I agree with Kimarhi that Into Charybdis is much better than Cold Forge. I've finished reading and listening to the podcast. I guess I'll have to use some spoiler tags here as my post really will spoil things for people who haven't read. The podcast has big spoilers, too.
Spoiler
I liked Blue as an upgraded alien. It was a liberating transformation for the character, and it was completely logical for Blue to die at the end. I hope Blue is truly dead - Resurrection in a new book would be sort of a cheap Marvel ploy and would rob the character of a good ending.
I think Mary was aware of what an uninhibited android can do, and she was rightly concerned that Rook might murder her and Kamran. The escape pod was a good way to resolve that. It fed nicely into the epilogue.
I also think Shy needed to die when and how she did. Her death was polyfunctional, and her arc of importance was mostly over, anyway. Kamran's return was surprising, but that worked out well, too. I agree with Voodoo. Haroun's ending would have been better if his "second child" hit the mark. As it worked out, Haroun's final thought was still sort of amusing.
As discussed, all these characters had some duality to them. That made them more interesting.
I like the possibilities of the Black Goo. I think Alex White applied it well in Cold Forge and Into Charybdis.
Compared to other androids in the series and EU, Ash seems like sort of a weakling.
As usual, good work on the podcast. RidgeTop, good luck with your show.
