a long time since I read the Vatta's War series and even longer for the prequels, but I slipped right back into Elizabeth Moon's universe like a pair of favorite slippers.

In Cold Welcome we find Ky heading back to her home planet when her shuttle is sabotaged and Ky and the other passengers find themselves stranded in the polar regions of the planet.

I've always loved Moon's military in space, but military trying to survive the elements was my favorite yet! All the twists and turns of each reveal had me reading far into the night.

Interspersed with Ky's adventures were the Vatta family's perspective of trying to find Ky and not knowing if she had even survived. Enter Rafe, and new plots on the Vatta family and you have a very entertaining story.

I am looking forward to book 2 of Vatta's Peace to see how Ky and Rafe fare in their next adventure. The premise of what's coming sounds very promising.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for providing an ARC of this book!

Cold Welcome (Vatta's Peace, #1)
by Elizabeth Moon
Its an interesting twist to a new series of space adventures. Admiral Ky Vatta has to return home but the exploits and plans of other parties got in the way. Ky is haunted by the loss of her family on her home planet, and is forced to return for the family business. Her great-aunt Grace is waiting for her, but the machinations of others get in the way. Ky is tested by her own survival and those who crash landed with her in the waste of the untransformed island in the snowy south of her home planet. Ky has to solve the the mystery of her crash but also one of the largest conspiracies that has lead to multiple attacks on the Vatta family. It is her connections and her spirit that will bring her through this dark hour.

Published by Del Rey on April 11, 2017

Cold Welcome isn’t much of a science fiction novel. It’s more of a conspiracy / survivalist / adventure novel that happens to be set on another world. Parts of the story are plodding. Some of it shows promise, only to disappoint with its failure to move in an interesting direction.

A family crisis forces Grand Admiral Ky Vatta to return to Slotter’s Key, where her great aunt is the Rector of Defense. The Vatta family is under attack, and Ky becomes wrapped up in the family drama when the shuttle she is taking to the surface of Slotter’s Key is sabotaged.

Ky leads the crash survivors to an inhospitable continent and eventually to a structure that seems to have been built by aliens (the kind of convenient aliens that make things humans can use) but more recently occupied by Vatta family enemies. The enemies account for the conspiracy theme, and Ky’s haphazard attempts to save the others from hypothermia and starvation account for the survivalist theme. The adventure theme … well, there’s not much to it.

We are frequently told that Ky is a capable leader, but you wouldn’t know it from reading the story. Ky is always talking about how much they need to do while never seeming to do anything. Her people are huddled in something like a shed, wondering when their food will run out, while two other structures are within easy walking distance, and Ky’s attitude is “we’ll have to investigate those next week, but right now we’re too busy making up sleeping schedules and melting snow for water.” Like they can’t take a look at the structures while the snow is melting? Ky struck me as being too inept to lead a Girl Scout troop, much less a space fleet.

In more than 200 days on the continent, almost nothing happens despite Ky’s whining about how busy everyone is. A moment of betrayal adds momentary interest, and pages addressing the lackluster attempts to locate Ky chew up a number of pages, but for the most part this is a novel of characters searching for something to do. And since the characters aren’t very interesting, neither is the novel.

NOT RECOMMENDED

A welcome return to the adventures of Ky Vatta, accompanied by a number of familiar faces. Moon takes us from the more familiar space and space station battles to a crash landing and survival situation on a frozen tundra.

Engaging and action filled, though I remain a bit confused on a few points of the narrative arc, and a few parts of the plot felt a little forced. But overall an enjoyable read.

Cold Welcome by Elizabeth Moon once again delivers a gritty, realistic, "in the trenches" Sci-Fi Action/Drama in an exceptional manner.

The hero of previous, more space opera-esque books, now Admiral, Ky Vatta returns to her home world and a literal cold welcome. A routine shuttle trip from her flagship is sabotaged and crashes in the icy ocean. The nearest land is an uninhabited wasteland, and worrying about potential traitors/assassins in their midst takes a back seat to survival.

Drifting on cold seas, they are left for dead, the only one certain of her survival, Rafe Dunbarger, is worlds away and utilizing confidential, illegal, tech, to boot. As Rafe arrives to help search for Ky with the help of her indomitable Aunt Grace and her "aide", the erstwhile, and overly competent, Sergeant MacRobert, Ky makes landfall on the supposedly barren, terraforming "failure" ridden continent. As the weeks pass both Rafe and Ky make discoveries that make it certain that those who have investments in the secrecy of the continent's mysteries will stop at nothing to eliminate those that are fast discovering that the villains who Ky has defeated in the past are just the tip of the iceberg.

Just about the time you get lulled into the shared need for survival, the saboteur tries to strike again and the plot deepens for Rafe, Grace, and Mac as those they can trust are whittled away.

Surviving the second attack Ky and the remaining survivors continue to explore and prepare for an imminent attack that awaits only the clearing of winter storms.

The dynamic between Ky and Rafe, even separated by worlds and weather develop as they both continue to grow. Ky is far from the awkward expelled cadet and Rafe fits with her, adding and complimenting. Grace and Mac are a nice example of what their future might hold. As with every Elizabeth Moon book I have read, nothing is every easy and gritty details and tough situations are never in short supply.

Overall, as we venture into a new series showcasing Ky, the Vattas, and Rafe, every book will be eagerly anticipated.

(I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book I received from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my open and honest review.)

I got pretty obsessed reading this book, which is always the sign of a book I'm really enjoying. I am mostly familiar with Elizabeth Moon from her Deeds of Paksenarrion series, which I loved - and I had never read the original series featuring Kylara Vatta (although I just bought the first one). This book stood on it's own fine - I can tell there is a lot of history that I don't know about yet, but I never felt lost because I hadn't read the previous books.

One of the things I've liked most about Elizabeth Moon's books is her ability to write women that are believable strong military leaders, and Ky Vatta is no exception. Although this book is science fiction, I'd say it is mostly a survival story - a shuttle is brought down via sabotage and Ky needs to help herself and the passengers survive under extremely harsh circumstances, and with the thread of further betrayal.

Anyway, I enjoyed it immensely and I am definitely starting the previous series soon.

Elizabeth Moon writes extraordinary military fiction. It’s not normally one of my favorite subgenres, except when she writes it. I love how intelligent she is about the strengths of the military culture and how characters fit and don’t fit into it. When combined with real (as opposed to cartoonish, cardboard) threats from within and without the organization, fascinating cultures and even more intriguing characters, the result is a story that grabs me and doesn’t let go until the final page. I also love that her characters have to make real choices, and not just once and for all, but have to re-examine those decisions in light of consequences. I don’t mean second-guessing, for Moon infuses her military characters with a healthy respect for the necessity of commitment and the paralyzing effects of self doubt. Her skill at phrasing a story means that her novels, even those marked as sequels, can be read as independent entry-points (“gateway drugs” to her series). Dive in anywhere; you’ll soon get your bearings and devour the rest.

Cold Welcome is the most recent installment of Moon’s “Vatta” series (which is itself a spin-off of other, previous series). Moon weaves in the backstory with nary a bump or blip: the short version is that our intrepid heroine, having weathered a series of attacks on her wealthy family, put together a space peacekeeping fleet and become admiral of same, returns home. That’s when the fun starts, for when the shuttle on which she, her aide, and various members of the planetary forces are traveling is sabotaged, they land near the arctic zone, in the ocean, just off the coast of a barren island, with winter setting in. Ky Vatta doesn’t have arctic survival training, but she has something even more valuable: the ability to quickly assess a situation, determine relative risk, prioritize needs, recruit manpower and expertise, and generally keep folks alive one decision at a time. She does this without threats, wheedling, lying, or other forms of manipulation so common among politicians. Command is what she knows, and others follow her because the only way they’re going to survive is through coordinated, cooperative effort. Their situation is so dire, and the threats from bomb, poisoning, drowning, hypothermia, starvation and so forth are so extreme, there is no room for discussion and compromise, or divided leadership. In this sense, the story isn’t so much military science fiction as a fascinating exploration of hierarchical decision-making in an immediately life-threatening situation. Sometimes we need to sit down together, listen to each person’s opinion, and collectively strive for unity. Sometimes our physical survival depends on delegating authority to a reasonably savvy person capable of making fast decisions.

While all the fast and furious action is taking place, not to mention the mystery of who sabotaged the shuttle and why, Ky Vatta stands out as a terrifyingly intelligent, capable, and compassionate person. I can hardly wait to see what adventures she tackles next!

It was nice to see Klara Vatta again. I read Vatta's war when it came out years ago and really enjoyed it. It was nice to see Klara, the Vatta clan and other friends again. This was a rather slow paced story that allowed me to be reacquainted with both Klara and the previous story line. There is danger and tension. Klara is placed in a very dangerous situation and once again she has to come up with solutions where it seems there are none. A nice start with the new series. There were several loose strings as the story ends so I see a lot of action in the next book. I was glad to see Moon return to Science Fiction. I received a free copy of Cold Welcome in return for an honest review.

After initially leaving home in disgrace, Kylara “Ky” Vatta has redeemed herself and can finally return home a hero. Only instead of being treated with the honor and dignity her position requires, her shuttle is sabotaged and crash lands on an uninhabited cold desolate place. Ky and her motley crew of unknown soldiers must figure out a way to survive.

Verdict: This is the first book in a new series by Elizabeth Moon. However, let me be a little more specific, although this is a new series, it stars Ky, who was made famous in the Vatta’s War series also written by Elizabeth Moon. To be fair, I have read the first book in the Vatta’s War series a very, very, long time ago and didn’t read any others in the series. So when I read “Cold Welcome” I didn’t instantly connect Ky from one series to the other. Big mistake. I ended up very lost for a while. However, once I clued in as to who Ky was, things got easier and much more interesting. I wouldn’t suggest readers new to the Vatta universe to pick this one up. But for those that are……it’s a thrilling exhilarating ride more than worth the time it takes to read.

Big fan of Moon, but I much prefered the parts of the book focusing on the drama on the planet, rather than the political details.

I was so excited to read more of Ky's adventures, and Cold Welcome did not disappoint. While this was on a smaller scale, less space battle- more up close and personal, the intrigue and excitement are just what I had loved in the previous books. If you haven't already read the previous novels, there are a lot of things that won't make much sense, however, the basic story will still be enjoyable.
Highly recommend!