Holy hells, this novel is exceptional.
Don’t get me wrong, book one of the series (“A Memory Called Empire”) was very, very good. But this one? Wow.
The ending is bitter-sweet in all the glorious ways that good novels often are. It’s powerful, and soft, and delicate, and strong. Gosh, what a book!
Maybe someday I will write with that level of talent. That amount of directed, focused energy. To think of a place that exists only in my mind as a full place. Not an outline, not a sketch, but a world and a civilization and a people.
Do yourself a favour and read both of these books. If Arkady Martine writes a third, buy it without hesitation or remorse. Gosh these are amazing.
It is humbling to think I write anything similar to this sort of thing… and, for clarity, I don’t think I do. To compare my work with Martine’s is to compare scribbles with the Mona Lisa. But it is still art, and maybe one day…
I hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!