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bleepbloop's review against another edition
7 hours in and I still don't know what's going on
residual_sizzle's review
4.0
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
World building: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Execution: ⭐⭐⭐
I want to say first and foremost that I LOVED this book. And I cannot wait for the future of the series. The world building was so rich and engrossing, so full of life and imagination. The characters were so human, and relatable, not just in and of themselves –but in their relationships with each other. The world created was just so vastly imaginative and so cool to discover. I absolutely love the way Emma names things within the world (Reconcile Elegy, So-Beloved, Register Parse, Chom Dan, Kuhon Mo).
The biggest detriment to this book is how confusing it is, and the mental weight it takes to read it. It is not a light undertaking. I had to have a separate sheet of paper to try to keep all my concepts straight. I think the biggest flaw of this novel is perhaps the execution. Which is so heartbreaking because it is such an amazing story. Many of the created concepts, while well fleshed out were just not brought across very clearly. I often found myself thinking that something worked one way and then was totally wrong when it was stated later. Its too vague sometimes for its own good which made it at times hard to get through. Not only are you learning an entire new environment and societal structure, but you are learning about entirely new concepts (The idea of God-AI city constructs and the religious implications around them) with little to no explanation at the time. I found myself struggling to differentiate between what an archive, a fragtech, an archivist, an ENGINE, or a Guardian is. Is an archive a place or a thing? And Who is what and how do they relate to each other on the scale of corrupted cities? If you stick to it and come out on the other side it comes together.
I usually can get through a novel or two a week but it took me the better part of 2 months and lots of annotations to finish this one. So I say with honesty – this novel is an undertaking to read, but I whole heartedly believe it is worth all of the effort. I felt similarly with Dune when I read it the first time. All of the new language, the new concepts, the flurry of information. I would just keep that in mind when reading. If you go into it expecting action packed Mech battles and the stories of their Pilots, this isn’t that. It is so good though and I am SO glad I got the opportunity to read it.
Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for an amazing ARC.
World building: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Execution: ⭐⭐⭐
I want to say first and foremost that I LOVED this book. And I cannot wait for the future of the series. The world building was so rich and engrossing, so full of life and imagination. The characters were so human, and relatable, not just in and of themselves –but in their relationships with each other. The world created was just so vastly imaginative and so cool to discover. I absolutely love the way Emma names things within the world (Reconcile Elegy, So-Beloved, Register Parse, Chom Dan, Kuhon Mo).
The biggest detriment to this book is how confusing it is, and the mental weight it takes to read it. It is not a light undertaking. I had to have a separate sheet of paper to try to keep all my concepts straight. I think the biggest flaw of this novel is perhaps the execution. Which is so heartbreaking because it is such an amazing story. Many of the created concepts, while well fleshed out were just not brought across very clearly. I often found myself thinking that something worked one way and then was totally wrong when it was stated later. Its too vague sometimes for its own good which made it at times hard to get through. Not only are you learning an entire new environment and societal structure, but you are learning about entirely new concepts (The idea of God-AI city constructs and the religious implications around them) with little to no explanation at the time. I found myself struggling to differentiate between what an archive, a fragtech, an archivist, an ENGINE, or a Guardian is. Is an archive a place or a thing? And Who is what and how do they relate to each other on the scale of corrupted cities? If you stick to it and come out on the other side it comes together.
I usually can get through a novel or two a week but it took me the better part of 2 months and lots of annotations to finish this one. So I say with honesty – this novel is an undertaking to read, but I whole heartedly believe it is worth all of the effort. I felt similarly with Dune when I read it the first time. All of the new language, the new concepts, the flurry of information. I would just keep that in mind when reading. If you go into it expecting action packed Mech battles and the stories of their Pilots, this isn’t that. It is so good though and I am SO glad I got the opportunity to read it.
Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for an amazing ARC.
melissahawco's review
Cool ideas and world building, but couldn't get into the writing style and pacing.
remescient's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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? Yes
2.5
I really wanted to love this book, but it just got really convoluted and confusing halfway through. Also, it felt like reading a hurt/no comfort fiction and I just really wasn't ready for the amount of pain and abuse that the MC was put through with almost no real comfort or healing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Body horror, Grief, Gun violence, Violence, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, and Torture
laranela's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.0
jaschellpfeffer's review
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
5.0
lordofdisorder's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
alextotherescue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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
3.0
jamiebiver's review
Mystery is great, but on some level the world needs to make sense. This is especially true if you expect to hold my interest for hundreds and thousands of pages. If you’re going to use “corruption” as a theme, maybe some description of what you mean? It’s a thing that destroys AI’s and worlds but is also a thing that inexplicably reanimates a person and also is an architectural feature? That is a lot of weight for a single word. None of the middle aged or older gay men in my life seem to spend this much time thinking about sex, and they are not busy fighting for their lives against giant robots, evil corporations or flawed software, on the daily. Stop filling pages with worthless words that don’t move the story forward or add meaningful details.
sashahc's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
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
5.0
“The Archive Undying” by Emma Mieko Candon is deeply influenced by post-war Japan - specifically mecha and kaiju and anxiety about mutation. It follows Sunai, a backcountry guide and traumatized disaster queer, through a world full of corrupted and dying organic AI. They are near-gods who used to rule city-states and who destroyed those cities as they died. Sunai has reasons to stay out of sight, but there are gods to kill and there is Veyadi, an appealing doctor and pilgrim with his own secrets. The landscape is deeply creepy and everyone’s intentions are inscrutable. At times, it has a hallucinogenic quality, and it’s not always clear whose consciousness is whose.
Emma Mieko Candon: “[The heart of the story is] being alive, despite it all. Being sweet because of it. I have spent a lot of time thinking I needed to justify breathing. I think that’s very sad. I want people to protect and nurture themselves and each other, and I hope they find some of that in this book.”
Emma Mieko Candon (they/them) is a queer author and mixed race fourth generation Japanese settler in Hawaii. They are an escaped academic drawn to tales of devouring ghosts, cursed linguistics, and mediocre robots. They are an anime editor and remain academically haunted by identity, ideology, and imperialism.