/lit/ - Literature

>>17849542
State Tectonics, Centenal Cycle #3 - Malka Ann Older (2018)
This entry hews more closely to the first book rather than the second, though without the problems of the first, mostly anyway. Almost every single character of any importance is a woman, and possibly every man is defined by his relation to a powerful woman.
Maryam, a minor character in the previous books, is the primary viewpoint. Mishima and Roz, the primaries for the first and second books respectively are relegated to secondary roles. Amran, a new character, is the fourth viewpoint. The four viewpoints are women, one with a small child, one who is pregnant and says for the entire book she could give birth at any time, a lesbian with intimacy issues, and a younger version of one of the viewpoints. Considering how it's gone, if there ever were another book, Amran would probably be the primary next. There are a couple of one-off viewpoints.
It's once again time for an election and voting integrity is imperiled. Disaffected members of Information are trying to interfere because that's sometimes what people do when they're disaffected. Disaffection is probably the primary theme of the trilogy overall. Each book is more cynical and skeptical of the system and society they live in, even though each of them are, or were, part of the establishment.
The biggest issue, though it wasn't one for me, is that everything exists to show off the social systems of the world. This isn't any different from the prior books, though the driving force for the narrative comes off as particularly thin with this one. While there are ostensible antagonists the conflict is mostly political maneuvering rather than outright conflict. What little physical violence there is, is almost entirely irrelevant to anything.
As with the first book, I thought the ending was too neat and simply resolved, but at least it was thematically appropriate and I was able to appreciate it. It could be argued this is a shaggy dog trilogy, but I didn't mind, because it was an interesting take on social systems that I enjoyed.
Rating: 4/5

>>17655237
Null States, Centenal Cycle #2 - Malka Ann Older (2017)
This is what I expected the first one to be and because of that I think it's the better book. The first in the series was confused as to what it wanted to be, but this one isn't at all. It knows what it wants and what it has to do to achieve that. Unlike the first book, I was enjoying myself from the start and felt it was consistent throughout. Everything seemed to be handled better. No longer were there infodumps, extraneous plot threads, or questionable characterizations.
Roz, an analyst from the first book is now the primary viewpoint, which places Mishima in a secondary role, and relegates Ken to being a bit player. For the better for me, and possibly for the worse for others, everything has been reduced in scope and toned down in general. Most of the book is Roz's efforts in promoting micro-democracy in a certain former African country that has recently opted in to the system. Mishima's espionage activities have been reduced to the subplot.
A null state is a region that has refused to join micro-democracy and remains as a sovereign nation situated in its historical geographical locale. The majority of the book takes place in newly acceded regions of Africa, though null states are the driver of the conflict. This provides an entirely different perspective from the first book as it shows the limitations of and concerns about micro-democracy from a more nuanced view than simply "power corrupts" or "question all authority".
Rating: 4.5/5

>>17283669
Infomocracy, Centenal Cycle #1 - Malka Ann Older (2016)
The first quarter or so may be rough going for many as it's little else other than worldbuilding presented through political campaigning and electioneering. While the book does shift focus later on, overall it's about the political process of Earth in the 2060s through and through. At the 25% mark, I was thinking a low 3 stars, and was somewhat disappointed. By 50% I was at 3.5 because it had become more action oriented. When I finished it was 4 and I knew I'd try to read the rest of the trilogy. It took most of the book, but I eventually succumbed to enjoying the world and being amused by the characters to where I wanted more of it all.
This book is concerned with its ideas to the exclusion of almost all else. The central idea is that the world is ruled by various governments through the process of micro-democracy. Centenals, groupings of 100k people, form the basis of this system. This means that a city with one million residents could theoretically have ten governments with radically different laws. This is overseen by an organization called Information, which is the Internet, the regulatory body for all politics, a peacekeeping force, and other assorted functions. The governmental elections are held every ten years and one is currently being held.
There are four viewpoint characters, though two of them are primary. Not much should be expected from the characters as they exist to demonstrate how the political process works, for better and worse. The characters are the The Guy Who Stumbles Into Success, The High-Functioning Chuunibyou, The Revolutionary With An Afro (White), and The Oblivious One.
There's technically a romance subplot, but it's mostly that within minutes of the two characters meeting they have sex and decide they are in a relationship for the rest of the book, more or less.
This could be read as a standalone as all the plot points are wrapped up by the end, though it's done in a way that's a bit too neat for my taste.
Rating: 4/5