Already we are very behind, but this time it is became I am back in the clutches of AO3, the Heated Rivalry edition, and there are many thousands of words I have eaten in that vein. But here has muscled in a book that absolutely grabbed my attention and clung tight, much like the squelching, squirming, scavenging Life of the Hartland.
To get it out of the way: is this five star book in that it is a perfect book? No, but you should know better than to chase perfection which does not exist (other than Spinning Silver). I still feel like Tchaikovsky relies on a mild variant of the Dan Brown special to generate tension, i.e., chapters end on endless mini cliffhangers and then the next chapter begins in someone/something else’s POV or in a different age or in a different part of the existing world. Multiple times, I am left going OMG JUST LET ME STAY WITH [MIRA/ALIS] [MIRALIS???] when either/or are on the verge of a breakthrough, or Kern has appeared and said something sardonic yet clarifying. But also, a book where the author just walks you through all the plot elements is not a book, it is a SparkNotes summary. AND if I take a breath I am aware that the confusion of the reader (mild, will be resolved without injury to life or limb) is helping to illustrate of the confusion of the character (extreme, will involve much rejiggering of lifes(s) and limb(s)) (why aren’t there two different types of parentheticals that allow you to use both in a row).
But that aside, this is as always a brilliantly inventive entry in one of my favorite sci-fi series, heightened by two key elements:
First, the vast backstory that we can build on. We’ve already bought in to panspecies alliances between sentient Portiid spiders and engineering genius octopi and capital-H Humans. Why not add warrior mantis shrimp? It’s a testament to the strength of the world building that Tchaikovsky can tell us that oh, the mantis shrimp were on Portiid world this entire time and we don’t yell DEUS EX MACHINA we’re like ah yeah, that makes sense.
(NB: maybe I just am not remembering their existence, this is also possible, I have too many books to remember all details from and I never do what I say I will do aka write detailed notes to myself to remember plot points)
BUT THE SECOND ELEVATION, MY LOVELIES. The second is the not-at-all-subtle Musk/Altman/Miller/Bezos stand-ins who serve as the main antagonists, and as such this book is FOR YOU if you want Eltmanilleroz to be served a satisfying, vengeful, and ignominious defeat over 496 pages. FOR YOU if you want your just desserts to be served with a heaping side of smug men (and women, to be fair) realizing that they actually are not as smart, not as clever, and all their carefully laid plans of mayhem and mischief are going to end in whimpering. I cannot be mistaken in the metaphor, and as such you will absolutely relish in its execution to the bitter, bitter end*
* of AI and the Great Man Theory and individualism and the scarcity mentality thrust upon us by capitalism
