Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Do błyskawicy podobne

It has been so long since I have jumped into a Sci-Fi or Fantasy series truly designed from the beginning to be a full set. Usually, book 1 is a standalone thing, and the rest of the books follow from that. So I was caught off-guard when this book ended, not on a cliffhanger, but on what feels like the actual initiating incident. Naturally, I have to know what happens next. This book is pretty slow, far more interested in explaining other things than explaining itself, caught up significantly more in the geopolitical machinations and philosophies of our past than its future, and very difficult to follow with its enormous cast and propensity for tangents. And yet, it is riveting. I am confused and overwhelmed and enthralled. At one point, the book essentially turned to me and demanded I face the true reality of the only logical endpoint of my own philosophy. I must see where this goes. I could not explain what this book is about. I don't know that I'll ever recommend it. And yet this is a SOLID four stars.

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saepsi's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

the scifi aspect is mostly window dressing, which was disappointing since I picked it up because I was in the mood for scifi. honestly only started working for me once I stopped thinking of it as future-speculative fiction and moved it into the realm of pure fantasy in my mind, especially since
magic and maybe god? are real in this setting while they obviously aren’t in real life.
it was extremely gripping as a political thriller in the first half, a real page turner once you get used to the narrator’s… idiosyncrasies. unreliable narration enjoyers will have a field day with them and their extremely twisted view of just about everything. the plot starts to slow down later on and get into the philosophical elements more - most of which I disagreed with, but to its credit the book never presents any of the political systems or philosophies in it as correct or incorrect, it simply leaves them there for you to judge as you will.
clear attempts were made to differentiate the chapters “written” by characters besides the main narrator, but it’s obvious that the author is most comfortable writing in a certain rather pretentious style and that comes through occasionally in places where it shouldn’t.

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midwichtriffid's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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jmcgillicuddy's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

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agavemonster's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring fast-paced

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

4.25

"Would you destroy a better world to save this one?"

Brilliant! I absolutely loved the presumptive pronouns assigned by the narrator, the explorations of Life's Big Questions through the lenses of multiple characters and their priest-cum-therapists, the wild experimentations with form, genre, and tone, and the slowly unraveling realization that this "utopia" (still wildly surveilled and a dystopia by many of our current standards of living) has many, many darknesses wrapped at its core. Three-quarters stars off for what I perceived as a clumsy characterization and dialogue of both children and what are meant to be "charming" characters, but I must say, now that I've read the whole book, I can appreciate what the author was intentionally doing with those more juvenile sections. Contra many other reviewers, I appreciated the

sudden turn into sexuality and violence, as when we discover Mycroft's crimes and when Mycroft was first accosted by Saladin, as the embodiment of the characters in this future world seemed to be a little missing in previous chapters. I was ultimately surprised, relieved, and amused by the knowledge that the author can do "adult" topics, as many in SFF can't or won't, and was choosing not to use them (by having the narrator choose not to use them) until the moment they would cause the most shock. Clever turnaround!!!

The only part of the world I still want to see revealed is the sexual/romantic dynamics of the "accepted" mainstream genderless society, as we get a good look at every type of relationship in this future world (familial, friendly, rivalry, servitude, taboo "genderful" brothel) other than that.

Still slightly less elegant overall than I think the author was striving for, especially since I got lost so much in all the plurality of nicknames different characters have for one another, but it is a first novel. Would recommend, absolutely.

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gracefully_jk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This book was… an experience to read. In many ways it was fascinating and the world building was incredibly interesting. I personally have great difficulty with graphic violence and so I struggled a bit with this book even though I had had someone read it before me and block out certain parts with sticky notes! That being said, its approach to gender, sex, religion, and politics was very interesting, even though I didn’t always agree with it. Very cool! An amazing debut book!

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