Since I really liked the author's Razorland series I decided to start the Dred Chronicles. I did not realize that it was a spin-off of the Sirantha Jax series, fortunately I have read the first two books so not all the references escaped me I hope.
The premise of a prison ship with no guards, no hope of escape leads to territory wars and scarcity of resources. The writing was well made in such a way that it was mostly believable that the female lead could keep a group of bloodthirsty criminal under her command. I would have liked to explore a little bit more the other factions in Perdition...especially the aliens.
The supporting characters, Dred's advisors, were a great addition from the enigmatic past of the spymaster, the crazy soothsayer...but the lead male character was a bit too perfect.
In a close environment like the prison the plot is pretty predictable but the court politics and the fights scenes made it worth reading.