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bookedup83's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Popsugar Reading Challenge - A book about or set in a nonpatriarchal society
A beautifully haunting story about relationships between mothers and daughters.
Confusing at first if you're not familiar with this author's writing style, but worth the journey.
A beautifully haunting story about relationships between mothers and daughters.
Confusing at first if you're not familiar with this author's writing style, but worth the journey.
schomj's review against another edition
4.0
Thoughtful and unexpected.
I found myself wishing AdB had her Gollancz editor at times though.
I found myself wishing AdB had her Gollancz editor at times though.
gio_shelves's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoy the universe de Bodard created, just wish this was a full novel and not just a novella, I wouldn’t have minded a whole book about these characters.
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
3.0
For some reason I didn't connect with this one as much as I have the others...
hoppy500's review against another edition
5.0
The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard
The Citadel of Weeping Pearls is the sequel to On a Red Station, Drifting, although it can also be read as a standalone novella. It is set in the "Xuya" Universe, which proposes an alternative historical setting in which Asian cultures, rather than Western ones, rose to become technologically dominant and forged empires in space. In this story, the galactic empire of Vietnam (Dai Viet) is ruled over by an aging empress.
The main plot revolves around the disappearance of an eminent scientist who was trying to find a citadel founded by a young rebellious princess which disappeared decades ago. The questions of where the citadel vanished to and whether it is possible to travel through time to find it in the “deep spaces” of the universe are also important strands of the story. The empire is facing invasion from outside by another spacefaring civilization, and the empress desires to locate the citadel so that she can acquire the use of the superior weaponry that she knows her estranged daughter, the Bright Princess, once possessed.
As in the first book, everything is set against a background of high technology and quasi-traditional Vietnamese culture, and the Linh (the protagonist of On a Red Station, Drifting) makes another appearance as a middle-aged advisor to the empress. We again encounter “mindships” and man-made living environments in space overseen by artificial intelligences. An added element in this work is time travel, and the author approaches this from an interesting angle, demonstrating in a rather tragic way why it is impossible for one of the characters to change the past, even though she seems to have managed to travel there successfully.
Both stories are very much about family ties and relationships and the complexities and implications of these. The Citadel of Weeping Pearls beautifully portrays the pain of loss and the memories we may have of those who are no longer with us. Everyone in the story is highly sensitive to the significance of family obligations concerning themselves, except for the principal male character who sometimes misunderstands the motives of others due to a lack of awareness in this area.
The book comes to a somewhat sudden conclusion after the central mystery is in a way resolved, and I found myself wishing that it was longer and also included the progress and outcome of the war against the invaders.
It is rather astonishing that the author has managed to create such a rich and internally consistent universe in only two novellas, and The Citadel of Weeping Pearls has really spurred me on to read the other related Xuya stories. The reflective and melancholy tone and convincingly imagined galactic Viet empire is both moving and engaging. And I think it is true that science fiction with a strong human element can be science fiction at its very best.
The Citadel of Weeping Pearls is the sequel to On a Red Station, Drifting, although it can also be read as a standalone novella. It is set in the "Xuya" Universe, which proposes an alternative historical setting in which Asian cultures, rather than Western ones, rose to become technologically dominant and forged empires in space. In this story, the galactic empire of Vietnam (Dai Viet) is ruled over by an aging empress.
The main plot revolves around the disappearance of an eminent scientist who was trying to find a citadel founded by a young rebellious princess which disappeared decades ago. The questions of where the citadel vanished to and whether it is possible to travel through time to find it in the “deep spaces” of the universe are also important strands of the story. The empire is facing invasion from outside by another spacefaring civilization, and the empress desires to locate the citadel so that she can acquire the use of the superior weaponry that she knows her estranged daughter, the Bright Princess, once possessed.
As in the first book, everything is set against a background of high technology and quasi-traditional Vietnamese culture, and the Linh (the protagonist of On a Red Station, Drifting) makes another appearance as a middle-aged advisor to the empress. We again encounter “mindships” and man-made living environments in space overseen by artificial intelligences. An added element in this work is time travel, and the author approaches this from an interesting angle, demonstrating in a rather tragic way why it is impossible for one of the characters to change the past, even though she seems to have managed to travel there successfully.
Both stories are very much about family ties and relationships and the complexities and implications of these. The Citadel of Weeping Pearls beautifully portrays the pain of loss and the memories we may have of those who are no longer with us. Everyone in the story is highly sensitive to the significance of family obligations concerning themselves, except for the principal male character who sometimes misunderstands the motives of others due to a lack of awareness in this area.
The book comes to a somewhat sudden conclusion after the central mystery is in a way resolved, and I found myself wishing that it was longer and also included the progress and outcome of the war against the invaders.
It is rather astonishing that the author has managed to create such a rich and internally consistent universe in only two novellas, and The Citadel of Weeping Pearls has really spurred me on to read the other related Xuya stories. The reflective and melancholy tone and convincingly imagined galactic Viet empire is both moving and engaging. And I think it is true that science fiction with a strong human element can be science fiction at its very best.
leukippe's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
bhavani's review against another edition
3.0
Can I say that The Citadel of Weeping Pearls is a bizarre book? This is a good thing for me since one of my reading goals for this year is to read books that broaden my reading life, especially sci-fi and fantasy. The Citadel ticks both boxes.
It feels both cerebral and accessible because although the science part is a little outside my comprehension, the flawed humanity of its characters shines through. For one, I don't really understand how mindships work. How does a human being carry and give birth to a Mind, which is then incorporated into a spaceship? One of the characters, a princess who gave birth to a Mind, says there's a cradle in the ship where they put the newborn Mind and mentions there were blood and engine oil (not sure about the 'engine', but there was some sort of mechanical oil) during the birthing. So I'm wondering if the Mind is a human child whose consciousness gets transferred to the ship somehow or a mechanical AI or a combination of both, weird as it is to imagine a human carrying a robot (for the lack of a better word). As I said, it's a strange story.
I haven't read any of the other books in the Xuya Universe and would like to. Maybe there's an explanation in one of them for all my questions on mindships, maybe not. However, I've come to accept that not understanding or not being able to visualize something exactly is okay. I think that's one of the things reading sci-fi is doing for me - accepting it's okay to keep reading when I don't get a concept or can't form a mental picture. I'm someone who'd look up definitions of words and images of places (if they're set in our world) while reading. I need to know what the author means or how the characters and settings look to enjoy a story fully. Reading books like The Citadel is changing this for me because I realized I can continue reading and still enjoy the book.
If you want to read this story without knowing much about it, I suggest you stop reading now because there are spoilers ahead.
The Citadel is told from four PoVs: the officer, the engineer, the Empress, and the younger sister. They're all looking for something or someone, so that's a theme. Suu Nuoc, the officer, is looking for the Grand Master of Design Harmony, who's the Dai Viet Empire's top scientist and engineer. She's gone missing, presumably while searching for the Citadel of Weeping Pearls. This part reads like an investigative mystery.
Then there's Diem Huong, the engineer whose mother went missing along with the Citadel and all its inhabitants 30 years ago. In search of answers, she and a group of scientists have illegally built a time machine to bring her back to the ship and find her mother. This part contains most of the sci-fi content.
The Empress is looking for the Citadel because there's an imminent war with another empire and she wants access to the Citadel's weapons. She's also looking for her daughter, the Bright Princess Ngoc Minh, who used to administer the Citadel. In this part, there are war strategies, palace intrigues, politicking, and diplomatic meetings with envoys, so I'd call this the military portion of the story.
The younger sister is Ngoc Ha, the only person referred to not as she is—unlike other characters in this tale—but who she is in relation to Ngoc Minh. This is because she sees herself as a dull shadow of her sister, or rather this is how she thinks others see her. Ngoc Ha has a love-hate relationship with Ngoc Minh. She feels like her life has been twisted in her mother's search for her favorite daughter. Everything in her life, from her title to her spousal arrangements and the Mind she's forced to give birth to so her mother can build a mindship just to search for Ngoc Minh, is a reflection of Ngoc Minh. Sibling and familial relationships are complicated, and this part of the story shows that beautifully.
Can't believe I've written so much just for the characters, but if you've read this far, you'd have figured out that this story packs a lot. Another theme I noted is feelings of inadequacy. The officer comes from a common background compared to others in the court and feels judged and inadequate, despite rising to the rank of general. Ngoc Ha feels inadequate as a daughter, sister, and mother. Diem Huong feels inadequate compared to her friend Lam, an elite educated at the empire's best college. She says she doesn't understand much when Lam talks about deep space and time. The Empress also feels inadequate as a ruler and mother.
The Citadel has so many queer characters and is so, so feminist, and I love it to bits for these reasons. Lady Linh, the empress' trusted advisor, the Grand Master of Design Harmony, and the Bright Princess are all married to women. In the Bright Princess's case, she chooses fidelity to her common wife, which is one of the reasons for the Empress' quarrels with her. This is a world where women in the royal family are expected to set up spousal quarters and have multiple concubines. I hesitate to call this a matriarchal society because it doesn't feel like women have the upper hand over men (at least that's how I perceive matriarchy and patriarchy, with one having more say than the other). Maybe this is how the world will look if there were true equality among the sexes.
I love that this book gave me so many things to think about, and I suspect I’ll continue processing this story long into the future.
It feels both cerebral and accessible because although the science part is a little outside my comprehension, the flawed humanity of its characters shines through. For one, I don't really understand how mindships work. How does a human being carry and give birth to a Mind, which is then incorporated into a spaceship? One of the characters, a princess who gave birth to a Mind, says there's a cradle in the ship where they put the newborn Mind and mentions there were blood and engine oil (not sure about the 'engine', but there was some sort of mechanical oil) during the birthing. So I'm wondering if the Mind is a human child whose consciousness gets transferred to the ship somehow or a mechanical AI or a combination of both, weird as it is to imagine a human carrying a robot (for the lack of a better word). As I said, it's a strange story.
I haven't read any of the other books in the Xuya Universe and would like to. Maybe there's an explanation in one of them for all my questions on mindships, maybe not. However, I've come to accept that not understanding or not being able to visualize something exactly is okay. I think that's one of the things reading sci-fi is doing for me - accepting it's okay to keep reading when I don't get a concept or can't form a mental picture. I'm someone who'd look up definitions of words and images of places (if they're set in our world) while reading. I need to know what the author means or how the characters and settings look to enjoy a story fully. Reading books like The Citadel is changing this for me because I realized I can continue reading and still enjoy the book.
If you want to read this story without knowing much about it, I suggest you stop reading now because there are spoilers ahead.
The Citadel is told from four PoVs: the officer, the engineer, the Empress, and the younger sister. They're all looking for something or someone, so that's a theme. Suu Nuoc, the officer, is looking for the Grand Master of Design Harmony, who's the Dai Viet Empire's top scientist and engineer. She's gone missing, presumably while searching for the Citadel of Weeping Pearls. This part reads like an investigative mystery.
Then there's Diem Huong, the engineer whose mother went missing along with the Citadel and all its inhabitants 30 years ago. In search of answers, she and a group of scientists have illegally built a time machine to bring her back to the ship and find her mother. This part contains most of the sci-fi content.
The Empress is looking for the Citadel because there's an imminent war with another empire and she wants access to the Citadel's weapons. She's also looking for her daughter, the Bright Princess Ngoc Minh, who used to administer the Citadel. In this part, there are war strategies, palace intrigues, politicking, and diplomatic meetings with envoys, so I'd call this the military portion of the story.
The younger sister is Ngoc Ha, the only person referred to not as she is—unlike other characters in this tale—but who she is in relation to Ngoc Minh. This is because she sees herself as a dull shadow of her sister, or rather this is how she thinks others see her. Ngoc Ha has a love-hate relationship with Ngoc Minh. She feels like her life has been twisted in her mother's search for her favorite daughter. Everything in her life, from her title to her spousal arrangements and the Mind she's forced to give birth to so her mother can build a mindship just to search for Ngoc Minh, is a reflection of Ngoc Minh. Sibling and familial relationships are complicated, and this part of the story shows that beautifully.
Can't believe I've written so much just for the characters, but if you've read this far, you'd have figured out that this story packs a lot. Another theme I noted is feelings of inadequacy. The officer comes from a common background compared to others in the court and feels judged and inadequate, despite rising to the rank of general. Ngoc Ha feels inadequate as a daughter, sister, and mother. Diem Huong feels inadequate compared to her friend Lam, an elite educated at the empire's best college. She says she doesn't understand much when Lam talks about deep space and time. The Empress also feels inadequate as a ruler and mother.
The Citadel has so many queer characters and is so, so feminist, and I love it to bits for these reasons. Lady Linh, the empress' trusted advisor, the Grand Master of Design Harmony, and the Bright Princess are all married to women. In the Bright Princess's case, she chooses fidelity to her common wife, which is one of the reasons for the Empress' quarrels with her. This is a world where women in the royal family are expected to set up spousal quarters and have multiple concubines. I hesitate to call this a matriarchal society because it doesn't feel like women have the upper hand over men (at least that's how I perceive matriarchy and patriarchy, with one having more say than the other). Maybe this is how the world will look if there were true equality among the sexes.
I love that this book gave me so many things to think about, and I suspect I’ll continue processing this story long into the future.
waterlilyreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
2.5
kir's review against another edition
3.0
''But sometimes, the hollows left by absence were worse than those left by death.''
carolined314's review against another edition
4.0
A charming, thoughtful, dense novella that kept making me page back to re-read a chapter, as the next chapter revealed some dense interconnected loveliness that added to its meaning. Quite surprising and full of people I wanted to invite to dinner.