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Title: Revenant Gun (The Machineries of Empire Book 3)
Author: Yoon Ha Lee
Published: Solaris, 2018
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 400
Total Page Count: 267,625
Text Number: 866
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Conflict between the Protectorate and Compact come to a head as a a new player enters the field: an amnesiac Jedao, revived by Kujen. The demystification of these still superbly smart and competent characters is id-gratifying, and so young Jedao is a gift; the non-human intelligences are also welcome, and further engage the series's evocative, creative worldbuilding. The character of Kujen is a more complicated issue. I'm always apprehensive about developing a single architect behind all of society's flaws, moreso about making them sympathetic. But Lee has gone to lengths to establish that society's power structures are deeply rooted and self-perpetuating, and so elaborating on Kujen's character doesn't simplify the issue but, perhaps, complicates it—exploring the relationship between problematic social systems and the select individuals that have the most power, and thus investment, in them.
This series is thorny, ambitious, challenging, and Lee's approach to worldbuilding and socio-political systems is intelligent and critical. I find that the books benefit from reread, not just to unfold the narrative density, but to resolve my complicated reactions to the themes and social commentary. So is this worth reading? yes, absolutely, and it's a competent series finale. If it has flaws, the audacity of its aims more than compensates. But I feel like I won't be able to make a personal value judgement for another year or two.
Title: The Dragon's Boy
Author: Jane Yolen
Published: Open Road Media Young Readers, 2013 (1990)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 130
Total Page Count: 267,755
Text Number: 867
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Artos, foster son at a distant castle, encounters a dragon who offers him the gift of knowledge. This is fairly slight, in both conceptual and length; the plot isn't surprising, and it's not a hugely ambitious retelling of Authurian mythos. But it speaks well to the intended audience—sometimes in bald moral statements, but Artos's character growth is approachable and sympathetic. I also enjoy how Yolen handles historical fiction, how she balances the romanticized and unromanticized, the lived experience and the mythic tone.
Title: Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach
Author: Kelly Robson
Published: Tor, 2018
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 230
Total Page Count: 267,985
Text Number: 868
Read Because: reviewed by Kalanadi, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A small group of scientists plan a journey into Earth's past to research ecological restoration. This offers little hand-holding in its worldbuilding, and it's ambitious worldbuilding—post-ecological disaster and plague, approximately dystopic, touched by scientific language and advanced technology—and complicated by a trip into 2000 BCE. The asynchronous glimpses into a historical PoV is a narrative trick that I find less successful; I appreciate that it aims to humanize and contrast the futuristic and historical casts, and that it largely avoids the noble savage trope, but it does the pacing no favors—especially the climax. I admire how rooted this book—its language, its protagonist—is in its world; it's dynamic, engaging, intentionally strange, but also messy. A firm "liked, didn't love."
Author: Yoon Ha Lee
Published: Solaris, 2018
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 400
Total Page Count: 267,625
Text Number: 866
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Conflict between the Protectorate and Compact come to a head as a a new player enters the field: an amnesiac Jedao, revived by Kujen. The demystification of these still superbly smart and competent characters is id-gratifying, and so young Jedao is a gift; the non-human intelligences are also welcome, and further engage the series's evocative, creative worldbuilding. The character of Kujen is a more complicated issue. I'm always apprehensive about developing a single architect behind all of society's flaws, moreso about making them sympathetic. But Lee has gone to lengths to establish that society's power structures are deeply rooted and self-perpetuating, and so elaborating on Kujen's character doesn't simplify the issue but, perhaps, complicates it—exploring the relationship between problematic social systems and the select individuals that have the most power, and thus investment, in them.
This series is thorny, ambitious, challenging, and Lee's approach to worldbuilding and socio-political systems is intelligent and critical. I find that the books benefit from reread, not just to unfold the narrative density, but to resolve my complicated reactions to the themes and social commentary. So is this worth reading? yes, absolutely, and it's a competent series finale. If it has flaws, the audacity of its aims more than compensates. But I feel like I won't be able to make a personal value judgement for another year or two.
Title: The Dragon's Boy
Author: Jane Yolen
Published: Open Road Media Young Readers, 2013 (1990)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 130
Total Page Count: 267,755
Text Number: 867
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Artos, foster son at a distant castle, encounters a dragon who offers him the gift of knowledge. This is fairly slight, in both conceptual and length; the plot isn't surprising, and it's not a hugely ambitious retelling of Authurian mythos. But it speaks well to the intended audience—sometimes in bald moral statements, but Artos's character growth is approachable and sympathetic. I also enjoy how Yolen handles historical fiction, how she balances the romanticized and unromanticized, the lived experience and the mythic tone.
Title: Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach
Author: Kelly Robson
Published: Tor, 2018
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 230
Total Page Count: 267,985
Text Number: 868
Read Because: reviewed by Kalanadi, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A small group of scientists plan a journey into Earth's past to research ecological restoration. This offers little hand-holding in its worldbuilding, and it's ambitious worldbuilding—post-ecological disaster and plague, approximately dystopic, touched by scientific language and advanced technology—and complicated by a trip into 2000 BCE. The asynchronous glimpses into a historical PoV is a narrative trick that I find less successful; I appreciate that it aims to humanize and contrast the futuristic and historical casts, and that it largely avoids the noble savage trope, but it does the pacing no favors—especially the climax. I admire how rooted this book—its language, its protagonist—is in its world; it's dynamic, engaging, intentionally strange, but also messy. A firm "liked, didn't love."
