I love this series and am enjoying working my way through it for the second time. The characters are interesting, real, flawed and lovingly developed, and I find myself caring about them as if they were people I know. I particularly enjoy the "slightly" futuristic setting - far enough out from the present that there are some neat gadgets and other additions to daily life (as well as off-planet settlements), but not so far out that the world is unfamiliar.