/lit/ - Literature

>>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
>>/lit/thread/22756330#p22756515

>>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
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=grand+illusion+&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

>>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)

Previous
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=Kefahuchi&search_tripcode=sffg

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
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=Wolf+Swan&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

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

>>23043214
Death's End - Remembrance of Earth's Past #3 - Cixin Liu - (2010/2016)

Death's End begins with the fall of Constantinople in 1453 CE. That may seem odd, but its purpose is to set expectations that something may seem like magic, but it's not, because magic doesn't exist. It's simply a phenomenon inexplicable to us with our current level of understanding. The book then follows a different narrative than was presented in the second book, which was mainly about the Wallfacer Project. For this book it's the Staircase Program, though it's not followed as closely. Eventually it catches back up to right after the second book ended, though following a different character. From there on it goes far further into the future than you may expect, but that's the power of hibernation, time dilation, and even more advanced technologies. The scope of the series greatly increases as do the consequences of its decisions. Humanity faces their greatest challenges yet.

There's so much in this series that's done very well that raises it in my estimation. The future eras and the specific details that make up the world are wonderful, especially the space habitats. The scientific ideas are intriguing thought experiments and are detailed in fantastical ways. However, there's considerably more that drags it down to where it's frustrating, if not tortuous for me to read. It's not that I don't understand the perspective, or even at times think it's wrong given a specific set of circumstances. The problem is how unrelentingly heavyhanded it is about its social ideals. Seemingly almost every situation has the same problem and resolution, repeated over and over. Does society as a whole ever learn from what is considered to be their mistakes? No, no, they don't. What frustrates me the most is how much idiocy has to be allowed for plot reasons. That being said, I consider the character that was considered to be the stupidest and worst by many simply to be a scapegoat for ideological reasons.

Depending on personal preferences some may be annoyed that although there's explanations for a lot of what happens and why, the advanced technology may as well be magic for a lot of it, especially the further along in the book that it goes. Three fairy tales are also included that metaphorically explain science and I was surprised by their inclusion and their length. There's also a considerable number of events that occur because they need to, rather than having any plausible reason, but I found that to be far easier to accept than the idiocy.

Despite the numerous issues I have with this book, author, series, and otherwise, it does a lot of things that I enjoy, though I prefer how Greg Egan did them in his novels and short fiction. Overall I'm glad that Oepin had me finish the series. If nothing else, it provided a rather different perspective on human nature, societal limitations, and morality than what I'm used to.

Rating: 3.5/5

The Great Change (and Other Lies), First Law World - Joe Abercrombie (2023)

The first three of these stories were previously included in the Waterstones special editions of the Age of Madness trilogy books. The Great Change is published here for the first time. Abercrombie warns that these stories shouldn't be read until after you've read the book it goes with and for the last, until after you've finished the trilogy. What I've written can be read without having read anything else.

The Thread
The devaluation of labor and the ascendancy of capital in an unregulated free market is demonstrated through the production of clothing starting from the harvesting of cotton to the presentation of a garment to a wealthy businesswoman. Quality plummets as profits soar.
Enjoyable

The Stone
The path of a single huge blood diamond is followed from its discovery to its incorporation into regalia. Along the way all manners of criminal activity ensue. A great amount of individual profit is gained through undermining the guild system, organized labor, and solidarity. However, it's never enough.
Enjoyable

The Point
Hundreds of prisoners, political and otherwise, slaves, and other forced labor toil away in the iron mines. Their lives hold no value other than the value they produce for the owner. A man ponders whether the downsides of profit at the expense of all else is worth its rewards. The foundries are indifferent to its usage, cutlery or swords, it matters not as long as they're paid. An arms dealer sells to all sides, as to do otherwise would enrich someone else.
Enjoyable

The Great Change
The origins of The Great Change are revealed. Scenes from the trilogy are presented from a different perspective. New scenes fill out what wasn't previously put on page.
Enjoyable

The Hallowed Hunt, The World of the Five Gods #3 - Lois McMaster Bujold (2005)

Lord Ingrey kin Wolfcliff, twenty four years old, has been ordered to investigate the murder of Prince Boleso. The prince had been sent away because he had murdered, skinned, then butchered one of his manservants. Lady Ijada killed him because he attempted to rape her during a forbidden forest ritual involving animal sacrifice and their spirits. Ingrey must return to Easthome with Boleso's salt preserved corpse and Ijada so that they both stand trial, the former before the gods and the latter at court. Ingrey and Ijada immediately fall into a peculiar relationship with an unexpected power dynamic. All five gods and their representatives, a sorcerer of immense power, and the nobility influence their actions. A plot centuries in the making unfolds. All the pieces on the board must think they're moving themselves rather than being moved.

The Hallowed Hunt has a completely new cast, aside from the gods, and takes place in a previously unmentioned land. I've seen this described as a trilogy of standalone fantasy novels and while I think that's somewhat arguable for the first two that's definitely true for this one. I don't know quite how to sum up what this one is about without spoiling a lot, but even I did, I think what it is about is rather underwhelming. For the most part the characters lack agency and go where they're supposed to and do what they're forced to. What saved this book for me was the writing. It was nice enough to read, even though most everything else was lacking. This was especially the case for the mastermind antagonist's motivations. When they were revealed I was vastly disappointed because of how petty it was.

Of the three books this one has the most romance by far. I wouldn't have minded as much, but it just seemed to happen because the plot needed it to be. It was oddly developed and there's a slight bit of shifter stuff as it deals a lot with animal spirits. It may be unfair of me, but the kind of paranormal romance it made me think of definitely detracted from my enjoyment. I also don't think they made a good couple in general, or were that interesting of characters. I don't know what happened with this book, relative to the previous two.

I'd say this one is an optional read. The first two are great and this one is alright, though the comparison to the previous books hurts it. My first thought was to give this 3.5 rounded up, mostly out of inertia, but after writing this and thinking it over, I don't think I can. There's simply not enough that I liked about it, but even so, it's still a close call. Next in the setting is the dozen or so Penric and Desdemona novellas. I expect them to be at least somewhat better than this was.

Rating: 3.5/5

Previous books
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=five+gods+world&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

Paladin of Souls, World of the Five Gods #2, Lois McMaster Bujold (2003)

Three years after the events of the previous book, Ista is now forty years old and deeply unsatisfied with her life despite the curse having been lifted. From birth she was brought up to be someone who'd marry into greatness, so she couldn't ever be herself. When she came of age and married the king the role she had to play was even more false and tormented. Even after being widowed and secluded, the anguish from the curse and trauma she endured left her without a self. Grief and loss were her world entire. The crushing weight of expectation began at birth and seemed it would not relent until death. Now at forty, her life half over, she wonders if she can begin to live as herself. Perhaps there's yet remains time to experience life, embrace the world, and see what exists outside of what has been forced upon her. After glimpsing what her life could've been, she resolves to go on pilgrimage despite her fears of relapsing into madness. She doesn't do so for a religious reason, but to save her soul, and if that's not possible, then to at least to lighten the burden upon it. Though she wants nothing to do with the gods any longer, one of the gods sees this as an excellent time to have their will worked through her. What ensues is a tale of mystery, magic, murder, demons, gods, love, war, self-discovery, and acceptance.

Ista is the sole viewpoint character and the only one from the previous book to be in this one in a significant role. Past characters make brief appearances and are mentioned in passing, but this is almost entirely about the new cast. Whereas the first book was about courtly life, intrigue, and adventure, this one is traveling for the first quarter then exploring a mystery for rest of the time that's much more than it initially seems. Although it's rather different from the first book I greatly enjoyed it anyway. Overall I prefer the first book, though that may change in time, as this has greater strengths in some areas than the previous one did, primarily in terms of being a character study. Ista's story is one that I personally find to be very compelling. It's often very introspective and deals with how to navigate relations with both the self and others. I found it to be fascinating how she comes to terms with the life she's lived and is able to move on from it, step by step.

Based on what I understand this is as far as the story goes in chronological terms. As far as I know all other works in this setting take place in the considerable past. Regardless, I'm eager to read them, as this book has shown that what really matters is simply that Bujold is writing in this setting. Even more so it's about how meaningful it feels. I don't mind reading entirely for entertainment, however if it can also be meaningful, then there's little else I'd want from it.

Rating: 5/5

Previous book:
>>/lit/thread/22678324#p22679394

>>22979027
Machine Vendetta, Prefect Dreyfus Emergency #3 / Revelation Space - Alastair Reynolds (2024)

Six years have passed both in the real world and in-universe since the last book was published. From early on the characters begin referencing events from four years ago, a text search shows they directly do so twenty times throughout the book, and that confused me. Had I entirely forgotten what had happened and these characters? No, I hadn't, this was simply a case of Reynolds having a lot of stuff happen outside of the written story. The way it's presented though is as if the reader is already aware of everything. Usually when a book follows up from events that occurred it's something that happened in previous books. That's not the case here, as it's mostly a follow-up to the events of four years ago, which sought to resolve the Clockmaker and Aurora situation.

Tom Dreyfus and Thalia Ng are the two major perspectives, though there's a few other minor ones. This is probably one of the least convoluted books that Reynolds has written. It's almost entirely a straightforward investigation going from place to place and talking with people. Most of the thriller, survival, and action scenes are gone, as is much of the stuff from the wider Revelation Space series. Depending on your preferences this may be considered mundane, if not dull, because there isn't anything particularly exciting and certainly nothing epic. Yet, somehow it worked better for me than what the previous books did.

If you've read a few books from Reynolds before, you're aware that identity issues may be his favorite plot device. They're present here, but I think for first time Reynolds has a scene where he acknowledges and intervenes with the identity issues because he knows you're speculating about the identity of a character. The identity issues are eventually resolved in a way that could be considered divisive.

This is where I admit that I don't know what it is about this time, but for some reason I felt especially charitable about all the issues that would've otherwise bothered me. Others may feel the problems to be of greater severity, but unlike the previous books there wasn't anything here that lessened my enjoyment. There were several questionable narrative choices, but it seems I've become inured to them or maybe it was my mood.

I didn't notice it until I was doing text searches, but I realized whenever Ng is mentioned by itself I unconsciously replaced it with Thalia. This led to me wondering why she was always referred to by her first name while Dreyfus is almost always referred to by his last. Stuff like this has happened before.

The ending concludes Dreyfus's story and I'm satisfied with both that it has ended and how it has. It took some plot contrivances to get to this point, but apparently I don't mind.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)

Previously in the series
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=Dreyfus+&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

>>22953722
Nightborn, Coldfire - C. S. Friedman (2023)

This is a strange book. I don't think it stands on its own. It really seems like something only for those who have already read the Coldfire trilogy. I don't believe it's necessary reading for those who have read the Coldfire trilogy though. Probably only the people who need to read it are completionists and those who want to read how the first two weeks or so of colonization went. It doesn't even cover all of what was already included in the trilogy. The Rakh don't make an appearance on-page. I was hoping it would show more of their colonization efforts, because I'd like to read more like that. Instead it mostly focuses on the horror of the unknown and the helpless despair that it creates. I'd describe it as being more horror focused than science fiction or fantasy. To their credit by using the power of science and reasoning they figure out what's going on rather quickly. Unfortunately for them that doesn't really help much at all.

The plot covers from being in orbit to some days after The First/Great Sacrifice. That would seem like the page count is far too much for that. Maybe it is, but it read quickly and I didn't really notice. As for the characters, well, they're there. It's almost entirely told through the perspective of their leader, Leon Case, through daily journal logs. There's 200 colonists to start with and certainly less by the end. I don't really have much to say about them. A few of them of them have flashback scenes to their life on Earth explaining why they decided to join to the seed ship. I didn't care enough about the characters for them to mean much to me though. The main problem with Earth is that there's too many people and not enough opportunities. Every place except for where the seedships are headed have very strict population controls and new positions for anything doesn't open up unless someone dies.

The most troubling issue was that all of it felt insubstantial to me. It really feels like Friedman was just fleshing out the lore for hardcore fans rather than writing an actual novella. That's a nice gesture and one I can appreciate, but the content is lacking for me. Thematically it remains similar to the other books, especially Crown of Shadows.

Dominion, the Tarrant novella that barely qualifies as one, is also included in this book. I've separated it out and it isn't included in my rating for this book. It was rather disappointing and I didn't feel like writing anything for it on its own. I may read more from Friedman, though those 3.5s I gave for each book of the trilogy could've easily have been rounded down.

Rating
Nightborn: 3/5
Dominion: 2/5

Previous books in the series
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=Coldfire&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

>>22940205
Crown of Shadows, The Coldfire Trilogy #3 - C. S. Friedman (1995)

Around a year has passed since the events of the previous book because returning from the continent that no one returns from was much more difficult than getting there. The size of the planet is unclear, but six months to get there and ten to get back must involve considerable distances. It's good thing their travel time is skipped over between books because otherwise the majority of the time from the beginning of the first book to the end of the third book would be them at sea.

The enemy this time is what they consider to be an extremely powerful demon that they have no idea how they're going to beat. He's the guy behind the big bad of the second book who was the boss of the antagonists of the first book. Is there someone above this demon? It's as likely as you'd think. There's also a literally Unnamed manifestation of the all evil ever committed by humanity, which normally would seem like it'd be a big deal, but it never really is. Anti-climatic reveals and downplaying that which seems to be powerful happens a lot in this series. I thought it was just how it was written, but maybe it's meant to be subverting expectations. If that was the intent, then well, I don't know that it's advisable to do it continuously for all three books.

For the third time it's all about journeying. This time though the first half is a spiritual journey and the second half is a physical journey for spiritual reasons. That's not all though since there are several POVs this time. There's Damien and Tarrant who want to destroy what they see as the ultimate evil, the demon. Narilka and Andrys want to destroy the ultimate evil, Tarrant. Patriarch, who forever remains unnamed, wants to destroy the ultimate evil, the fae. There are a few other one-off POVs as well.

The primary theme is that through penance one can be absolved, if not redeemed. It leans heavily into the question of whether a few great deeds can mitigate a lifetime of evil. I'm not really much for heroic self-sacrifice as I think living is preferable, but as with some other ideals, I believe its arguments are presented here well enough. I'm skeptical of whether the character development was credible enough for what happens, but I'll allow it. I'm conflicted about the late story reveals and the epilogue, which were mildly to the detriment of my enjoyment.

I don't know what Friedman was going for with this series overall. I do know that I enjoyed most of it aside from the plot though. This is the end of the trilogy, but not the end of the works in this setting. There's still a work of short fiction and a novel left. The novel was published 28 years after this one, so I'm interested to see how much has changed in how Friedman writes in this setting.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)

Previous books in the series
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=Coldfire&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

>>22923663
When True Night Falls - The Coldfire Trilogy #2 - C. S. Friedman (1993)

Following a six-month time skip the party arrives at the eastern continent from which no one has ever returned. The last attempt was over 400 years ago. There they face a far greater evil than before. Across this new continent they journey to vanquish The Undying King.

That's the whole plot, from beginning to end, a singular journey to defeat the evil overlord. The plot is again by far the weakest part. As with the first book, this one is a self-contained story. There's a lot of wasted potential here, at least in terms of my personal preferences. Somehow I didn't mind that much that it was almost only travelling. There's even at least a few repeated story beats, yet it doesn't matter because this trilogy is all about the character interactions. That's especially the case with Tarrant. Without him this would be a thoroughly mediocre series. However, without Damien it wouldn't even be a series. Their interplay is easily the best part of the books. That's good, but it really ought to be more than that.

I've seen a lot mention the implicit homoeroticism of the two male leads, but I believe that to be a considerable exaggeration. There are those who see moral corruption, dependency, and much else as inherently sexual or even romantic, but I don't think that they are. Far too much is made of their relationship in sexual and romantic terms. I'm not going to say their relationship isn't unusual, it is, and that's what makes it's so interesting.

There's definitely a lot more religious content in this one compared to the first. It's primarily a comparative sort in how it can go right and how it can go wrong. On a personal level for Damien it's about confronting nihilism and how much necessary evil is allowable. If relying on specific evils leads to far better outcomes than not using them, then is one obligated to use them? It's one of the better arguments for The Greater Good and The Ends Justify The Means that I've seen, though of course in fiction the outcomes can be whatever the author wants them to be for any given action.

It's difficult to for me to say which I've enjoyed more of the two books. The first had both more high and low points while the second is somewhat better than decent the entire time except for the last 20%, which I really enjoyed despite being conflicted about what happened. Also in the latter's favor is that it has Tarrant from the beginning.

Next up is the final book of the trilogy. If the third book is also a simply plotted journey I'll be disappointed. My biggest problem with this book is a meta consideration. If plot twists seem to have been for the author's convenience, does that make them less meaningful? I prefer it when it feels like it wasn't something that had to happen.

Rating: 3.5/5 (4)

Previously in the series
>>/lit/?task=search2&search_text=Coldfire&search_tripcode=sffg&search_ord=old

>>22911765
Origin Complex - Andrew Skinner, Steel Frame #2 (2022)

Crash Bin'Syan is one of the highest ranked analysts for the Sigurd-Lem corporation. She has a Mirror, a cybernetic twin that she shares a dual consciousness with, though they can mentally split apart and act independently. For the last decade or so she's been analyzing the quarantined alien ruins on planet Vija. Thirty years ago an alien AI was unleased there that made what humanity had built become a new layer of ruins. However, it's now believed to have been only a testing grounds to create a prison for a far worse AI. Somehow it's a second transition point to The Eye. What's happening at The Eye threatens all of human existence.

This book is significantly different from the first, of which it takes place before, during, and after. I enjoyed it less, if only because I found it to be less interesting. There's much less emphasis on Shells (mecha), combat, and thrills. It's much more investigations and travelling. The writing and the atmosphere it created remained pleasing, but that wasn't enough for me. As with the first book the relationship with the protagonist and their mechanical counterpart is a primary focus. The characters from the first book are present in this one as well, though only at the very end.

Writing about this, and rating it possibly more so, presents its own difficulties in that as of this writing it's the only review on Goodreads and one of the few anywhere else. As such, I don't want to present further challenges, but I also don't want to write or rate differently than what I feel. What I feel is that this is a 3.5 rounded down. I felt the same about the first book, though I liked it somewhat more, and even then it was a very near thing that I rounded that one up. My main problems is that it reads like a side story. The most it does to justify its existence is providing a new ending and explaining the downfall of the alien civilizations. Although Crash does a considerable amount of self-reflection with her Mirror which provides for questioning, I don't think it went far enough. The same goes for the attempt at romance, which seemed almost more like a nod to Gundam The Witch From Mercury which began the prior month than an organic relationship.

None of this is to say that you shouldn't read the first book then this one. The main problem with reading this one first is that much of scant worldbuilding isn't repeated from the first, so it may be confusing in that it doesn't explain everything all over again. I do believe that reading both of these is a worthwhile due to the different perspective it provides. The first book was traditionally published though this one was self-published, then co-published. I haven't any idea whether this is the final book in this setting. This storyline seems to have ended, though it is somewhat ambiguous.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

A newer edition includes a short story.
https://scarletferret.com/books/origin-complex

>>22897750
Morning Star, Red Rising #3 - Pierce Brown (2016)

This wasn't as enjoyable as the second, but I liked it more than the first. Darrow was relatively better this time, though that was mostly through the lessening of everyone else. The highlights for me were the space battle for being fun and neat, and the ending, which was absurd and ridiculous. The ending makes it clear that you can stop reading here as it provides suitable resolution. I understand why many would think this concludes everything that needs to have been written.

https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/show/993.Pierce_Brown
https://scifibulletin.wordpress.com/books/science-fiction/interview-pierce-brown/

After I read this book I read two interviews, one that came out the month before the second book was released and another around a year later. I found them to be very revealing of Brown's thoughts on the series. He talks about his inspirations, one of which was The Count of Monte Cristo, and that's quite evident for this book. Once again what happens through the story has changed a lot and I liked it less if only for that. There's a heist, some special operations, and a space battle. Mostly though it's going from place to place recruiting allies to their cause. That's an odd choice of narrative pace to me for what was originally intended to only be three books.

As Brown says in the acknowledgements of this book, this one was far harder than the previous two to write. Considering that he says in the interview that he wrote Red Rising in less than two months without any outlines or structure, that's entirely understandable. It shows his growth as a writer and how he's transitioning styles, as discussed in the latter interview. A few years and a few books can really make a difference. The unfortunate truth though is changing as an author may make the author less popular even if they've become more proficient, or perhaps because they have. It may just be aging as well.

When Brown talks about greek plays, Plato, Dune, Book of the New Sun, and literary classics as what he sees as comparisons rather than YA, I have to wonder what he thinks he's writing. It's also telling when he says "Young Adult is simply a book that is interesting in every chapter." In the latter interview Brown pushes back even more on the YA label. When he said that Darrow is an unreliable narrator like Severian I was baffled. It showed that he had quite the different perspective on Darrow. He also emphasizes plot over everything else because as he says he's not trying to write a literary novel.

It makes me wonder what his current thoughts are, but that'll have to wait until I read more into the series, which probably won't be until considerably later in the year. Overall this trilogy can be a worthwhile read if you don't mind that it's all about entertainment and little else. If this is where it had ended I wouldn't believe it to be a notable series aside from its popularity.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)

>>22888465
Golden Son, Red Rising Saga #2 - Pierce Brown (2015)

Golden Son is better in every way than Red Rising, which is what everyone has told me. Brown has clearly improved and learned a lot. This time it's space opera and while it doesn't focus on being military science fiction, it's certainly present. One of the biggest differences is how much more expansive it is and how much it's willing to do. I wasn't able to take the first book seriously, and I still can't with this one, but I can appreciate what it's doing. This is exceedingly commercial genre fiction done well. It knows what it is, focuses on that, and doesn't pretend otherwise.

Darrow remains insufferable, though I have to wonder how much that's because it's in first person. I get the feeling that for many others what I find insufferable may be relatable or even appealing. My main problem is that he's a character rather than a person. What I mean by that is that he's whatever the current scene requires him to be regardless of any other consideration. The same goes for every other aspect of the novel, but the weaknesses in characterization are the most readily apparent and the hardest to overlook for me. This book is among those that has that greatest gap between what I think about the protagonist and the book overall. Several other characters are better, but it wouldn't be the same story if Darrow weren't the protagonist.

This is a strange book in that it feels entirely crafted to reader considerations, yet still works well. It's not organic at all in the way it plays with reader expectations, however it does know what those expectations are and what to do with them. It's all very calculated in its craft. I don't know how sustainable that is, as with anything that relies upon novelty, but it suffices in the short term. The question Brown seems to ask himself for every scene is "What would make this most entertaining for the reader?". So, if you're reading this for anything other than base entertainment, I think you're doing it wrong. That puts a hard cap on how highly I can think of it, but I consider that entirely separate from enjoyment, and not at all relevant for most.

Despite almost everything I saw about this book being much better, I still had considerable doubt, but I was wrong. Even so, I'm keeping my expectations in check. However, as I've written before, I'm not concerned with novelty most times. If someone writes a formula that I enjoy, I don't care if they do it over and over again, as long as I'm still enjoying it. That's not something I would want everyone else to do, but it's what I do. As I wrote, I can't take this book seriously, though I can appreciate it. I don't find it meaningful, but not everything has to be. Sometimes fun things are simply fun and don't need to be anything more than that. At the end I realized that I had laughed enough in joy and was amused enough by its ridiculousness to give it a 4 rather than a 3.5 rounded up.

Rating: 4/5

>>22878295
The Surviving Sky, Rages #1 - Kritika H. Rao (2023)

All that remains of humanity reside in flying cities where plants and trees form the basis of their society. The architects design, maintain, and arguably control everything through their inborn ability to manipulate plants. Sungineers develop technology that runs on the architect power, such as computers and other modern technologies. Humanity was forced to escape to the sky over a thousand years ago due to the Earth Rages which through both tornadoes and earthquakes utterly destroy a region.

This book has a lot of Hindu influence. Most of what I recognized was because it had spread to other cultures. There's a considerable amount that was a clear reference, so I was able to look up a lot to have a general idea what it was going for. The spiritual aspects dominate the narrative for the last ~20%. I admit that much of its significance was lost on me and surely was the greatest contributor to my not comprehending the end goal of the antagonists.

There are two viewpoint characters, a husband and wife in their 30s. Irevan is a senior architect and a member of the council, while his wife, Ahilya, is the world's sole archaeologist. Their relationship is quite troubled for a lot of reasons and they're very bad at acknowledging their problems let alone resolving them. Their relationship drama is present from the beginning, though much else is more important than it. There's a considerable amount of political discussion, social commentary, and philosophizing. Later on the focus shifts to what felt like almost exclusively relationship melodrama with brief interludes of plot progression. Their cycle of remorse and apologizing then lashing out at each other becomes more aggressive, spiteful, and petty until it finally reaches a climax at around 75% through where they have a barely existent sex scene that instantly resolves all of their relationship problems and allows them to have multiple epiphanies.

As to what happens in the book, Ahilya is trying to prove her theories and Irevan is in damage control mode about everything all the time. Their sky cities aren't sustainable any longer and since they don't want them to crash they're trying to figure out what to do about that.

This has been one of the most difficult books for me to write about in a long time because of how promising it started and how disappointed I became by the end. I was greatly enjoying myself and thought I would be giving this 5 stars. For most of the first half I was already planning out how I'd write a strong defense of how and why it hadn't received the reception it deserved. Afterwards there was more and more I couldn't overlook or excuse. Overall, I still liked it for its world and ideas. If the second half and ending hadn't lost me, I would've rated this much higher. It's unlikely I'll read the sequel unless I get over my expectation of more disappointment.

Rating: 3.5/5 (3)