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lbrunner.net · @lbrunner.net@bridge.neodb.net

Rated A Desolation Called Peace 8/10

I really liked "A Memory Called Empire" and I was kind of disappointed by this book. Don't get me wrong, it's still good but it's just not as good as the first book in my opinion. Maybe I also read it too fast (3 days vs 14 days for the first) and didn't get time to savor and internalize it?



I guess the main issue is that it feels a bit more shallow and static. Most of the characters get very little growth (main exception being Eight Antidote) and the reader gets most of the plot nearly spelled out for them in the first chapter.



Maybe that's the book main weakness? The fact we know from the beginning that we are dealing with some kind of <spoiler>Gestalt intelligence</spoiler> makes it so much more frustrating when the characters take 90% of the book to figure it out AND act upon it. Maybe if we started understanding this more granularly, at the same time as them it might make it more engaging. The fact that the enemy was <spoiler>a hive mind but with a more Syncretic Evolution twist</spoiler> is nice though. Finally, everything about <spoiler>Lsel station</spoiler> is useless, you can see it from the first time it's mentioned (honestly you can feel it from the end of the first book) and it's kind of disappointing Mahit spends so much time talking about it.



And because the plot is really resolved by one person on their own <spoiler>Twenty Cicada</spoiler> in the last 2 chapters, it means all the other characters feel very... static. Nine Hibiscus doesn't change much, she is unhappy about the lack of action from the beginning and <spoiler>... is the same at the end</spoiler>. Three Seagrass and Mahit Dzmare do have some growth, the former <spoiler>by acknowledging the unbalanced power dynamic in their relationship and improving her behavior</spoiler> and the latter <spoiler>by accepting that she will never be Teixcalaanlitzlim and not taking it on them as they can't do anything about that</spoiler>. The real star is the literal child, Eight Antidote, who does most of the growth, spying, prodding and does unearth a lot of interesting plot points and intrigue.



The ending <spoiler>between Reed and Mahit</spoiler> is very similar to the first book, which makes me very sad & frustrated but it does show that growth happened and that the next book will probably handle it differently. One a final note on that topic, I could have done with less <spoiler>talk about whose hands as been in whose body, how many fingers, how much of the fingers were inside</spoiler>, honestly I can't believe it's a topic that comes up so many times when "hand" is mentioned.

#book

Published 2022-01-02 11:47 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere