Reviews

Felt the most discounted from the series. Like between novels the world had gone thru the apocalyptical thing and is circled back around to dark ages.

littlepepperguy's review against another edition

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adventurous

3.5

This was fine. The first 2 books in the series have so much connection that I kind of assumed the latter half would fit right into the world comfortably but yeah these are generations upon generations later and this one clearly is after a dark age in the world bc tf you mean there are lords and squires and old-worldy shit. Like out of nowhere. From distant past to modern era to dystopian future back around to dark ages.

I would have loved to hear more about how the Clay's Ark illness spread and what that caused instead of the little foot note at the end of clay's ark. Also like why they fighting in this one?

year23's review

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adventurous challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

It's a short book - too short. The relationship between Teray and Amber develops at a pace that is not earned in the text. I wanted more from all the characters - I can imagine scenes with Coransee in the house with Iray, scenes among the mutes or even more interactions among the Clayarks. There's so much to mine in this world - it's very easy to see why Butler expanded the universe with multiple books.

At the same time - the focus on Teray's journey is an engaging story. Amber as a character is kicka** and continues the trend of incredible women characters in this universe. Themes around free will, power, submission, community, individualism and slavery are touched on but not really explored in depth due to the brevity of the story.

Even with some of those caveats - this is a good sci-fi, dystopian story launching an entire universe of stories. One of Butler's strengths is in dialogue - the character interactions are grounded and realistic. Bleak themes are explored with empathy and complexity - never simplified or reduced to tropes. And even more cool is how that dialogue crafts the world and the tension everyone is living in - none of the dialogue is doing exposition (or it doesn't feel that way) and yet as a reader, you are getting so much filled in through it. That's a gift to be able to do that as a writer and not something I see often in either sci-fi or fantasy.

Butler is able to take a relationship between two or three people - an intimate portrait really - and scale that to be so massive in both the themes explored AND the worldbuilding without devoting hundreds of pages to exposition.

Overall, though I would say this is the weakest book in the Patternist series, it's still worthwhile and a good read cause it's Butler. When the biggest flaw of a text is that it's too short and leaves you wanting more - well, that tells you all you need to know about the strength of her writing and storytelling.

gvin's review

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

seymone's review

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3.0

Am i missing something or is this series incomplete?

tas_f's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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