I previously read an Adrian Tchaikovsky book a few years ago after someone recommended it to me, and I found it intolerably boring. I didn't even finish it. But I keep hearing that this guy is a massive talent in the science fiction and fantasy space, so I came across another of his books that I could rent for free on my Kindle through the library. And this one sounded pretty interesting, so I picked it up and gave it a try.

When a book starts with a cast list of characters, a pronunciation guide, and an atlas' worth of locations and geographic details, you know you're in for a rough ride. The last time I was this intimidated by the setup to a book was Steven Erickson's Gardens of the Moon.

After forcing myself to push through this one, I think I can confidently say that this author isn't for me. It's absolutely clear that the guy has a brilliant mind for worldbuilding and epic-scale narratives, and he's super-smart about the themes and subject matter he choose to write about. I should like his books... but I just don't. This one was supposed to be about the underbelly of a city living under an oppressive rule, and everything about this book should have been a home run... but I couldn't get into the characters, the description was so overwrought I repeatedly got lost in it... and I just generally walked away feeling like this was written more as a personal exercise than something for an audience (which probably requires an entire class to be taught - or at least a reader cleverer than me - to put together coherently).

I love the premises of this guy's books. But unlike authors like, say, Blake Crouch, who makes his complicated subject matter easy to understand for the average reader, it feels like this author does the opposite, which is take simple subject matter and make it unnecessarily complex.

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Created Apr 27, 2025 at 2:48pm • Submit your own review...