Not a bad book but not really up to the standards of the rest of then humanx Commonwealth. I'm not sure if I'll read the other two books. Who am I kidding... I'll get around to them eventually... Niven pulled the Ringworld back after Ringworld Children so I'll give Foster the benefit of the doubt! 99% of everything else I've read of has has been gold.But I digress... I did not see this as an overtly sexist book! Colette was a demon in the boardroom but out of her element in a world of ice and swordfighting! She was keeping her fathers illness a secret because it would effect stock prices and ran a multi world empire from behind the throne! How is it sexist to have her not adapt well to hand to hand combat? The focus on her looks is absolutely no different than anything written today... Except you'll not find any "unattractive" characters in 21st century sci-fi... They're all written to be physically perfect and do their best to sleep their way across known space while simultaneously wielding a sword in one hand, a laser gun in the other, and running their own empires via Bluetooth. This was an HONEST representation of what an average spoiled rich girl would do in a situation like this. People are just calling it Sexist because she isn't something to add to the spank bank of the common sci-fi reader that expects every woman to have the body and fighting skills of Psylock with a PHD.Additionally, the females of the native people picked up swords and fought alongside their men and the leader of the Hoard was a freaking woman!!!So the princess of the first group of natives they ran into was going through her Experimental phase... Doesn't her ability to not be ashamed of her sexuality and wish to see just how similar their two species are an indication of just how free their women folk are? They specifically said that she would take control of the kingdom when her father died!The king being upset his 19 year old ran off with the aliens on the new boat isn't sexist, either. He's her bloody father and she's the heir to the throne! I do not understand the label of "Sexist" on this book!
