/lit/ - Literature

>>22095341
Generation Ship - Michael Mammay (2023)

Generation Ship is among the best political drama SF I've ever read. Mammay has also excelled in providing a depiction of the crew members daily lives, how and why their government functions, and the technology required to maintain their society. I believe the limitations inherent to the setting provide for some rather intriguing dynamics.

The Voyager is a first-of-its-kind colony ship with 18,000 people, a number that is strictly adhered to, that is only months away from completing its 250 year journey to Promissa, a planet in Zeta Tucanae, thought to be habitable with 97% confidence. The expectation that everything is soon to change disrupts the routines that have lasted for centuries and many start to question the value of the traditions and laws that have brought them this far. Each chapter opens with how many days remain. It's at least somewhat allegorical about the contemporary United States.

There are five viewpoint characters and each provides a distinct societal perspective. I don't know if they were literally meant to represent these concepts, but I saw them as Science, Outsider, Populism, Enforcement, and Authority. This allowed for a nuanced and panoramic view of how these forces interact and present their side of the story to each other. This is a character drama and each one felt appropriately written. I enjoyed them all.

In other terms of representation there's a lesbian, a gay guy, two nonbinary characters, and an aromantic woman. There's various context clues that at least a few characters are neurodivergent. None of that is a focus, though doesn't it feel like a checklist either. It's simply who they are and it's only relevant when the situation involved something related to it, which isn't often. There may have been more, but that's what I noticed. All of is this is presented as a normal way of being.

The lead up to the ending and the ending itself were the only parts I didn't like as much as it introduced an idea that I'm as biased against as I'm biased for generation ships. I've never liked it in any media that I've come across and this wasn't an exception. It's not so much that it detracts from my enjoyment as it that I have a preference against its inclusion because it bothers me on both a practical and metaphorical level. That and other late introduced ideas that I felt were out of place did lessen my enthusiasm, but the momentum leading up to it and that this is a book much more about the journey than the destination, let me put aside my misgivings.

Although Ursula K. Le Guin's Paradises Lost, a superb novella, focuses on religion while this doesn't at all, I was often reminded of it while reading this, especially about its ecological concerns. I'll definitely be reading Mammay's prior works, as though they are different from this, it's also the sort that I'm able to enjoy.

I received this DRC from Harper Voyager through NetGalley.

Rating: 4.5/5

>>22084187
A Harvest of Ash and Blood - D. J. Molles (2023)

A Harvest of Ash and Blood is a white-knuckle ride that gets your heart pounding and your pulse racing as it rampages through the hell that is the battlefield. D. J. Molles has written around twenty novels prior to this, almost all of which seem to be some flavor of military thriller. Maybe it's because I haven't read much like this, but I'm thoroughly impressed by the book's continuous intense action from start to end except for a few breaks for the characters to rest for a bit. The fantasy elements are well-integrated, though those looking for a typical epic fantasy adventure may find themselves with a rather different narrative. This is almost entirely a series of brutal military engagements that reminded me of a mix between twentieth century and medieval wars.

Depending how caught up the reader is by the action there may be little time to think about what is happening, why it is, or what it means. Although many details are stated directly, the implications are left for the reader to determine and the real-world similarities may not be immediately obvious. The narrative walks a fine line between being morally repugnant and awesome, though depending on your sensibilities it may only be the former. I chose to see it as more the latter, if only because the characters reacted what they had done and had great interactions between them. This is as much about the characters as it is about what they do.

The fantasy elements serve both practical and metaphorical functions. The former is how technology is powered by magic, which is a properly deceptive term on multiple levels. A select few individuals have specific magical abilities. Magic is mostly used by the enemy forces, though the allied forces have a few that can. As for the latter I found that there's surprisingly a lot to consider when making real world connections that go deeper than the surface level statements. There's a lot of social commentary, though it's often presented in ways that could be easy to overlook. For those who want it, it's there, and for those who only want the action, it's not difficult to let it all pass by.

This is listed as a standalone on the author's site and it works as a self-contained story, as long as you can be satisfied with many of the worldbuilding specifics being left unexplained. The opening map depicts a tidally locked planet and it's implied as such in the text, though that may not be evident if you didn't already know what that was. There's more than enough left for it to become a series, though that's probably dependent on how well this one does. If there are more, I'll definitely be reading them. If nothing else, this may get the author a few new readers for his primary series who otherwise wouldn't have known about them or gave them a try. I'll certainly try reading what else he's written.

Rating: 4.5/5

I received this DRC from Blackstone Publishing through NetGalley.

>>22064272
Back to Myan - Regina Kanyu Wang, translated by Shaoyan Hu
Kaya is a refugee saved by the Union. She returns to her desolate homeworld where her merfolk people once lived and discovers the truth, which dispels all the false narratives that were put upon her.
Meh

Meridian - Karin Lowachee
A four year old boy watches his family be killed by space pirates and his station be wrecked. He's picked up by scavengers, but they don't know how to raise such a traumatized child. The years pass by, but the memories don't fade.
Ok

Joseon Fringe - Pamela Q. Fernandes
A historical fantasy about how hangul and much else was developed by King Sejong and Jang Young Sil. It's also about hoping changing the past will fix the present.
Meh

Wintry Hearts of Those Who Rise - Minsoo Kang
The heir to a grand estate seeks an inheritance denied to him by father's second wife through legal maneuvering and deceit. His scholar friend decides to beat her at her own game.
Ok

Udātta Śloka? - Deepak Bharathan
A mythological origin story for a major Hindu deity.
Meh

Crash - Melissa Yuan-Innes
The colonists of the lunar colony escaped Earth and want nothing to do with it. A crashed space vessel threatens to upend their established balance.
Ok

Memoriam - Priya Sridhar
A robotictist has created a replica of his deceased father and everyone is worried for him, scared of what he's done, or both.
Ok

The Observer Effect - E. C. Myers
After a school shooting in California, a disabled Chinese woman wants to know why her co-worker, who is a superhero, didn't do anything about it. Superheroes are common in this world, as are supervillians. Thus ensues a conversation about racism against Asians, the importance of representation, and what it truly means to be a superhero.
Ok

Decision - Joyce Chng
A young woman from a race of mythical spider people who eat humans decides it's time to leave the family nest.
Meh

Moon Halves - Anne Carly Abad
The forests of Barangay Mangangasu are filled with spirits. It's time for the hunting rite to determine a new chieftan.
Ok

The Bridge of Dangerous Longings - Rati Mehrotra
A young girl wants to wants to cross the bridge that no one has survived crossing since it was built. All is shrouded in mist, but the gruesome death that befalls crossers is in full view. Life isn't going so well for her though.
Ok

Old Souls - Fonda Lee
A woman who remembers all of her past lives, seven currently, meets an immortal woman who asks of her a favor.
Ok

The Orphans of Nilaveli - Naru Dames Sundar
Nearly seventy years have passed since the end of the Sri Lankan civil war. Tamils remain discriminated against by the Sinhalese who literally aren't able to see them any longer due to their implants erasing them from sight. Even so, following a catastrophic earthquake two Tamil orphans are adopted by a Sinhalese family. Their lives take drastically different paths.
Ok

>>22062118
Where The Stars Rise: Asian Science Fiction & Fantasy (2017)
Edited by Lucas K. Law & Derwin Mak

The subtitle is somewhat misleading. Maybe half of these twenty-three stories could reasonably be called SFF. Speculative fiction would be more accurate. All of the stories are Asian influenced. The influences are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Filipino, Sri Lankan, Indian, and Turkish. Social justice was the focus for several of the stories. Several of the Ok stories were close to being Enjoyable, but I had problems with each of them that were a bit too much.

Spirit of Wine - Tony Pi
A spirit of Wine possess two sworn brothers and causes mischief. Ideogram-play follows.
Meh

The dataSultan of Streets and Stars - Jeremy Szal
A dataSultan (programmer) is hired to steal the newest djinn (AI). Naturally it doesn't go planned.
Meh

Weaving Silk - Amanda Sun
Two children in Tokyo struggle to survive following a catastrophic earthquake.
Meh

Vanilla Rice - Angela Yuriko Smith
A pregnant woman of asian descent in a western country has fully internalized white beauty standards and purchases a chip that will change the phenotype of her daughter so that she will not have to suffer the indignity of not being white.
Blah

Looking Up - S. B. Divya
A woman with a physical disability who has a traumatic past and is estranged from her family has been selected for a one-way mission to Mars. All that's left is telling everyone goodbye then going on her way.
Ok

A Star Is Born - Miki Dare
This is about the interment of Japanese-Canadians. It's about the racism and oppression that non-whites have endured in Canada, whose evils are similar to those of the United States, though overshadowed by the severity of the latter due to population size and factors. I'm not sure what to make of the narrative, mostly as to whether it is what it says it is or not.
Blah

My Left Hand - Ruhan Zhao
A scientist visits a palmreader who warns him of disaster, but what does l matter when there's science to do, and who believes that nonsense anyway, ha ha.
I didn't enjoy this as much as I otherwise would because I don't have sufficient Chinese cultural knowledge to turn what seem to be the implications into definite conclusions.
Meh

DNR - Gabriela Lee
A doctor living in the Philippine Protectorate on Mars spends most of her time on autopsies and extracting the final memories of the deceased from their visual cortex to present to the bereaved.
Ok

A Visitation for the Spirit Festival - Diana Xin
A mother who thought she'd never return to China does so to convince her daughter that her activism is too dangerous. The mother carries with her the ghosts of her past.
Meh

Rose's Arm - D. Jim
In racist steampunk Canada, a teenage girl's mother has died and her father is no longer able to provide due to anti-Japanese sentiment. A white doctor has offered to solve her problems, though his help would come at a great personal cost to her.
Meh

>>22052164
Terms of Enlistment, Frontlines #1 - Marko Kloos (2013)

This was the debut novel of German author Marko Kloos, who after serving his mandatory military service came to the United States. Ten years later he self-published this military science fiction novel on Amazon and it sold well, so it was acquired by Amazon.

The protagonist, Andrew Grayson, 21, lives in a welfare housing district and will do anything to escape the shame of poverty. For him and most others, the military is their only chance, but with a 10% application acceptance rate and 50% washing-out before finishing basic training, it's not that easy. Homesteading a colonial planet is the dream, or really, anywhere other than being stuck with those he describes as the welfare rats who are content to subsist on recycled bodily waste and mutual violation. The narrative is told through a first person perspective that provides his personal thoughts, though they didn't add much for me.

Some books offer more of an opportunity for contemplation and others offer the opposite. This was one of the latter. You can think about it, though that may only detract from the enjoyment. That's not to say that it's entirely action filled, because it isn't. Much of the book's duration is spent outside out of duty, which also isn't to say that this is a book heavy on character development, because it isn't. The plot is mostly going through basic training and a few months afterwards. The ending sets up the series, which is currently at eight books. Saying what the series is about awkward because looking at anything else about it makes it obvious, but since it isn't revealed until the end, just saying what it is would be a spoiler, though it's nothing surprising. It's First contact and immediate war against huge aliens. Functionally that makes this first book an introduction to the protagonist and the processes of their military and little else.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that one of the major scenes of the novel could be a dealbreaker. The military is sent in to deal with unrest in the Detroit slums which leads to the protagonist slaughtering those involved and then some uninvolved civilians during the ensuring chaos. It doesn't go well for them either. This is mostly brushed off later and treated as just something that happened by all involved. Apparently it's covered more in Measures of Absolution.

I read this with others, as I probably wouldn't have read it by myself. I've now read the first books of Kloos's two series, the other being The Palladium Wars. I found the other to be significantly better. Unfortunately, what bothered me the most about it was present here as well. The series is sliced too thinly. That's been commercially successful for Kloos. It's common for TV series to have most of the plot in the premiere and finale, but I don't like how it came across here. This may be the last work by him that I read.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>22041968
By Those Hands - Congyun "Mu Ming" Gu, Judith Huang (2018)
I'm astounded by the masterful craft that created this beautiful work. Its emotionality is admirable and its science praiseworthy. A master bamboo weaver is distraught that he will not be able to pass on his craft and that all the traditional ways are being replaced by low-quality automation. A neuroscientist with a specialty in hands is distressed about the kinesthetic knowledge that is lost upon death. Perhaps by using the newest technologies traditional ways may yet be preserved.
Highly Enjoyable

The Kite of Jinan - Liang Qingsan, Emily Jin (2017)
In the introduction to this book this story is called "fictional nonfiction", which is apt. This story is simply a guy who saw something he thought was interesting and unsolved in the historical record. In this case the truth behind why a series of gunpowder workshops exploded and whether the primary suspect was indeed responsible. So, he took it upon himself to deeply research the matter for no other reason than personal curiosity. This is probably somewhat similar to the research that goes into making edutainment videos on Youtube. One example would be some of the videos CGP Grey has made. This was more interesting and enjoyable than may be expected.
Enjoyable

Pixiu - Shi Heiyao, Andy Dudak (2018)
A biologist is hired by a mining company to create a new bacteria that can bioleach low quality ore effectively and as cheaply. He relates its development to his relationship with his grandmother from his birth to her death. There's a considerable amount of philosophizing about the purpose of life and the nature of interpersonal relationships, including for bacteria.
Enjoyable

The Postman - Liao Shubo, Rebecca Huang (2016)
An interstellar postman keeps receiving messages from a little girl asking if he has any mail for her. He doesn't and he takes a memory-erasing pill after he finishes delivering the mail, but then one day...
Meh

>>22040654
New Voices in Chinese Science Fiction (2022)
Edited by Neil Clarke, Xia Jia, and Regina Kanyu Wang

Introduction - Xia Jia (2022)
I was surprised by the quality of the works in this anthology. Then I saw that they almost all won a prestigious award for the best SF of the year in China. That seems appropriate to me. In the introduction Xia Jia writes that we're in the Post-Liu Cixin era. That seems like a good thing to me, especially going by the stories included, and because I'm not a fan of his work. As to whether it's true, I wouldn't know. She also notes that this anthology was a stretch goal for her Kickstarter campaign to have her first English science fiction collection published. I'm not much a fan of her writing either, so I may or may not read A Summer Beyond Your Reach later.

My Family and Other Evolving Animals - Shuang Chimu, Carmen Yiling Yan (2019)
The year is 2119. In four years a new space megastation, one of almost a hundred already in space, will set off to begin its deep space ecological experiments. This story is almost entirely speculation about how ecosystems may change in space, with a focus on fruit flies. Its scientific narrative is presented through the lives of a particular family, especially the youngest daughter. This was a pleasing speculative slice-of-life story.
Enjoyable

The Bridge - Liu Xiao, Andy Dudak (2019)
I think I would like this story if I knew the specific context for its allegories rather than only vaguely being about the changes that modernity has brought to isolated areas. I assume it's an allegory about Atulie'er and other cliff villages in China, though that may only be at face value.
Ok

Tombstone - Yang Wanqing, Andy Dudak (2017)
Catastrophic climate disasters brought forth the Great Scattering of humanity. New Anchorage, population twenty million, is one of the last bastions of civilization that remain. Everything is devoted to Osiris Tower, which promises an afterlife through the creation of a soul. This is told through the life of a Charon, a ferryman of the dead, and his relationship with the love of his life. I wasn't liking this for almost half its duration, but by the end I was won over by its allegories.
Enjoyable

PTSD - Hui Hu, Rebecca Kuang (2016)
A VR journalist seeking clout radicalizes a young boy online hoping to goad him into becoming viral content. Four years later working at NetLord (NetEase) the consequences of his actions have caught up to him in a way that he never could've seen coming. This was a fun SF thriller about being unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality. It also considers some problems that may arise from 3D printing and virtual reality.
Enjoyable

>>21986571
Eleanor R. Wood - Her Glimmering Façade (2016)
There's just something about someone waking up alone in a mysterious location with no idea of their situation that appeals to me. That allows me to entirely overlook that it's entirely conceptual and nothing else. Saying what the concept is would spoil the story.
Enjoyable

Han Song - Answerless Journey (1995)
Creature wakes up in a location with no memories and meets Same Kind, who has the same condition. It's an allegorical existential comedy horror, but I'd only be guessing about what. The title is overly apt. This is the seventh story I've read by Han Song, though it's only the second that I haven't assigned my worst rating to. He writes in a way that I strongly dislike.
Meh

Ronald D. Ferguson - Cylinders (2017)
Jerry is a robot guardian for Rachael, a teenage girl, and is modeled on her deceased father. They live in a cylindrical space station that is developing a technology that will revolutionize humanity and exploration. Saboteurs on board try to stop them. Mostly the story is Jerry watching Rachael's day to day life as his upgrades have him becoming increasingly similar to her father.
Enjoyable

He Xi - Life Does Not Allow Us to Meet (2010)
Humanity desires to settle many planets to avoid extinction, but many of them have conditions unsuitable for standard humans. Many different pioneer species were designed to settle these planets. They only have provisional status as humans. A team has been sent to judge whether the settlers qualify as human or not.
Ok

Allen Stroud - The First (2023)
Two astronauts arrive on Mars believing that no humans had come before them, but they were wrong. Those before them were the earliest humans, though they weren't The First on Mars.
Meh

Zhao Haihong - The Darkness of Mirror Planet (2003)
An allegorical story that I didn't like at all for what it was saying or how it was said. Mirror, the protagonist, wants to join the mission to Planet Dark, which requires leaving her husband Lack and passing a psychological test.
Blah

Amdi Silvestri - A Minuet of Corpses (2018)
This was meant to be a creepy horror story, but it didn't do anything at all for me. A spaceship comes across what me be a rouge planetary graveyard or something more sinister and spooky stuff happens. Not my kind of horror at all.
Blah

Bao Shu - Doomsday Tour (2013)
A 2012 end of the world story. Alien disaster tourists want to make sure their money was well spent. A galactic travel agency want to ensure their profits continue unimpeded. Corruption is an universal ideal.
Ok

Russell James - The Emissary (2023)
Shane always wanted to be an astronaut. After the Apollo missions ended in 1972 he thought that chance had passed. In 1976, he's kidnapped by the CIA at the behest of NASA. They tell him that he's their last chance. The truth of Apollo 17 is revealed.
Meh

I received this eARC from Flame Tree Press through NetGalley.

>>21983306
Adventures in Space (2023)
Edited by Patrick Parrinder and Yao Haijun

As you'd expect from the title all of these stories involve being in space, or having space come to them. Seven were written in English and six were translated from Chinese by Alex Woodend. Five of the English-language stories are reprints and two are new. The six Chinese-language stories appear here translated for the first time.

Alex Shvartsman - The Race for Arcadia (2015)
This is a mildly amusing and severely critical story of a deeply embarrassed Russian government that is desperate to prove that they still matter. I don't believe it to be satire because this story seems entirely plausible within the context presented. The protagonist, whose death is imminent from a terminal illness, is blatantly told that he's being sent on a suicide space mission for the purpose of propaganda. If they're willing to admit that much, what aren't they admitting?
Meh

Chin Zijun - Shine (2016)
Qi Fengyang is in despair of never being able to achieve his dream when the extremely wealthy Huo Changao offers to fulfill it for him. All he has to do is accept what may a suicide mission to rescue Sun Shi'ning from a failed Europa expedition. She's the former's ex-lover and the latter's wife. The rescue will take the cooperation of the world and much science, though that's nothing compared to their passion and determination. However, neither one is being honest about their motives, so what's this really all about?
This reminded me superficially of a mix between 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Martian, the former of which is explicitly referenced in the text, and the latter if it was told from an Earth-side perspective. I continue be amazed how often Elon Musk is included in such stories, as he's mentioned here in passing as Alan Musk.
Meh

Leah Cypess - On The Ship (2017)
This is the sixth story by Cypess that I've read and I've enjoyed them all. I believe this is the first science fiction story I've read by her. Generation ships are a setting I tend to like and this one more so than usual because it reminded me of Philip K. Dick. That's both all I want to say about it and all I think needs to be said.
Enjoyable

Wang Jinkang - Seeds of Mercury (2002)
What an astounding story. It started out enjoyably and by the end it became one of the best translated works of short fiction I've read and possibly one of the better ones I've ever read.
Chen Yizhe has a blessed life of comfort, wealth, and familial bliss. One day He Jun, a lawyer, informs him that his aunt Sha Wu has died and she wants him to carry on her legacy. She's created a new life that can only prosper on Mercury, hence the title, which would be the seeds of a new civilization. The parts of the story that take place in that civilization are an utterly delightful exploration of Mercurian society, science, and religion.
Highly Enjoyable

>>21950333
A Debt to the Stars - Kevin Hincker (2023)

A Debt to the Stars is a self-published novel that is competently written. However, I believe it could've greatly benefitted from someone reining in the author's excesses and reminding them to focus on their strengths. As for its genre, it's a science fiction comedy thriller. There's aliens, fantastical technology, mysterious happenings, a foulmouthed comedic relief companion, villainous caricatures, blockchain explanations, financial dealings, lip service romance, and much that may be allegorical and/or ideological. Several have compared it to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which is a decent comparison. That's not all it is though, and its lack of focus may have been to its detriment. Aside from the occasional infodumps about cryptocurrency, blockchain, financial dealings and similar, which were mildly reminiscent of the sort in Snow Crash, though not nearly done as well, this is mostly an action adventure thriller. As for the characters, well, they exist. The comedic companion carries a heavy load in that regard. The protagonist is mostly to drive the narrative forward.

The book also has some social science fiction aspects, mostly resulting from which the aliens provided to humanity. Augmentation and the obelisks alleviate the need for much, as humans no longer become senescent, gain regenerative capabilities, and have all their basic needs provided for. From a human perspective, it's a very robust welfare state, or even Luxury Communism. This is depicted as having been disastrous for humanity, which perhaps it could be, but I find the specifics presented here to be implausible. It reminded me in some ways of Brave New World or Childhood's End. Unfortunately, this is mostly reduced to that those born before Augmentation become obsessives and those afterwards are fearless, ignorant, and unproductive unless raised properly from birth. The antagonists are the capitalists, both of the human and alien variety. The human antagonist organization is very much a caricature, or satire, of market fundamentalist beliefs. Their goal is world domination to restore the capitalist regime and bring scarcity back to the world. The alien capitalists are more predatory, financially speaking.

This is the first book in an intended series. It's not my sort of comedy, the social aspects were disagreeable and implausible within their context, the economics were often nonsensical, and the ending was unacceptable in its plot convenience. Those who can ignore the details will probably enjoy this more than me. I can easily imagine a version of this book that I would've enjoyed much more. I hope the author heeds what seems to be the consensus opinion about what works and doesn't. The second may be far more pleasing to a wider audience by doing so.

I received this book from the author through NetGalley.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>21941208
The Sword Defiant, Lands of the Firstborn #1 - Gareth Hanrahan (2023)

The Sword Defiant is, as the author says, a deconstruction of traditional fantasy. What that means for this book is that it does away with romanticized ideals and keeps most everything else. At various times throughout the book it's explicitly stated that this isn't how the story is supposed to go. How you feel about that may be the most important determinant for your enjoyment. To be clear, this isn't parody or satire, though it does have comedic moments. It's a serious and sincere attempt at providing a traditional fantasy story minus the feel-good assurances. By traditional fantasy I mean there are humans, elves, dwarves, and a host of fantastical creatures. There's an adventuring party, a dark lord, a talking sword, healing potions, magic, and a farm boy who has become a hero. It even starts in a tavern. Much of what can be expected from traditional fantasy is here, though its presentation differs.

Fifteen years ago a band of nine adventurers defeated the Dark Lord and took control of Necrad, the city that was his base of operations. That's where most stories would end, even though their lives and the world continue on. Alf is a human swordsman on the wrong side of forty-five and hasn't quite known what to do with himself ever since their victory. He's the keeper of Spellbreaker, a sentient sword that nullifies magic and was forged by one of the greatest elven smiths then empowered by the Dark Lord. It implores him to slaughter, provides comedic relief, and tells everyone what they don't want to hear. Spellbreaker is my favorite character in the book and one of the best talking weapons I've ever come across. There are also dream visions, which Alf dislikes, that have him seek out the one who gives him a prophecy, which he distrusts, of a rising evil. Thus he sets out on a new adventure to discover and defeat whatever it is that imperils the world, because at least he has a purpose again for his life. The other viewpoint character is his sister, Olva, who doesn't want to be involved, let alone have Derwyn, her son, be involved, in anything other than their life on the farm. Unfortunately for her, events transpire that force her to adventure as well, where she becomes far more involved than she could have ever imagined.

The eight other adventurers aren't faring much better, because this is their lives as they are now, and really always were, because life isn't how it goes in the songs and the stories. It's only in retrospect that can one can see the greater context of their life, and even then much remains unknown for why and how events came to pass. However, the understanding of that context may yet entirely change depending on what has yet to occur. The same can be said of this book's twists and turns that by the end seem to set the course for the trilogy, but I wouldn't be surprised if some later reveal provides an entirely different direction.

Rating: 3/5

>>21926578
Beasts - John Crowley (1976)

This was a peculiar book, which seems to be the norm for Crowley, at least of what I've read anyway. As with his Engine Summer, what I enjoyed most was reading it for how it's written. Reading what others had written about this book was also a strange experience, because many seemed to have a significantly different experience.

About fifty years ago in 1972 major breakthroughs were made in genetic engineering which allowed for creating hybrids of all sorts, including of humans. Ten years prior to the start of the story the second American Civil War had ended and the United States was splintered into ten large autonomies, several smaller ones, and various city-states. The federal government still existed and was trying to claw back its supremacy. Those two concepts are a backdrop rather than the focal points. Most of what this book may be about is presented similarly. Its themes are passively persistent in their presentation so it may be easy for them to remain unnoticed or be misconstrued. They aren't obscured, but it may be a case of being hidden in plain sight.

Although this is a short novel, there are a number of viewpoints and it isn't strictly linear. The chapters overlap to greater purpose, though what that may be, may not be immediately evident. There's the ethologist who doesn't care much for people, but loves animals and wants more than anything to repopulate various species. Another is a teenage girl in indentured servitude, who doesn't care much for people, and is sold to a lion-human hybrid, a leo, and yes, they have sex. He's the greatest among his people. Unfortunately for him, it has been has declared that all hybrid humans were a mistake and must be eradicated. The other hybrid is a fox-human who excels at intrigue and manipulation because he enjoys doing so. There are also two bourgeoise children who must adapt to their changing status. One chapter is from the perspective of a genetically modified dog, mostly to complete the spectrum of emphatic experience.

One of the communities depicted has 100,000 people and are isolationist, conservationist, vegan, smug, and assured of their self-righteousness. They believe themselves to be attuned with nature, though they don't shun technology. One member of the community chooses to embrace what he sees as natural even further. This may seem like the idea of the noble savage, and that character certainly seems to think that, but he's misunderstanding and a reader would who takes him at his word would be as well. The leos are neither noble, nor savage, they're just an unwanted and persecuted people trying to survive.

The ending was consistent with what came prior. If it seemed abrupt and/or inconclusive, you may want to consider again what the fox-human had said, especially what he believed it meant to be a fox. I'm being generous with this rating relative to how I believe it would be for many others.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>21917688
Infinity Gate, Pandominion #1 - M.R. Carey (2023)

Infinity Gate sets up for the books that will come afterwards. It's not a self-contained story at all. The story opens with an unknown narrator who announces that the events of this story have already happened and now they're presenting it to the reader. The book ends with the team, who are introduced in the opening, having all came together to do whatever they will.

Those who go into this book blind may have a different reading experience than those who have looked a synopsis or other material provided by the publisher. The story and characters didn't go where they initially seemed they would be going, at least they didn't for me. I was initially disappointed because I only saw what the premise was, infinite variations of Earth have become available, and that's true, but also misleading in that it's mostly background rather than the focus. I wanted to this to be about a civilization that begins exploring alternate Earths and interacting with them in various ways. Instead the series will probably be about The Pandominion, a federation of a million Earths, versus The Machine Hegemony, who have at least a similar number of Earths.

The three primary POVs almost exclusively proceed in linear fashion rather than alternating between them, with the third being more than half the book. The first is a middle aged Nigerian woman who builds the gateway to other Earths. This part tries to explain how it could theoretically occur, and it seemed reasonable enough, but only because I wouldn't know. The second is a young Nigerian man who in his attempts to escape destitution ends up with a life beyond his imagining. I thought the drama of his life in Lagos was more interesting than the military SF it becomes. The third is a teenage lagomorph girl, who is decidedly more of the anthro variety rather than the sort that have a few animal features. Many different sorts of humanoids are presented as characters, though almost all are mammals.

The central theme is about empathy. The organics refuse to believe that the synthetics can be sentient while the synthetics refuse to believe that organics can be anything more than instinct. Neither believes the other has an inner life. The Pandominion also excludes all non-Pandominion Earths from being real and thus anything can be done to them. Sometimes the allegories became a bit heavy-handed for my preference, though I think my tolerance for extremely inclusive AI rights has waned. I also didn't think the ones about colonial superpowers were handled that well.

Maybe it will be different in the next book(s) but I would've liked to have more of an exploration of how the many societies differ, even when accounting for the homogenizing force of interglobalization, than about a war between individualist and collectivist civilizations with the viewpoint party doing their own independent stuff. Even so, I'll read the next book.

Rating: 3.5/5

>>21897802
The Captain, The Last Horizon #1 - Will Wight (2023)

I dropped this at 15% and skimmed the rest. Usually I don't write about what I drop, though exceptions are made now and again. Based on my previous reading of Wight's works and how I felt about them I knew that it was unlikely that I would enjoy reading this. It's definitely a situation of where it's me, not you. If this had been released in my early teen years it's likely that I would've ignored its myriad problems and have been enraptured by its kaleidoscopic and frenetic action.

Unfortunately, it wasn't possible for me to feel engaged in the slightest with this space fantasy pop-culture slurry that doesn't seem to ever cohere into something more than a jumbled assortment of tropes. If you can allow yourself to be wow'ed by the over-the-top antics and need nothing more than that, then you may well greatly enjoy reading this. There isn't meaningful characterization, plot, ideas, progression, worldbuilding, or much of anything else, and for some that is likely irrelevant. Everything happens because it was written to happen and that's all that matters.

Almost immediately after the story begins the protagonist has become one of the most powerful beings in the universe, which is not uncommon for superhero comics or isekai light novels. I feel this sort of presentation usually precludes any sort of narrative tension and deeper involvement, for me personally anyway. One way to sidestep that is for the overpowered protagonist to be relegated to the periphery and an essemble of side characters become the majority of the narrative. One Punch Man is the only work that I've seen do that well though. Varic is an embarrassment to the similarly named Varric of Dragon Age.

I won't be reading more from this series and it's rather doubtful that I will read anything else from Wight other than the final Cradle book. His self-publishe works have a substantial audience, though for the most part that doesn't include me. I didn't like this at all, but I'm not recommending against reading it. If it seems like something you'd like it, then it may well be. You'll have to try for yourself. If you don't think you would, then you almost certainly won't.

>>21884047
The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England - Brandon Sanderson (2023)

This non-cosmere book most reminded me of a cross between H. Beam Piper's Paratime series and Philip K. Dick's We Can Remember It For You Wholesale, though by the end neither of those were that accurate. In the postscript Sanderson details how this book came to be and one of its primary inspirations was Jason Bourne, which it does lean heavily into that with its amnesiac protagonist who has a certain set of skills, though he's lacking in most other ways.

As can be seen on the cover, the wizard has a gun. That's because this is science fiction with some thriller elements set in an alternate Earth that has fantastical characteristics. Wizard is a semantic misdirect and there's no time traveling. There's an attempt to explain it all scientifically, though possibly not enough to where it could be considered Hard Fantasy. A reader can also expect many of Sanderson's recurrent themes such as redemption, persistence despite repeated failure, having your own world, being powerful relative to others, and chaste romance.

The main problem I had with this is that it lacks substance, which is fitting because so does its setting, as explained in-universe. Reading this felt like something that one reads to have read. It may well be an exemplar of highly readable mediocrity. The other problem was that I thought there was tonal dissonance with how humorous it tries to be, which is to say the humor didn't work for me this time. A lot of is because it's entirely out of place because it's for the reader rather than people the protagonist is talking to. The most reoccurring joke is him briefly reviewing stuff. There's also a bit of light poking at contemporary events and social trends.

There are several pages of art in this, many in a form similar to a four panel comic. Those that didn't have anything to do with the events of the book seemed entirely out of place, even if they were meant to show what other possibilities there were for the technology that allows the story to occur.

Fortunately for this book it's one of the secret projects, which will probably give it a wider readership than it would if it were by itself, because I don't really know who this would be for. Some of his other non-Cosmere works have similarities to this, but not enough to mention, and I didn't like them. Giving this a three may even be a bit high, but 2.5 seems a bit low, as there wasn't enough that I thought was worse than mediocre and enough that was better than decent.

I don't know what Sanderson's intentions for the ending were, but it allows for the slightest possibility of unifying everything he's ever written. The most likely interpretation though is that it's provide an idea of what may happen after their story has ended. I personally would find it very amusing if he did unify everything though. Maybe he can do that with one of his final works before retiring.

Rating: 3/5

>>21859961
The Rise of Endymion, The Hyperion Cantos #4 - Dan Simmons (1997)

The Rise of Endymion was an awe-inspiring mess. On a page by page basis I was unimpressed until near the climax, but as a whole it was awesome if you allow it to be by ignoring all its problems. As I wrote about the previous book it feels much more like a foundational work of religion and history. This one commits to that concept, for better and worse. This was figuratively the Second Coming. Heresies abounded, especially of the Christian variety, one of which being the secret nature of Jesus Christ was revealed and what that meant for the latter day Messiah known as The One Who Teaches, let alone the theological foundations of Christianity.

I had severe doubts about this book due to the previous one, but by the end of the book Aenea provided a lot of emotionally resonant fulfillment. Raul, the protagonist, continued to be serviceable in his role at best, and from what I've seen, he's a primary problem for a lot of people due to the nature of his relationship with Aenea. I don't think the protagonist has to be the most important character, but he is an outlier in terms of subordination. Aside from that there's so else much that can go so wrong and so right depending on the reader. For me there were a few great moments. What you may need more than anything else to enjoy this book is belief that accepts it for what it isn't rather than what isn't.

There were a lot of times where I felt that Simmons changed his mind about really mattered or how things were because he decided the story was meant to go a different way. He had to "choose again" as it were. Much of plot and most of its threads are either summarily resolved or left unresolved, because the book's defining act overwhelms all else. The vast majority of the book is once again journeying, the significance of which is both sentimental and practical. Again I must emphasize that I think the structure of this duology is unsuitable as a work of entertainment, though excellent for a personal account of a disciple loved by a messiah.

There's a lot that pushes into the fantastical, especially the implications of the ending. There's a scene that has metaphorical angels with wings of light that can extend up to hundreds of kilometers, which is described in technological terms. It's also the case that apparently sufficiently advanced empathy is indistinguishable from miracles or magic, though its given a theoretical scientific basis that is audacious. The societal implications are greater than the Farcasters were.

Reading this was definitely worthwhile and despite all my problems, I would gladly read more novels in this setting, but Simmons swore to never write another novel, though it's continued with a novelette. I'm unable to recommend this without reservations. I do recommend reading both if you read Endymion though, because it's meant to be one book.

Rating: 3/5

Memory's Legion, The Expanse - James S.A. Corey (2022)
A collection of The Expanse short fiction.

Drive (2012)
Drive takes place during and before Solomon Epstein's successful test of the eponymous drive, though one would think he that he would've taken more safety precautions than almost literally none. The before part is mostly about his love life, which is fine in that it provides more of an existence to one of the most influential characters in the series, but it's just ok.
Ok

The Butcher of Anderson Station (2011)
This nonlinear story takes place before, during, and after the titular event. It's about half a character study of Fred Johnson and half a demonstration of the lengths that governments will go to protect corporate interests, which are too often one and the same. Unfortunately labor relations are even worse than they are now in various ways. Lives are cheap and plentiful and interstellar commerce is lucrative.
Enjoyable

Gods of Risk (2012)
The viewpoint for this story is Bobbie's sixteen year old nephew. He's highly proficient in chemistry and has fallen into making drugs for a local dealer. He does so because it's something that's his own, outside of the oppressive expectations that his parents have. He fantasizes about saving the girl the dealer is often with. She's a perpetually strung-out junkie with a heart of, well, cardiac muscle, but he's infatuated with her all the same.
Enjoyable

The Churn (2014)
A young tough in Baltimore does what he has to do to survive and comes into the employment of a crime boss. He does what he's told, but life doesn't quite go as planned for anyone involved.
Enjoyable

The Vital Abyss (2015)
Paolo Cortazar, a protomolecule researcher, recounts his life history. The desperation to achieve one's dreams can lead to some very dark places, especially when circumstances only allow for a choice between which kind of being dead inside one prefers.
Enjoyable

Strange Dogs (2017)
An unintentional immigrant family on Laconia, a newly settled planet, is taking it day by day to see what happens. Their ten year old daughter only knows this new world. She comes across some strange dogs who have quite the abilities that come in handy for fixing her mistakes and those of others. It could be considered a horror story, but as the author's note, there are other perspectives as well.
Meh

Auberon (2019)
The planet Auberon has a new governor, filled with idealism, that meets the reality of corruption and fallibility. This is also the third part of Erich's story, starting in the Churn, continuing in Nemesis Games, and concluding here. There are a few references to other The Expanse works.
Ok

The Sins of Our Fathers (2022)
The conclusion to Filip's story and an example of what life is like after the events of Leviathan Falls on one of the undeveloped planets. A few hundred people try to maintain civilization, but monsters are everywhere.
Ok

>>21811321
Leviathan Falls, The Expanse #9 - James S.A. Corey (2021)

Thus the series ended and my turmoil began. Usually I write about a book the day after reading it and I don't have any trouble doing so. Unfortunatey, this was a disappointing finale, though it's not anywhere near the worst conclusion I've experienced. This is a decent book, but it's a bad The Expanse book. Neither the plot nor the characters met my expectations, especially in terms of their consistency. It's the sort of development where I question whether there were extensive deviations or if I didn't ever understand the series for what it was. What bothers me the most is its reliance on Things Just Happen, which I didn't feel was the case in the previous books, regardless of whether it was.

A lot of cool stuff happened that I enjoyed and various ideas were played with that I thought were neat. The ones that I liked the most reminded me of Greg Egan's Luminous and the one that I despised and seemed to have direct references was Arthur C. Clarke's (antagonist's plans spoiler) <spoiler>Childhood's End</spoiler>. The problem was that I felt they were in the wrong series. Ideally for me, the protomolecule would've been only a plot device for allowing human expansion and played no further role than accomplishg that. I'd also have been fine with it going the opposite way to where it explored its ideas completely. This middle path wasn't satisfying and lacked commitment. The epilogue provided an answer to a question, but nothing else.

There were a lot of character viewpoints again, but I'm only interested in writing about two of them. Aliana Tanaka is a first time viewpoint though returning character. She's a mess, both as a person and a character. She's not the character I like the least, but I think she's possibly the least properly realized character in that she read like a plot-driven caricature. Holden regained his position of having the most chapters. The conclusion to his story is entirely in character and follows from the first book, but that's not how I wanted it to go. The worst offender though is what was done with Winston. I was entirely satisfied with how his story went in the previous book. What happened with him in this book was a travesty and I can't be convinced otherwise.

Whose story is The Expanse? After consulting a spreadsheet image someone made of all the viewpoint characters (43 by a maximal definition) and their chapters I went a bit further and calculated that Holden is 24% of the total chapters. I don't think the word count is substantially different than that, but I didn't check. Does having a quarter of the chapters and being the only viewpoint character to be in every book suffice? Yeah, it does for me, which I find to be somewhat surprising. Overall, I'm very pleased by this book series and I'm glad that I read it.

Rating: 3/5

>>21804518
Tiamat's Wrath, The Expanse #8 - James S.A. Corey (2019)

A few years have passed since the previous book. There's a lot that happens very quickly. I wonder how much that was for dramatic effect and commentary versus the need to advance the plot sufficiently to set up for the final book. Either way it still worked out well enough. There's a considerable amount of speculation and some empirical testing about those the entities which wiped others out, but that's not what I'd prefer the focus to be about. The significance of The Expanse short fiction story which I liked the least, Strange Dogs, is explained here. I assume its full meaning will be detailed in the final book, rather than being mostly for an event which may be more impactful for those who haven't read it. More and more this reminds me of a memorable line near the ending of Dan Simmon's novel, The Fall of Hyperion, involving a statement from an unknown existence. That's probably wrong, but it amuses me to think of it that way. There's also a travelling aid that reminded me of similar from Endymion and I wondered if it'd function the same way.

Naomi has the most chapters again for a second time. They're better than when she was a primary viewpoint in Nemesis Game. Most of them are passive, as she wants a diplomatic solution, though are are also some interesting developments later on. Elvi from Cibola Burn returns, and she's considerably improved, and goes on neat science adventures. Teresa seems to be mostly to provide an insider perspective on the enemy. Maybe she'll a serve greater purpose in the final book, because I wasn't impressed by her role here. James is relegated to the prologue, interlude, and epilogue. This continuing trend of lesser importance doesn't bode well him in the final. Alex and Bobbie believe that violent resistance is preferable to diplomatic and influence operations. None of them stood out to me, but they were overall all enjoyable enough. There were a few times where I felt the characters were doing stuff solely for plot reasons.

Only the final book remains for me to read. Considering how much the plot was advanced here, how much was settled, and generally how much change occurred, it's not that clear to me what exactly the final book will entail. Obviously it's about the ultimate antagonists, though I don't know how it's all going to be resolved. Endings are difficult to successfully pull off, and I've seen, without being spoiled, that that were various disappointments in several ways. Fortunately for me, all those concerns haven't affected my personal enjoyment. All in all, this has gone better than expected. My previously stated worries have mostly turned out to be misplaced. Even though I didn't get what I most wanted from this series, what I've gotten instead has been entirely enjoyable anyway, so I don't see any reason to complain. Even if the last book is the worst it won't affect my overall enjoyment much.

Rating: 4/5

>>21787018
Persepolis Rising, The Expanse #7 - James S.A. Corey (2017)

Persepolis Rising is the first book of The Expanse's third act and the first that I've read that wasn't covered by the TV series. I'm quite impressed by it and tentatively like it more than the first book. So, for those wondering whether they can skip the first six books and start at the seventh because they've watched the TV series and don't want to read through them, I say that you can. I wouldn't advise it, but that's only because I almost never would for anything with a continuous story. Someone who did so would still know the the most important parts of the plot and the characters are mostly as they were. If it's a choice between starting here or not reading at all, you should start here.

The narrative begins with a considerable time skip, which is mostly to allow for the events of the previous book to take their course. This makes the crew of the Rocinante much older, but they don't act all that different aside from the occasional complaint that they're getting too old for this. Multiple centenarians are mentioned and one has a role in the story. There's a line about how they all take anti-aging drugs and life expectancy is much higher, so I just accepted it. There's also the question of what happened for everyone during this time, and a few things are mentioned, but surely not enough for those whom it'd bother. I decided not to dwell on it.

These are eleven viewpoints, four of which are primary. This is the first time I've enjoyed all the primary viewpoints when there's been more than two of them. James Holden has the fourth most chapters, which is his lowest ordinal position thus far. A character tells him, "You don't get to make the universe be what you want just by saying it" and he admits to himself that "something terrible is happening, and I don't know how not to be in the middle of it", so he's the same as ever. Bobbie Draper returns and is the only character aside from Holden to be a primary viewpoint twice. She's much the same as well. Camina Drummer isn't as enjoyable as her TV counterpart, but she's close enough. Santiago Jilie Singh, the captor, has the most interesting role. It's been a long time since I've read a character so pitiable in their naïve idealism that crumbles into cruelty. He's a tragic character in a way.

As for the story, the prologue is more meaningful if The Vital Abyss has been read. It's incredible how much progress the breakaway group has made, but I'm willing to believe. They have the protomolecule, artifacts, an absence of research ethics, a highly focused society, and a potential God Emperor. Once again it's to be war. Most of the viewpoints are those of the captives and the captor. I was surprised by how well it worked for me. Even if the next two books don't go over that well, this was a highly enjoyable way to start off again. This alone has made it worth reading the first six for me.

Rating: 4.5/5

>>21769724
Black Leviathan, The Journey into the Cloudmere #1 - Bernd Perplies, translated from German by Lucy van Cleef (2017/2020)

As part of looking at translated European novels, I came across this German one again and decided to read it. The initial reason was because it reminded me of another work that's about hunting dragons as if they were whales, Drifting Dragons, a manga that I greatly enjoy. It turned out there wasn't as much similarity as I thought there might be. It was put forth that this was a retelling of Moby Dick, which I think goes too far, though the driving narrative force is an obsessed captain who has devoted his life and that of his crew to hunting the Black Leviathan.

There's a lot about this that appealed to me, almost pandered on a personal level really, so I was able to overlook a lot of its flaws, which are numerous. Tropes abound, and there are several questionable narrative choices, but it became more and more fun over time to where I just put that all aside. If you're looking for a serious, mature, and adult fantasy that has literary aspirations, this isn't that at all. I especially liked the setting for this, which is a world covered in clouds, with floating islands all over the place, and airships powered by magical crystals. All of the magic is of the "It's magic, I don't have to explain" variety, which the text explicitly states within the story early on. There are several humanoid races, who coexist to varying degrees.

Aside from the first two chapters, which serve as the prologue, this is about a young man who joins a dragon hunting crew that has a reputation for making its crew fabulously wealthy, those who survive anyway. The entire novel is about the journey to find the Black Leviathan and what happens along the way. It's melodramatic in a way I found pleasing. A lot takes place on the airship, which I didn't mind because I liked the crew and their interactions. The coolness of the characters was the priority over anything else in terms of characterization and it worked for me in this case.

Although Perplies has written around thirty novels, this is the first of his that's been translated. He has translated novels from English to German, though translating your own work is a different matter. This is the first novel that van Cleef translated, and in an interview she said that she learned a lot, which seemed evident to me. I don't know if it was much rougher at the beginning, or if I simply became more used to it, but I feel like the book's translation quality improved as it went along. There's a second book in the same setting, though the author has stated that it's also standalone. If it's ever translated I'd read it, but that seems unlikely. Even less likely is that I'd read a machine translation. I've only read a few SFF novels translated from an European language, mostly Russian, though I plan to read more from various countries.

Rating: 4/5

>>21764730
Consider Phlebas, Culture #1, Iain M. Banks (1987)

Consider Phlebas was much more of an action-thriller than I expected it to be. There are ideas presented and there's a lot implied in the background, but for the most part it's a series of misadventures and disasters. There's one chapter that's entirely horror focused, which seemed rather out of place to me. This is the most I've ever felt a novel to be a fix-up that as far I can tell never was. I found it strange how many of the early chapters could be considered self-contained stories that have little to nothing to do with any other part of the story.

The narrative excels at scale, though mostly in the shock and awe sense presented through numbers and implications imagined by the reader. There's a vast array of species and civilizations from all technological levels and seemingly endless variation. The galaxy is highly populated relative to most science fiction and doesn't have any singular dominant group. There aren't any homo sapiens, though the term human is used, and Earth doesn't have the slightest reference.

The book also does very well in showing how meaningless and insignificant everything you thought that matters is. Some may like it for that alone. The post-story content especially attempts to drive this home and I think it succeeded. It's what I liked most from the book, though I would've preferred it to be the narrative instead. I realize that may seem contradictory, but apparently I don't mind it when presented on a sweeping and impersonal historical scale versus specific personal examples.

More than anything else this book showed me what I didn't like and why I didn't like it. I want chapters to have meaningful relations to each other. I don't want to read about a tragically underqualified crew going on catastrophic adventures played straight. I don't want a cast of undeveloped and disposable characters. Maybe everything written is more realistic in terms of its outcome, but that's not the sort of realism that I want.

There seems to be a common warning not to start Banks with this book, and I understand why now, though not by comparison to his other works. I echo this warning, because surely what else he's written must be better, and since they seem to have very little to do with each other, there doesn't seem to be any compelling reason to not start elsewhere. I couldn't help myself though, and this is also where another who was reading it wanted to start.

I don't like the style of how this was written. I don't know how much that affected my enjoyment or what I thought about the book in general. If you don't have the same problem, you may it enjoy considerably more than what I've written here. This wasn't a success in terms of coming back to try a series. I don't know if I'll give Banks another try or not, even though supposedly the next in the series is far superior and a worthwhile book in general. If I do, it won't be anytime soon.

Rating: 2/5

>>21752883
The Deep - John Crowley (1975)

This was Crowley's debut novel. It's the kind of work where how much a reader would enjoy it is probably more dependent on the reader than the text itself. It would've been much better for me if I hadn't read what others thought after reading this. This is definitely among the most I've been negatively affected by reading the reviews of others, regardless of their rating, though the most liked reviews are considerably higher than its average rating. Divergences like that happen from time to time. Sometimes it's a negative review for a popular and well-liked book instead.

Apparently a major draw for those who greatly enjoyed it is for how it's written. I'm indifferent to that. Another common comparison was to Game of Thrones, which I think was misguided. This may also be the case where not understanding what was happening made it seem better, though I didn't think this science fantasy novel was that difficult to understand. It didn't seem all that strange to me either personally. A primary point of confusion are the character names, which seems intended to show that none of it really matters and that they're all interchangeable. I tend by what the author's intent seems to be, though it's entirely possible I misunderstand at times.

There's a lot of political intrigue in a pseudo-medieval setting between two related families and a lot happens in relatively few pages. In most cases I would've enjoyed this, but due to the narrative structure and what I saw as the author's intent I wasn't able to do so. I only saw it as a surface level melodramatic obfuscation to what was really going on. When it eventually tells the reader what's going on, I didn't care all that much. It's fine, but it didn't resonate with me. I'm glad that I read Engine Summer first because it has thematic similarities, but I thought they were handled better than here. I don't think it'd take that much to remake either as a Black Mirror episode.

The following is my interpretation, so it's completely spoiler filled. In the far future, a solar sail ship filled with the genetic material for humans, animals, and plants arrives at some kind of constructed planetoid that is overseen by some kind of godlike being who tends to them between slumbers. The overall progression of society is managed by androids who choose humans to act out roles to maintain the population and ensure constant turmoil so that the status quo is forever maintained. In this way humanity will forever remain relatively primitive and never have to stop struggling or have time to worry about existential problems. Knowledge is constrained and technological development is prevented. Life will always be as it has been forevermore and they accept that. Stagnation is the path to eternity. The visitor is an android who is there to record what's happening and then report back to a different godlike being for quality assurance purposes.

Rating: 2.5/5

>>21727748
Endymion, Hyperion Cantos #3 - Dan Simmons (1996)

Endymion opens with the line: You are reading this for the wrong reason. It then goes into why you shouldn't be reading it, which sets up the expectation for what it is, and what it isn't, about. It's a bold, reckless even, move to intentionally try to filter your readership, which does imply a degree of contempt for at least some of them. The narrator of this frame story who is writing it out as he goes along means a hypothetical in-universe reader, though he may as well mean you, personally.

So, let me be clear about what this novel is. On a reductive level it's a novel length chase. The two POVs are those on the journey and the ones pursuing them, though more accurately the pursuers spend far more time investigating and especially waiting for their quarry to arrive than anything else. It may be closer to call them anticipators. After considering how preordained everything feels to be and that almost every character seems to be just going through the motions with varying degrees of self-awareness that that they are, that seems to be an apt description. I found myself liking the supposed antagonists, especially the viewpoint character, most of all. The alleged protagonists were rather lacking and if it were only from their viewpoint then this would've been a substantially worse novel.

I don't think Endymion succeeds as a work of entertainment, though maybe that wasn't its purpose. It may instead be intended as a follow-up text of in-universe mythology, history, and religion. A New Testament if you will to the Old Testament of the in-universe Cantos. The Criterion of Embarrassment comes to mind when considering this supposed story of an incipient messiah. It's such an unflattering tale of persecution and being led along the way by some greater power that it must have happened as was written. If that was Simmons's intent, then he did well, and perhaps those who aren't me were able to greatly enjoy it for that. There may be a lot of metaphors, allegories, and symbolic content that I didn't notice other than what I did, but if there were, well, that's too bad for me.

Endymion doesn't stand on its own. However, the last one may also just be more questions without any answers aside from those you create for yourself. I'm disappointed by how much it failed to deliver in terms of entertainment for me and I don't think the next will be any different, but I'll read it anyway. My greatest problem with it is that it brings up a lot of interesting ideas and concepts and then explores basically none of them. Instead, a near majority of it is spent as shown on the cover, a raft. That makes for a pulpy adventure novel, and if that was all it were, my rating would be lower. The ending wasn't notable this time, perhaps because there's statement about how the in-universe author of the previous two books received what he believed to be excessive criticism about his endings.

Rating: 3/5