/lit/ - Literature

>>23452394
The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin, Elio M. García Jr., Linda Antonsson (2014)

This is a history book. Everything is told and nothing is shown, except through the many excellent illustrations. If you want an objective history then you'll be disappointed because this is written in-universe by Maester Yandel. That means a lot could be wrong, fabricated, or otherwise not what happened. Yandel attempts to determine what's true, but that's difficult when it's a mix of folklore, oral traditions, songs, legends, mythology, and much else of dubious factuality. There's also that Yandel's empiricism may be leading him astray. He seems to believe that there isn't enough evidence that he's living in a world where the fantastical still occurs, or maybe even that it ever did. An example is that it's commonly accepted that it's impossible to know how long a season will last. It's proposed that world altering magic randomized the seasons because they should proceed as according to the revolution of the planet around the sun. There isn't evidence to support either of those claims, so they aren't believed, and the seasons remain arbitrary for unknown reasons. I like the idea that extraordinary magic was used in the distant past, there are various examples provided, but since magic has all but vanished there remains little that can attest to its existence so most don't believe it, especially not the educated.

The book begins with ancient history that eventually comes to Aegon's Conquest (15%). Next are the details of each Targaryen King's reign (25%). The events that lead up to A Game of Thrones are then briefly covered (2%). From there the book shifts to covering the regional histories of Westeros from ancient history to recent years (36%). The rest covers what's known of everywhere else (22%). The best part was about the Targaryen Dynasty, which is covered more in Fire & Blood, though everything was worth reading. There were a lot of details that changed how I viewed the setting. This book has broadened my perspective of the characters, their world, and its history. If the stories are to be believed, especially the ancient histories of Essos, then it gives a sense of how fallen the world is compared to what it was, at least in terms of what could be accomplished with magic. It's not Dying Earth, though it has similarities.

Reading this has renewed my appreciation for the series. I'd put off reading it because I thought that it'd be dull, boring, and otherwise not worthwhile. I was wrong. I enjoyed it considerably more than expected. However, I don't think this can be recommended to the general readership though. It's easy to see why many wouldn't find it worthwhile. It's definitely an optional sort of reading. I don't believe there's anything included here that you'd need to know for the published or remaining books. You read it because you want to know more.

Rating: 4/5

>>23448134
Colonyside, Planetside #3 - Michael Mammay (2020)

Carl Butler has retired to an undeveloped farming planet at the edge of civilization and wants to live out his days in peace. It's been a couple years since the last book and he thinks that part of his life is over. The arrival of his former commander, the retired General Serata puts an end to such notions. The third wealthiest man in the galaxy has personally requested Butler through the President to go to a frontier jungle planet that his corporation is developing to find his missing daughter. This has happened before and Butler is somewhat more self-aware now, so he knows he's being manipulated, but agrees anyway, with conditions. He also knows that once he starts he literally won't be able to stop because he pathologically has to always follow through regardless of the consequences. Everyone knows that and that's exactly what they're counting on, though they continually seem to underestimate exactly what that means in practice.

Fortunately most of what bothered me about the previous book has been changed. The previous plotline and themes have been dropped. There's a far greater focus on the supporting cast who are used as supporting characters ought to be. All of the characters are better in general. Butler has regained his agency. There's much discussion that specifically talks through the relevant mysteries. The military science fiction aspect that was in the first book is even more played down, to where it doesn't matter much. Each book is increasingly more focused on investigation and discussion rather than action. It's all steps in the right direction for me even though I don't know what I even want from the series at this point. If I hadn't read Generation Ship first I don't know that I'd be reading this. So goes the importance of what you first read from an author.

I don't know how many who've read this thought it was going be a trilogy. I never did because it seems like it's an open-ended series where he'll write as many books in it that can he get published. I could be wrong about that, though a fourth book will be published later this year. The main reason why I believe it's a open-ended series is because there's literally no overarching story so far and each one doesn't have much continuity between them. I think it'd be entirely fine reading only this one or any other. It'd probably be fine to read them out of order, I don't know why you would intentionally do so, but I don't think it'd matter that much. I wonder how much of structure for this series is intended versus what happened for whatever reason. In this book's acknowledgements Mammay says that the second book never really came to together until the end and that he had to rewrite 60% of this book due to its issues. That seems to have worked because I'd say I like this the most thus far of the series, though I'm wary of giving it 4 stars because of the preceding books.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>23443042
Spaceside, Planetside #2 - Michael Mammay (2019)

Planetside, book 1: >>/lit/thread/23247660#p23251011

Roughly two years after the events of the first book, ex-Colonel Carl Butler has settled into a comfy corporate executive job nominally overseeing their security. He does very little and is paid very well. All's well in its boring and predictable way. That is until the CEO tasks him with a security issue regarding a competitor that's better suited for an intelligence operative. Nonetheless, he accepts and begins investigating the matter. Things go badly quickly and it seems like it may be a repeat of what came before. Even when there's a chance to back out, once he's started something it has to be seen through to its conclusion, no matter the consequences.

Once again it's mostly investigation, though not nearly as interesting, exciting, or dramatic this time. Mostly it's wandering around town and events out of Butler's control happen and he can't do much about it. There's a real lack of agency throughout the book, which tends to annoy me, even when it's trying to make a point about how common that is. The military aspect is mostly gone, though there's still some combat, arguably anyway. Butler's PTSD has greatly worsened and there's a lot of emotional wallowing in ways I prefer not to read. Aside from all that though it does well enough in presenting a logical sequence of events that I don't have any problems with. The twists provide some interesting conversations that can only happen in very specifically crafted situations. In terms of characters, the highlight for me was easily the return of Ganos from the first book. There was a lack of supporting characters when it really needed it. Butler just isn't able to carry the book on his own, especially not with his behavior in this one.

This one never really came together for me. It's at least somewhat the case that Mammay doesn't quite seem to know what he was going for either. Unfortunately it also seems to be pursuing the one narrative path that I didn't want it to follow. That really hurts its in my estimation, which isn't its fault, but also doesn't change how I feel about it at all. I didn't want to write about it like this, but that's how it is. I'm disappointed, but it isn't a bad book. It's decent in every way except for the theme that it's going for, which would spoiler both the previous book and this one to say. I'll still be reading the next book to see how it goes, though I don't expect much. As was noted by a member in a comment on the first book, I overrated the first book. He was right with his criticism and I was wrong and overly defensive. That's mostly because the first book I read from Mammay I gave five stars so I wanted to give the benefit of the doubt for this series, which it seems may have been unwarranted. Hopefully the remaining books prove me wrong again, because I'd much rather enjoy myself than be right.

Rating: 2.5/5

I Who Have Never Known Men (1995,1997/2022) - Jacqueline Harpman, translated from French by Ros Schwartz

Thirty nine women and a child are imprisoned. The guards never interact with them other than to warn, punish, or feed. None know how they got here, why they're here, or how long it's been. The thirty nine women remember what life was like before they arrived, but the child doesn't. How does a person develop bereft of society, culture, family, and almost all other signifiers of what it means to be human? What sort of person will they become? How will this person function if they're freed? This is science fiction in the sense that it explores a singular idea to exclusion of all else. The speculative elements give the story an absurd and surreal feeling. I have experienced other works that have similarities and I can say without qualification that this explores it the best and most thoroughly of anything I know.

This is a profoundly sad story about alienation, or at least that's closest word I know for what it's about. The title is a bit misleading, as there are men in the story, though they are unknowable. However, it's a vast improvement over the original English title, The Mistress of Silence. If it were to be more emotionally accurate to the contents, it'd be I Who Have Never Known Humanity, which would work in multiple ways and be ironic. This is a philosophical and psychological novel and nothing else. There's essentially zero plot, most of the characters are irrelevant, there's literally minimal worldbuilding, and almost no action. There's mystery, though it's existential and unresolvable.

I may have cried more reading this short novel than I have with any other work of fiction. That's rare unless I'm experiencing something that's especially emotionally resonant, in which case it's not uncommon. What sense is there in reading fiction if you don't emotionally engage with it? Intellectual engagement is important, but I think it leaves a lot to be desired if that's how you solely interact with entertainment. When it's both, that's even better, as it was with this for me. I found it be extremely meaningful and due to its relatively short length it's likely that I'll read this again in the future, which is unusual for me.

I read this because it was the monthly book selected for me to read. If it hadn't been recommended to me, then I don't know if I would have ever came across it, let alone read it. So, thanks J, I greatly appreciate what you chose. I may have enjoyed this book more than any other personal recommendation that I've been given. It's also the best translated book, from French in this case, that I've ever read. That's wonderful, but it also makes me wonder how many other great books there are that I may never find without the help of others.

Rating: 5/5

I read the 2022 revised translation, read the link below for more details
https://www.transitbooks.org/postscript/2022/ros-schwartz-on-a-sentence

>>23425174
Lost Ark Dreaming - Suyi Davies Okungbowa (2024)

This novella's cover says, "A surreal fusion of African politics, climate fiction, and mythology in the tongue of poetry and philosophy" - Tlotlo Tsamaase. As can also be seen on the cover, there are five towers, called fingers, that were built off the coast of Nigeria in the shape of a hand. Only one of them is still habitable, the middle finger, called the Pinnacle. How metaphorical. For its political allegory it uses the standard economic model. The upper floors rule everything, live in luxury, and do nothing productive. The middle floors are the professional class and the undersea floors are the underclass. Everyone outside the tower must be the enemy. The climate fiction is that the sea levels rose and now an unknown amount of the world is underwater. The mythology is something that have no idea about. Maybe it's based in Nigerian mythology or maybe it isn't. This was by far the weakest part for me. There wasn't anything that I found to be strong.

Yekini is a mid-level analyst for the government, which she'd rather not be, but it's a living. She dreams of saving people and making the ark/tower a better place for all. Ngozi is a mid-level administrator with great ambitions who dreams of becoming an upper because it's what he deserves. Everyone else matters not. Tuoyo lost her wife at sea to outsiders and now only seeks to live in peace while overseeing her undersea level. These three viewpoints who meet up right away provide clashing views of class conflict and different perspectives of life in the Pinnacle. One other viewpoint and archived materials make up the rest of the chapters. I didn't care about any of the characters, which was at least somewhat because of they were too much caricatures of what they went meant to represent. As to the story itself, I found it to be a rather generic take on government corruption, solidarity, and outside intervention. I especially didn't like how it ended.

It was my mistake for not considering how allegorical this was going to be. For me this an another example of how impenetrable allegories can be if you don't have the relevant cultural knowledge to understand them. This has also been the case for a lot of the translated allegorical short fiction I've read, mostly Chinese. I don't know if it's the Black African authors I've come across, mostly Nigerian, or if it's something else, but their works baffle me almost every time. I'm continually unable to tell if there's some deeper meaning and/or if I simply don't like what's presented. I tried reading Son of the Storm, one of Okungbowa's novels, and didn't get far because of what a peculiarly uncomfortable experience it was and wrote as such, before removing everything I wrote about the stuff I hadn't finished. I didn't like this because the allegory is put above everything else to where questioning anything about the story is irrelevant because that's not what matters.

Rating: 2/5

The Silverblood Promise, The Last Legacy #1 - James Logan (2024)

Lukan Gardova is the heir of a ruined noble family of the Old Empire. Three successive generations, including him, have disgraced their name and emptied their coffers. After his expulsion from The Academy he travelled to the Grey Lands to join adventuring companies seeking fame and fortune in the Phaeron ruins. It's there that he's informed that his father has been murdered. He then swears The Silverblood Promise to avenge him. Thus his adventure begins to travel the world and endure unexpected trials, unwanted dramatic events, and bothersome people.

If the preceding paragraph seems silly, that's because it is. The narrative leans into self-aware comedy. There are a considerable number of references, some of which are from The Forgotten Realms, The Gentleman Bastards, A Song of Ice and Fire, The First Law, and Dune. I could list more and I have no doubt there are many more. They seem to be for flavor rather than for narrative purposes.

Reading this reminded of games such as King's Quest and Baldur's Gate, by which I mean that there's a lot of videogame story progression logic. It's often one scene after another with little transition between them. I found this to be most noticeable in that once a location was finished, upon trying to leave it something happens that immediately derails the current goal. You thought you could leave somewhere without new story exposition that sets up what happens next? Think again!

Lukan is forced to play various roles and aside from swordsmanship, he's a bumbler. It's similar to a player who consistently picks the wrong choices in a dialogue tree but has the good luck for it to work out anyway. All he wanted to do was find out who murdered his father, but he keeps stumbling into deeper and deeper conspiracies involving increasing powerful, influential, and dangerous people. Fortunately for him, he has others who are competent to help him, including a sassy and spunky 11 year old girl, who can be seen on the cover. If that seems weird, that's because it is and the story says it is, but goes along with it anyway. That's what happens with just about everything else questionable as well.

If the rest of the series follows the same formula as the first book, then it can be expected that each book will be self-contained. It will start with an item that provides a quest to progress the main story, then there will be regional quests, which then having completed them provides an item that reveals the next location. There's a lot of needing to take items to someone, sometimes in exchange for another item to take to someone else.

I'll be reading this series because everything I've written above is amusing to me rather than annoying or bad. Others can reasonably criticize it for its lack of originality, having no literary value, being too videogamey/D&D, and much else, but that has no affect on me having fun reading it.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

>>23405053
Light Bringer, Red Rising Saga #6 - Pierce Brown (2023)

There's a four year gap between Dark Age and Light Bringer being published. The first five books were published in five years. Perhaps it's a victim of the pandemic and/or other troubles, because it's not clear that the additional time helped in any way. That's unfortunate but not uncommon. As this is the book that leads up to the finale it has more setup than one may expect from the sixth book in a series. Maybe a third trilogy had been considered and then was truncated to a single book, the seventh, so much had to be done. The plot is once again back to being a matter of needing to arrange puzzle pieces (characters) in specific ways that don't feel organic, but are necessary to carry out all the required plot developments. There are several questionable narrative choices and various matters that aren't addressed. Even so, it's a fun and twisty ride that delights. I'll withhold my final judgment until after I've read the final book.

As for the characters, there's four again, though two are clearly given more importance. I wouldn't be surprised if the final book features two alternating perspectives. Darrow reads a book on how to be a better person. Lysander becomes a rollercoaster. Lyria knows what matters most. Virginia continues to endure. Brown says he got into psychology between this book and the last and it shows, though probably not in the way he'd prefer. I assume that's mostly what explains the considerable shifts in their personalities. It's peculiar, especially with some of the emotional whiplash a few of the characters go through. At least it made for some wild moments. It may just be because there's a lot more introspection, soul searching, and pondering of what matters in life than the previous books, which Brown isn't able to do as well as the fight scenes and other high intensity action. The dramatic battles and duels carried the book for me.

Light Bringer does what it needs to do, no more or less. While it's not anywhere as enjoyable as Dark Age, it does enough to be a good time. I probably would've been relatively more disappointed if I waited four years for it rather than reading it immediately after, so it's fortunate that I didn't start reading this series until I did. Even so, I'm surprised and confused by its rating (4.75), as it seems much higher than it ought to be. There are also those who feel much more strongly about its problems than I do. I know they exist and I'm able to accept the flaws, though inertia from the previous book helps. I want to believe that some of the seemingly dropped plotlines, strange character arcs, and odd narrative choices may yet be resolved. A few things that I thought would be Chekov's guns are apparently going to be left in storage. If the final book doesn't address enough of my concerns, I'll likely drop this to a 3.5 rounded down rather than up.

Rating: 3.5/5

5>2>4>6>3>1
I hope for 7>2, but expect 4~7.
1 like

>>23391398
Dark Age, Red Rising Saga #5 - Pierce Brown (2019)

Like Saturn, the Revolution devours its own children. - Jacques Mallet du Pan

Dark Age is nearly a literal Hobbesian "the war of all against all". There's hundreds upon hundreds of pages of all-out war, betrayal, carnage, mayhem, intrigue, and insanity. I found it to be all rather exciting and fun. This space opera is the closest I've read that I'd compare to A Song of Ice and Fire in terms of warring factions, character deaths, and length. There are several groups that have both overlapping and mutually exclusive goals. The allies of today may be the enemies of tomorrow and those you save may try to kill you afterwards. I liked reading about how all the differing motivations and plans interacted with each other. There are so many character deaths that I was able to believe that anyone could die at any time and it mostly didn't feel arbitrary in a disagreeable way. That made it considerably more suspenseful and tense. Many named characters die and it may not be who, when, or why you'd expect. The unnamed masses fare far worse. This is a long book, though it earns its length.

Powel: "Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?"
Franklin: "A republic, if you can keep it."
- Benjamin Franklin & Elizabeth Powel

Whether they'll be able to keep it is an unresolved question with no clear answer. France went through five republics in not much more than 150 years, so who knows how it may proceed. This time there are five viewpoints, still all first person, that detail this tumultuous era. Darrow makes me want to create a Top 5 list of the worst idiocies he's committed in his tragic life. Ephraim deals with the hand he's been dealt by playing the people rather than the game. Lyria adapts to her brutal circumstances through creative violence. Virginia is finally able to express her perspective. Lysander endures accelerated character development. I believe the hate against him to be overstated, if not unwarranted. That may be because I'm indifferent to the outcome as I believe either way is valid. Emotional engagement is important to me, but investment isn't. All that matters is that it's fun and entertaining. Everything else is a bonus.

The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors. - Paulo Freire

Early on in my reading I thought that if Brown has improved this much in terms of my enjoyment, then his next series certainly will be one to anticipate. By the end there was no need for any waiting, as this was impressive in how much I enjoyed it relative to my expectations. It manages to indulge in ridiculousness while maintaining depth and complexity. That's bothersome because I dislike the argument of "It gets much better later", though I can't deny that's been true. Hopefully this book isn't a fluke, but even if it is, it's enough that it tips the scale towards me recommending reading this series rather than not.

Rating: 4.5/5

Iron Gold, Red Rising Saga #4 - Pierce Brown (2018)

Ten years at war have passed and little remains as it was, not only for the characters, but for the readers and author as well. The first trilogy was entirely the story of Darrow. It is no longer. He is now one viewpoint among four, all told from the first person perspective. Lyria is a Red disillusioned by broken promises and the trauma she's endured. Ephraim, a Gray, is a disaffected former member of the Sons of Ares who has turned to a life of crime. Lysander, the Gold exile, wanders through space without much purpose, until an opportunity arrives. How much each of these new viewpoints matter is arguable, though it seems inarguable to me to say that Darrow's narrative remains dominant. The new viewpoints are a welcome addition that I appreciate. I hope that it remains this way for the rest of the series. If this had remained solely Darrow's story I would've enjoyed it much less

Only ~40% of those who rated the third book rated this one, it's even less for /sffg/, and it's the lowest rated book in the series. It may be that many were satisfied with what they got from the first trilogy and didn't need any more. It also suggests that quite a few weren't pleased with the direction that Brown chose for the second trilogy, which is understandable, as much of it feels like a new series rather than a continuation. The first trilogy was about aspiration, revenge, and revolution. Despite all the terrible things that happened, there was optimism, confidence, and competence. Everything was much simpler then, including the characters and narrative. This second trilogy seems to be about the opposite in several ways. Those who want to continue to fully and blindly support Darrow may be disappointed or upset. After considering the reception that doing similarly in other series has received, it seems evident that turning against reader expectations for a character is a risky gamble.

For me the most interesting questions though are why these changes happened and whether I should accept them for for what they are. I wonder how much these changes are because Brown became better at writing, was unsatisfied with what he had written, and because this was the natural evolution of the characters and story. What's presented here definitely wants me to take it seriously, which isn't how I felt about the previous books, but I don't know that I should because that means I'd have to judge it in a different way. I don't know that Brown can quite live up to being judged seriously, though perhaps the following books may change my mind. I believe this transition to be a good thing, at least in terms of my preferences. The characters are more developed, the plot is more complex, everything seems more meaningful, and interesting narrative choices are made. However, it's also much less fun and ridiculousness I enjoyed is gone. It's unfortunate when technical improvement leaves readers behind.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)

The Anubis Gates, #1 - Tim Powers (1983)

Brendan Doyle is a scholar of literary criticism. He's greatly struggling, so when an offer of $20,000 comes from an eccentric for him to give a lecture about a well-known literary figure he readily agrees. His current research is about a barely known poet and it's driving him mad. The eccentric has developed time travel and wants to take his wealthy patrons back in time to listen to the literary figure in person. Doyle is to serve as an expert authority, basically as a bonus to the actual event. It all goes well until Doyle ends up stuck in the past without any means of survival. The first half of the book is mostly Doyle drifting around in despair, incompetency, and misery. However, there's also a considerable amount of humor. Most of it didn't work for me, but there were a few times where I chuckled. The second half is very different. Time travel is far from the only thing that occurs, as much magic and supernatural phenomenon become involved. Doyle becomes only one of several perspectives, though he's still the primary one. He also becomes less useless.

Although this is the first novel I've read by Powers, I know that he usually does secret history narratives and that's what this is. Various historical figures are mentioned and a few are characters. Why and how some historical events proceeded are given explanations that differ from the official records. There's a lot that's done with this that would be of significant interest and enjoyment for the relevant reader, though in this case I'm not one of them. There are various types of time travel stories. This is one without any paradoxes and where everything is fully resolved by the end. The time travel may be the easiest part to follow relative to what else happens. This isn't a difficult story to follow what's happening, though you may want to keep the changing circumstances and names of some characters in mind.

This is the first book of this current whim of having others determine a book I'll read after they've won a game of luck. If it were otherwise I probably wouldn't have finished this. It's not bad, or uninteresting, poorly written, or disagreeable. However, there's just something about how it's written that didn't work well for me, which is almost certainly a personal problem. I wasn't engaged and I only liked reading about a single character, Captain Jack. This is the kind of book where I can completely understand why others would think it's wonderful and would recommend those who are interested in it to try it for themselves. The first half wasn't to my preferences in terms of how the protagonist should be. It's realistic and understandable, too much so for me in this case. I've read some short fiction from Powers before and found some to be enjoyable, so I know he can write stories that I like. However, I don't think I'll be reading another novel of his unless I have an external reason to do so.

Rating: 2.5/5 (3)

>>23314723
The narrative covers from 2013-2043. The future, 2025, begins with Book II, at 12%, which means 88% of this is speculation about the future. The most evident break from our timeline is that neither Trump nor Biden won the 2024 election. They both exist but it's never explain what happened. Whether it's science fiction is arguable. There's a lot of science exposition, the breadth of research involved is impressive and admirable, but that's more for the education of the reader than as an exploration of the technology. I'd describe the scientific advancements as important, yet unexciting.

What The Deluge is most about is drama. There's climate, political, relationship, and family drama. Fortunately there's rarely what I'd consider melodrama. Some of the climate and political events seemed improbable, though that may only be because I wouldn't want them to happen and it's likely that I don't know what's probable. However, much of it is that which has happened before, only worse. Expect ruinous events, from the personal to the global. If one were to be uncharitable and reductive, much of the story could be described as doomerism in the form of disaster and misery porn, much like the news industry itself, though I believe that misses the point.

In terms of politics it's very cynical and there's vitriol for the entire political spectrum. There's something to upset about anyone. Both major political parties are considered evil. However, none of the viewpoint characters could reasonably be considered as social conservatives or even right-wing by current US standards. It's more complicated than that, as people tend to be, especially when their actions don't align with their professed beliefs. There's also considerable concern given towards how dangerous religious demagogue can be, especially when fused with modern conspiratorial thinking.

This is not about a pre-established dystopia where the reader accepts that as a premise. This is a death by a thousand cuts dystopia realized despite and because of the characters' efforts as well that which is out of their control. This is not an uplifting story about the heroic efforts of a few. This is the story of many very flawed people, as we all are, who tried to do what believed what was the best they could do at the time given their circumstances and what they knew.

Rating: 5/5

The Deluge - Stephen Markley (2023)

Although it'll be some time for me to really know, at this time I can say that The Deluge is one of the books I've most enjoyed. I don't mean for that to be taken as a recommendation, as these are my personal thoughts and nothing more. In terms of entertainment, how emotionally engaged I am is usually the greatest determinant of my enjoyment. The Deluge was such an emotional experience that early on I hoped it would be less. What I was feeling was so intense that I didn't know if I'd be able to finish. Reading this was an unusual experience, an awesome one in the sense that it was terrifyingly beautiful. The kind where someone is terrified and has tears streaming down their face in joy. I don't believe any of this matters unless you to do the same though.

This has one of the greatest cast of characters of anything I've ever read, though I don't know how much of that's due to how engaged I was with it and personal preferences. They all felt so real and alive, to the point where it read more this was a historical text about actual people than something fictional. There's not really a leading character so much as simply who has the most influence over what happens in the world, as it is in life. This isn't an ensemble either, as they're not in any way of equal importance. If anything, this is a curation of lives that presents a narrative to explain what happened and why.

Each viewpoint character is presented from a different perspective, which is a blend of stylistic and functional purpose. All of it is intentional and explained by the end when the metanarrative is revealed. It's not anything deep or complex, though I did appreciate the extra layer it provided. Each period of time goes through the the same six viewpoint characters with one exception. Although the year and sometimes the date are given, it's more common that that's when it ends rather than starts. The chapters aren't necessarily linear, meaning that one comes directly after the other. Some completely overlap, start afterwards, or begin before the prior chapters for that time period. There are often passing references to other characters and the same events from different perspectives.

When there are several viewpoints one of my first questions always is, "Do they ever meet up?". The answer to that is that most of them meet up with most of the others in person at some point, even if it's only in passing. That's how I prefer it to be, rather than several entirely disparate characters whose stories never converge in any meaningful way. None of them are more than a few degrees of separation from any other. It's a rather complicated web of relationships that I considered trying to make a visual explainer for. I don't believe you need to keep all of that in mind though.

>>23277165
The Tainted Cup, Shadow of the Leviathan #1 - Robert Jackson Bennett (2024)

Dinios Kol is an engraver, an altered person who has perfect recall, working as an assistant to Anagosa Dolabra, a high ranking investigator. They're part of what functions as law enforcement in the empire. Ana prefers to only solve cases rather than having to be personally involved in any sort of fieldwork. So, she sends Kol out to record and retrieve all of the evidence and then present it to her. Few mysteries present any challenge to her. The story starts with Kol's first murder case, which is only an introductory part of a greater mystery. They soon find themselves entangled with the most powerful houses, a grand conspiracy, and the possible fate of the empire depending on the successful resolution of the case.

The Tainted Cup is a first person fantasy mystery with a single POV. Saying this is a Holmes & Watson mystery is an easy reference, though I don't believe it's that accurate. In the acknowledgements, Bennet says the inspiration for Ana was Nero Wolfe and then later Hannibal Lecter. I can't comment on the former, though there are similarities with the latter. To that mix I'd add Mycroft Holmes rather than Sherlock. By relation I'd say that Kol is more Will Graham than John Watson. Since smell is so important to him, he also reminds me a bit of the private investigator from the eponymous Ukrainian TV series, The Sniffer. There's also some similarity with The Justice of Kings, the first book of Richard Swan's Empire of the Wolf series.

The Empire of Khanum is the namesake of the Khanum people, who have long since died out, but their name and technology continues on with those humans who came after. This is a civilization that has mastered biotech and cannons. Their level of technology is unclear and uneven. There's a considerable amount that in other contexts would be considered science fiction. I found it rather interesting to see how much they could do with bioplastics and other repurposing of organic life. There's also a lot that seems to be from the Middle Ages at latest. As this book takes place entirely in the outskirts of the empire, the inner areas may be more advanced. The greatest threat to the empire is that with each wet season everything they are and have is put to the test as the leviathans, beings the size of mountains, come from the eastern sea to travel inland, destroying everything in their path.

I loved everything about this and it's a strong contender to be my favorite book published in 2024 and will surely be among the best I've read this year. It starts very strong and only gets better as it goes on. All the characters are great, the mystery is a lot of fun and fair, the worldbuilding is excellent, it's well-written, and it reminds me of much else that I've greatly enjoyed. On a personal level I don't have any complaints at all. This is definitely a series I'll be looking forward to for each book.

Rating: 5/5

>>23257474
Liberty's Daughter - Naomi Kritzer (2023)

Rebecca Garrison, 16 years old, has lived in New Minerva since her father brought her to the seastead when she was 4. The seastead is located 220 nautical miles west of Los Angeles and was founded 49 years ago. It's an assortment of man-made islands, platforms, ships, freighters, and other vessels. Each collection of these is considered their own country with their own set of laws. What they share in common is a libertarian ideology, ranging from literally anything is allowed to minimal statism. Everyone has to buy a stake to become a citizen, otherwise they're a guest worker and probably soon to be literally sold into conditions little better than slavery. There's no public infrastructure or government services almost anywhere. A significant part of the economy works on the barter system, which is where Beck has found her niche as a finder. She trades favors and items and helps out at the miscellany store. This takes her all over the seastead, which eventually leads to her becoming more involved in its darker sides. Everything that happens here may be normal to her, but that doesn't mean it's ethical. She knows the majority of adults are criminals fleeing punishment, especially the wealthy ones, but she has no idea about why the seastead is allowed to continue existing or that there are secrets here that could change the world.

6 of the stories that make up this novel were serialized in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction from 2012-2015, which is where I read them. The seventh story, the epilogue, has only been published here. I enjoyed them both then and now. I was somewhat disappointed that there's only about an additional 2% in terms of word count added to the first 6 stories. When I did a text comparison I saw the scenes that were added, which surprisingly weren't to better connect the stories together. There wasn't as much reworking of what already existed as I hoped for, as it was mostly word choice and sentence level changes. Two examples are that the seastead's population went from 22,000 to 80,000 and one minor character's name was changed from Kat to Jen. What I had in mind would've made it an easy 5 stars for me, and probably significantly better for others reading it here for the first time. I'm strongly biased towards liking this because it's the sort of near future daily life adventures in a speculative society that I especially enjoy.

What I found most interesting in reading these stories again was how much the context had changed in only ten years or so. Interest in seasteading seems to have vanished relative to charter cities, the covid pandemic happened and changed how I viewed mass outbreaks in illness and how people react to them. Part of this book probably comes off as much more conspiratorial than it was at the time if only because Kritzer wrote what some of the paranoid and reasonable fears were ahead of their manifestation.

Rating: 4.5/5 (4)

>>23247660
Planetside, Planetside #1 - Michael Mammay (2018)

Planetside is a military science fiction mystery novel with some noir elements and ethical considerations. As may be expected from most debut novels, Mammay, who has 25 years of military service, hasn't quite found his voice yet. What's written here is solid, though relatively generic. The content tends towards action rather than contemplation. One military SF novel seems to have been of significant influence, though to say which one would be a major spoiler. The ending may greatly upset those who didn't realize they were reading a MilSF novel and what that often means. Although there are more books in the series, this one tells a complete story and can definitely be read by itself.

Colonel Carl Butler served 37 years, 24 years outside of stasis, in SPACECOM, before being put out to pasture at STUCOM (student command) right before retirement. General Serata, a friend that he's served together with 3 times, has called him out of semi-retirement to investigate the disappearance of a lieutenant who is the son of one of their High Councilors. Butler is reluctant because his wife is already 13 years older than him and he'd be returning to the frontlines of a frontier planet. Speed is never mentioned, only distance, so it's unknown how far away any place is or how quickly they travel.

The characters in general are adequate. There are many names, though most are only passing through and mentioned once. None of the characters receive anything more than the slightest development. They all seem set in their ways, which may be because almost everyone is military. First person perspective is only used to moderate success. Usually first person is great or terrible for me without any middle ground, but this seems to be an exception.

The year is 3943, but it doesn't feel like that. What it feels like is more contemporary and specifically the Afghanistan War, or at least the idea of a Middle Eastern war. The narrow and focused scope of the narrative is both a strength and weakness, though for me it's more the latter. It's a strength in that it doesn't get bogged down in the details and is constantly making progress through the plot. Outside of what's immediately happening not much is known. The setting isn't developed, but it's known that humanity has colonized many worlds and has met a considerable amount of alien life. Only the frontier planet Butler is headed to has intelligent life though, and humanoid at that. However, humanity mostly sees them as a commercial development obstacle. Earth is never mentioned except once as a generic term, nor is Terra. Whether they even still know about their birth planet isn't known. The planets that are known are called by name and number, such as Elenia 4 and Ferra 3. I don't like that naming convention, but it doesn't really matter. This first book isn't anything special, but I'll be reading the rest of the series.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)

>>23228624
Cyber Mage, Djinn #3* - Saad Z. Hossain (2021)
*publication order

Cyber Mage is an interquel that takes place between Djinn City and The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday. As such it contains spoilers for the former and explains how the conditions of the latter came to be. Although the four books are allegedly standalone, I wouldn't advise starting with this one. None of the characters from Djinn City play a prominent role in terms of page count, though it does tell you what happened to most of them. All of this happens in and around Dhaka, Bangladesh, at the end of the 21st century. The exact dating of the series is unclear due to in-text contradictions in and between books.

As the About The Author says, "Saad Z. Hossain writes in a niche genre of fantasy, science fiction, and black comedy with an action-adventure twist". That's accurate, though for this book in particular, unlike the others, there's a lot of cringe comedy. There's too much for my preference, though his usual humor is present as well.

Marzuk Dotrozi Khan Rhaman is an infamous 15 year hacker savant known online as the Cyber Mage. He's notorious for some of the most daring and skillful hacks ever perpetuated and is a founding member of the most secretive and elite hacker collective. Less known are his ties to organized crime. His gaming identity in the VRMMORPG Final Fantasy 9000 is equally well known for griefing and innovation.

Marzuk has three severe weaknesses, his physical condition, his social skills, and attractive girls. Although he dropped out of school long ago due to having far surpassed any need for formal education, he decides to join high school to spend more time with his crush. Truly there is no other institution that is more treacherous or dangerous. If that weren't enough, a mysterious entity is contacting him in his dreams. Yes, Marzuk is as cringe as he seems, if not more so.

Akramon Djibrel is a golem forged from a corpse through dragonfire and djinn magic. At the behest of his djinn patron, he beheads any and all in pursuit of his quarry. He keeps the heads to interrogate and torture them, as he's able to keep them alive for a couple weeks. He's become something of a viral sensation to watch on livestreams, with Marzuk being especially interested.

As for the plot, a certain djinn has plans for humanity again. This time he's sure it'll work and all the humans will do what he wants and all the other djinn will respect him again. All that stands in his way are the djinn that have grievances against him and feel that they may as well oppose him with their allies.

If this were a bit worse I'd round it down. Marzuk is too much of a extremely online/hacker/gamer/edgelord caricature to read without grimacing. The VRMMORPG parts were overly much, especially when there was play-by-play commentating. It was certainly something different than the usual. Overall there's more that I enjoyed a lot than what I disliked.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)

>>23220688
Djinn City, Djinn #1 - Saad Z. Hossain (2017)

This is the first book of four in Hossain's Djinn universe, along with four works of short fiction. I started with the second published book and then the fourth, so reading the first was an interesting experience because much is explained about the Djinn that isn't repeated again. Now that I've read all four books, I know that despite being described as standalones, the order in which they're read does matter, but not to where you must start here. Chronologically the next book is Cyber Mage. Each book is different, so if you like one you may not necessarily like the others.

I believe that one of the most important functions of writing these is to give the reader an idea of whether this would be something they'd be interested in or if they're wasting their time. How a story ends can be very important and may ruin everything that came before for some readers. Djinn City has an abrupt ending that's also narratively complete. If you need closure and resolution, you won't find it here. Even if you read everything currently in the setting there remains a few unresolved storylines.

This is a science fantasy tragicomedy with a considerable amount of social and political satire. The story is mostly set roughly around the time of its publication, 2017, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. There are several other places visited, but everything revolves around Dhaka, which happens to be where the author lives. The fantasy mostly comes from the djinn, which aren't the standard sort, and the fantastical things they do to stay amused. Science fiction is presented through the Djinn as well, who have quite advanced technology, though also through some lengthy infodumps. The satire seemed to be more of a general sort rather than needing to know Bangladeshi cultural references or similar. The comedy tends towards the dark, absurd, and wry with a bit of meta.

There are three viewpoint characters. Indelbed, a young boy of who wants much more out of life than what his father allows for him, though that soon becomes the least of his suffering. Kaikobad, his father, explores the deep past of Djinn history. Rais, his adult cousin, learns that Djinn exist and devotes his life to be being involved with them as much as possible, which leads to adventure. How this book ends each character's story could've definitely have been more satisfying, but I also believe it to be a bold choice. I wouldn't want it to be common, though it's fine to read a few that end this way.

The plot is that the villain, a djinn, wants to kill a lot of humans without them having any idea it's anything other than natural disasters literally because of lore reasons. Djinn culture is complicated, though ancient Roman concepts are a primary influence, and they're extremely litigative. There's a lot of questionable narrative choices and flaws, but how everything is executed and written is quite agreeable to my preferences.

Rating: 4/5

>>23210675
Misspent Youth - Peter F. Hamilton, The Commonwealth Saga #0 (2002) revised US edition

I believe that it would be much better not to go into this book blind, or read it before Pandora's Star. The former is because you'll most likely have the wrong expectations, especially if you believe that the science fiction will be the focus, because it isn't. This is a coming of age family psychodrama with a lot of sex. By comparison to the following two books, I was surprised to find that Hamilton had toned it down relative to this prior book. I advise against reading it before Pandora's Star because it isn't a suitable introduction to the series. Reading this first may even discourage you from reading further even they have very little in common, as this one takes place in England in 2040.

The content of this book may offend a wide spectrum of sensibilities. Some examples are: teenagers having sex, age gap sex, graphically described sex, infidelity, women as sex objects, misogynistic attitudes and behaviors, dysfunctional families, severe emotional damage, English separatist domestic terrorists who proudly boast to be worse than the IRA during The Troubles, and several characters who support the aforementioned. It's often so melodramatic about it though like in a soap opera that it was difficult for me to take any of it seriously. On a different note, piracy won and copyright laws were abolished in 2010. Now that's fantastical.

There are four viewpoint characters, three of whom are members of the Baker family. Tim, the 18 year old son, Jeff, the 77 year old father, Sue, the ~37 year old mother, and Annabelle, Tim's 17 year old girlfriend. None of them are likeable, which seems intentional, and most of the other characters aren't much better. It's a lot of people who are in bad situations, whether because of their bad choices or not, or are fortunate and believe that behaving badly is their right. All four viewpoint characters are mentioned by name in the following two books, as are at least four others, though there are possibly several more if you allow for speculation based on first names alone. It's interesting, but their origins don't matter in terms of the story. I appreciate how it demonstrates continuity though.

Tim is the primary viewpoint character, and the bulk of the story follows him, though it's his father Jeff, who undergoes the first rejuvenation treatment to become young again. The central question is, how does that affect someone? When someone has a second coming of age, would they do anything differently from the first time? How does it affect the friendships of those who were your friends of a similar biological age, let alone becoming roughly the same apparent age as your son? What is allowable behavior and what isn't? Suffice to say, the title itself is a condemnation. Maybe this was intended to be a cautionary tale, but if it was, then that certainly didn't carry over to the next books.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

>>23172523
Judas Unchained - The Commonwealth Saga #2 - Peter F. Hamilton (2005)

Judas Unchained is the second book of a single story, though considering their combined length, which approaches 750k words, this duology could've been several more books. That would read worse because few of the plotlines are able to stand alone. Each viewpoint character narrative relies on the others for support to become greater than they would be on their own, forming a gestalt narrative. If you didn't like that in the first book, then reading this would be an even more of a slog.

When I was more than halfway through, the plot reached a turning point and I wondered how there was so much more left. The answer was that there were many other perspectives to fill out before continuing. The bulk of its duration comes from the many viewpoint characters doing their own thing. One character hides inside a refrigerator for a few hundred pages before it returns to him. That isn't say I didn't enjoy it, I did, sometimes greatly, but surely there were better ways to present the story.

The greatest problem by far is how unoptimized it is. There's so much that could be removed, notably almost anything to do with Ozzy, or greatly reduced, especially its final few chapters. If it were entirely optimized, then I'd say without qualification that this was among the best space opera that I've ever read and that it ranks highly among all space opera.

Aside from its setting which I enjoyed to an absurd degree, the book's greatest strength is the relationships between its characters. Each of the ensemble cast has their own motivations, beliefs, and goals which conflict with that of other characters. Often I see this as written as problems caused by misunderstandings, so it's nice to see that it's because of conflicting values or a lack of trust.

If the web of their relations were visualized, it would be very tangled and regularly shifting. Characters that entirely oppose each other are often linked through intermediary characters who may be on good terms with both. The character behave in consistent and believable ways based on relevant circumstances, so it rarely felt contrived, except when a specific twist was overly used.

A personal complaint is that too many similar names are used and not only for the characters. This is annoying when they're only referred by their first name, even if it's only for minor characters hundreds of pages apart. One example is Francis Rawlins and Rowden.

There continued to be lots of sex, which was longer in duration with increased description, though the vast majority was from a single viewpoint character. She had sex with several men throughout the book multiple times and really enjoyed it.

Despite their inordinate length I'll be reading more from Hamilton, including the rest of those set in this universe. May I continue to not let my enjoyment be ruined by its flaws.

Rating: 4/5

Pandora's Star
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>>23159414
Contrarian, The Grand Illusion #3 - L.E. Modesitt (2023)

Dekkard is determined to reform his country through the legal procedures of government. Foremost is to hold the most powerful corporations and their executives accountable for their treasonous and ruinous dealings that have destabilized the country for their exclusive benefit. They are believed to have funded domestic terrorism in order take back power without it seeming like a coup attempt. For those involved, no one is above the law, not even former Premiers. Dekkard must constantly be on guard against assassination attempts, as there have already been several, and he expects there to be several more.

There's no denying that Contrarian is a repetitive book with a clearly defined routine. At over 200,000 words, 22.5 hours for the audiobook, that may be too much of roughly similar events unless it's something you specifically like, which I do. Almost every single chapter, excluding those chapters that are newspaper articles and book excerpts, is a new day that often begins with Dekkard's morning activities. Afterwards he goes to work, does his job, then enjoys a few hours of leisure, which may overlap with his work-related activities. This is surely the most Modesitt has ever done in detailing the daily life of a protagonist from what I've read and must be among the most for anything he's written.

Some of the daily life activities that Dekkard engages in are learning about the concerns of those in his district, house hunting, discussing legislation (including tax policies), forensic accounting, acquiring information, debating, committee hearings, and eating white bean soup. There's more than that, but as noted, it's often the same activities over and over again, though they're always different in execution, except the white bean soup. He eats other food, but there's so much soup in general.

My reading experience was very immersive, to the point where I wanted to be certain that I read every single word at a relatively slow place. I don't feel the need to do that usually, even for the books I most enjoy, because often I feel the need to read more quickly. A visual depiction of my enjoyment would be a horizontal line. On a heart monitor that would indicate someone is dead, and I have no doubt that's what many would find this to be, dead boring. For me though that instead indicates that it's consistent from start to finish with minimal variation. It doesn't reach anywhere near the highs of my favorite books, but it never becomes any lower than solidly enjoyable.

Modesitt hasn't decided yet whether this is the last book in the series, though the five responses he's posted about it by answering reader questions on his website shows that he's certainly considering doing so and has ideas for what he'd write. I know that I'll be reading whatever comes next.

Rating: 4/5

Previous
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>>23093904
Empty Space: A Haunting, Kefahuchi Tract #3 - M. John Harrison (2012)

This third book is a sequel to both the first and second books. In the past it's either 2023 or 2024 and it follows the sole viewpoint of Anna, who was in the first book. In the future it's 2452 at the very earliest and follows the perspectives of the crew of the Nova Swing, the unnamed assistant, and a few others. Is there a present? It would seem that all time may be.

The opening screams "you're reading weird fiction!" and continues to do so for the remainder of the book. This is definitely the weirdest of the trilogy and I'd go as far as to say it's gratuitously so. I don't know if it was for the sake of shock value, grossness, perversion, transgression, or whatever else. I assume it was intended to be literary regardless. The question I asked myself the most by far was, "What purpose does its inclusion serve?" I wasn't able to find any answers to that.

The characters continued to be in the same fashion as the previous books and in some ways even more so. Two of the viewpoint characters don't have much of a self. Anna is entirely disordered which makes for similar reading and the unnamed is empty. All the other characters have some level of detachment, though its especially pronounced with the aforementioned. Its so weird that it makes for interesting reading at least.

When it comes to the plot, for Anna it's her daily life, which is peculiar due to her thought processes but otherwise relatively mundane. The unnamed continues to investigate stuff. The crew of the Nova Swing does runs from place to place. The others live their lives as they normally do. That's to say there isn't really a plot all that much. There's a galactic war going on the background, but it's irrelevant except for its metaphorical value. What plot there is revolves around an ancient artifact that may have unknowable motives and unlimited power.

As for the graphic content, there's a lot of sexual activity, effluence, and children. There's so much sex, though most of it is casually mentioned in passing rather than being described in detail. Seemingly almost everything comes back to sex or genitalia. Emesis may the second most common activity, as there's a steady flow of its discussion and occurrence throughout the book. In other words, vomit everywhere. There's also multiple scenes of urination and one of defecation. Children, both male and female, have several sexualized descriptions and engage in sexual activity. Again, it's brief moments not much described. There's no denying they're present though. Was all of this in service of profundity and literary excellence? Based on the reviews I looked through, many seem to think so, but that wasn't how I read it.

I'm very conflicted. It has so many problems but its also so fascinating. Reading it is an entrancing experience in both a pleasing and displeasing way. It's a very elegant sort of decadence. I don't know.

Rating: 3/5

>>23083636
Nova Swing, Kefahuchi Tract #2 - M. John Harrison (2006)

Nova Swing is Roadside Picnic reimagined with a Philip K. Dick aesthetic as a New Weird Cyberpunk Noir set in the city of Saudade in 2444. That's reductive because it's also literary, subversive, and much else. There's a lot to say for the beauty of its style, but I'm not one to do so. I found its substance to be a secondary consideration at best. Its literary qualities probably go a long way to explaining its award nominations and wins.

This time it was extremely obvious that I didn't understand the meaning of what I was reading and wasn't able to appreciate what was there. That's not to say that there isn't anything to appreciate. Its greatest strength to me was how much it felt like this was something that had happened. The sense of surreal verisimilitude for something that almost surely could never be, yet was so clearly presented is praiseworthy. Everything else though, not so much.

The characters were too much like people in ways that I don't usually like to read in fiction. Their motives were inscrutable, their impulses irrational, and their behavior inexplicable. The reader never really gets to know any of them and I assume that was intentional. As I wrote of the first book, Harrison seems almost indifferent to entertaining the reader and that's much more so the case this time.

There's only one character that was mentioned in passing from the first book in this one. Other than that they don't seem to have almost anything in common other than the setting and cats. There's Vic Serotonin, who travels into the Saudade Event as a travel guide for tourists and also to smuggle out items to sell. Inside the event zone anything could happen and everything is always changing. Those who go in never return exactly as they were before. This time he's unknowingly brought out something dangerous, which leads to detective Lens Aschemann to investigate his activities. They're the two primary perspectives, though various others have a go at it as well.

There are a few sex scenes, which run more towards the metaphorical than the erotic, some masturbation, and several descriptions of the female breast. After the first sex scene one of the characters says that he's very puzzled by why the sex happened, which I found funny, though it would've had more impact if variations of "puzzled", weren't used 29 times, or 2-5 times per chapter, except for one that only had a single instance, throughout the ~300 or so pages. The characters apparently were as puzzled as I was, though in a different way.

Despite my disinterest more than disappointment, I'll be reading the third as well, if only to see how what I assume will be another disconnected entry finishes out the series. Reading this still gave me a strange feeling, though unfortunately it wasn't also moderately enjoyable.

Rating: 2.5/5 (3)

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The Trials of Empire, Empire of the Wolf #3 - Richard Swan (2024)

The Trials of Empire took a more conventional path than I was expecting. The vast majority is recruiting allies for a final battle. That means it's mostly traveling around from place to place then negotiating the terms of alliances. Despite that I still greatly enjoyed its execution, which tends to matter more for me than how common the narrative choices are.

I enjoyed the adventure, warfare, and other action-oriented aspects, especially the final battle, which had numerous evocative scenes. However, what primarily appealed to me were the discussions and the character development. Common law, ethics, and politics were the most common topics for the characters to argue about. There's a lot that I found easy to relate to current events, though I don't know how intended that was.

As with the prior books, the greatest development is with how Sedanka observes the changes that Vonvalt goes through as a result of the choices he feels must be made. I continue to believe that it was a much better choice to have Sedanka be the viewpoint rather than Vonvalt specifically for this reason. I wrote about the first book that the most important and viewpoint character weren't the same person, though with this one, they arguably were.

Tragedies keep happening. I've read some say that this was more horrific than they preferred, though I didn't feel it was all that much. I wouldn't call this grimdark because the characters are striving to be as good as the situation allows them to be and are doing this for others rather than themselves. That being said, with all the trauma and failures they've endured, their hesitancy towards employing extreme measures lessens as the demands upon them increase. Whether war requires atrocities to be victorious was one of the most discussed questions.

The aftermath to the final battle and the epilogue were among the most satisfying I've read in a long time. It concluded everything that needed to be while allowing for the possibility for more. It's somewhat similar to how Abercrombie ended the Age of Madness, though the ending was done much better with The Empire of the Wolf.

Each book in this series has been progressively better for me, mostly in that each book has had considerably less of what I dislike. When I first started reading this series I had various concerns, though I now believe that I overstated them to the point where I'm somewhat unhappy with what I wrote about the first book. The rating would probably still be the same, though possibly I'd simply give it a 4 now rather than 3.5. Although there's a lot more that could be written in this setting I'd be entirely content with whatever else Swan writes next. I'll eventually be checking out his previous self-published books as well.

Rating: 4.5/5

Previous books in the series
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The Redemption of Time, Remembrance of Earth's Past - Baoshu (2011/2019)

The Redemption of Time is a fanfiction webnovel written by Li Jun under his Baoshu pseudonym, which literally means divine tree. It was originally posted online less than a month after Death's End was published as Three Body X: Aeon of Contemplation. It's not officially canon, but it was approved by Cixin Liu and published by the same publisher. This is the first novel length work of fanfiction that I've read. It definitely reads like it is. If you have high expectations, you may want to reconsider them.

This book is in many ways an apologia, a formal defense of Death's End, primarily told through Yun Tianming's perspective, though various other perspectives are used as well. It's not only that it provides additional explanations for several events, it's specifically ones that I believed to be idiotic or glossed over. That leads me to assume that a significant number of others thought they were as well, hence the need for providing additional detail so that what happened seems more reasonable and rational. I can appreciate a fan's dedication to an author, but I would've really preferred there to be more narrative rather than scene after scene telling me why I should've trusted that whatever was offpage was amazing and had faith that the author knew what he was doing.

Speaking of faith, I was surprised by how much Christianity was included in here. It's certainly a different take on heaven, angels, eden, God, and satan. I don't know how literally versus metaphorically it's meant to be taken considering how explicitly everything is presented, including bible verses. Other religions are mentioned in passing, but the focus is on Christianity. Li Jun attended a Catholic university in Belgium for a philosophy degree, but I didn't know that until after I finished reading.

What amused me the most were the anime references, especially citing the Endless Eight episodes of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya anime as justification for his actions. The Legend of the Galactic Heroes epigraph was nice as well. There's also various literary references, which are around as common as referencing the same Japanese porn star over and over. The ending is a metafictional display of admiration, which I found to be entirely silly, but it's not terrible.

This novel was published in English in 2019, which means that his later written short fiction was translated and published in English before this novel was. "What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear" is a great story and it was the first story I read from him. Unfortunately, everything afterwards has been disappointing. I read it mostly for the sake of completion, but also because I thought there would be a chance it could be decent. There doesn't seem to be any reason to me to read it other than for a perhaps misguided sense of completion or simply because anything more suffices.

Rating: 2/5