This was an intriguing and thoughtful space adventure novella. At first I was a little thrown by the weird southern type accent of Eerl, but I got used to it after a bit. The world building of the different planets is done very effectively and quickly and I felt like I had a good sense of place for the dusty, cramped marketplace of Bay-zar, the ship The Marzipan and the planet Ryddar. For a novella Mel and Eerl's characters are fairly complex, I'm glad that I got to know Mel's backstory, but I am still wondering how much of it was true. Eerl was very interesting to me and I would love to know more about the Tersic and if he ever figured out why a fish didn't need a bicycle. Also, for a space adventure there were some important themes about prejudice, humanity and war. With a surprising ending, Class-M Exile makes for a fun, reflective and quick read.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.