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4.24 AVERAGE
4.24 AVERAGE
The last book in the three book series. I enjoyed the books, the story line and the characters. But all three books could have been 75-100 pages less.
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was not a relaxing series to read. Too much tension to slow down and enjoy it. An excellent read nonetheless. With irritating bad guys AND some irritating good guys too. I would revisit this universe. More approachable than Children of Time and not quite as good.
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Sve u svemu, mogao je biti i gori kraj, ali i značajno bolji. Kad Čajkovski ne bi skrcao pet naslova u kvartalu, možda bi mogao nadodati mrvu suštine platnu koje je super isplanirao, ali koje na kraju ostaje pomalo nedovršeno, ili makar neosenčeno.
4-
4-
Third and final book in the soft-science fiction, space opera trilogy with the elements of high fantasy and horror.
Architect in unspace?
My audio version was a lengthy 21 hours. In dead tree format it would have been a moon-sized entity of about 624 pages. It had a 2023 US copyright in both print and audio.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is a British author of science fiction and fantasy novels. He has published more than twenty (20) novels in several series and standalone. In addition, he has published several novellas and many short stories. This was the final book in the author’s Final Architecture trilogy. This was the eighth book I've read by the author. The last book being Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture, #2) (my review).
Sophie Aldred was the narrator. She was the narrator for all the series’ books. She did well with voicing the female characters, of which there were many. However, male character voices were very similar. Also, her use of accents in voicing the many characters was idiosyncratic, which I eventually came to find charming. Although, most folks in space speaking with British or British Commonwealth accents was initially a stretch?
The Final Architect series was long (63 hours of audio/1792 dead tree pages) and in three volumes. In places it was very good. In others, it dragged. It’s also YA, despite the late to the series LGBTQ+ pairing. However, it’s always been a Lord of the Rings type epic fantasy dressed-up as a space opera with elements of horror. It could have been better in a less is more way.
The series was a thinly veiled High Fantasy with the accoutrements of a Space Opera. Specifically, The Lord of the Rings, but in space with the story’s protagonist Idris Telemmier, playing the role of Campbellian hero Frodo Baggins.
Having ear-read this final book and the entire series, I found it easier to take. That is despite The Well reminding me of Mordor in The Return of the King, now that Idris possesses The Eye, which is The One Ring.
The entire story could have been hundreds of pages shorter, by forgoing the numerous peripheral action sequences that broke the flow of the story. For example, this book's Partheni Civil War. The use of different POVs could have been more economical. Four (4) unnecessarily diluted the narrative with their context switches. For example, in this book. the Ollie character dominated the first half of its narrative, to the detriment of Idris' main narrative, without any character development occurring. The human antagonists were almost cartoonishly derivative. For example, did Tchaikovsky have to re-badge the Dune Harkonnens and portray Hugh as a Kafkaesque bureaucracy? Tchaikovsky’s prose was purple in places of this final book. (I suspect that was Lovecraftian horror affectation?) These issues and others caused this final book to be a logjam of plots and themes. Too many new plots and long-term plots had to end in this single moon-sized entity (Tchaikovsky liked that snippet and used it a lot) of a book's pages. That made this final book a mad rush, of entangled plotlines, to the exit. I also felt the de facto Epilog to be weak. It also could be setting-up for additional books?
This was not a great work, because of its dependence on too many overused tropes and the obvious 'borrowings' of the story. It was also bloated with unnecessary action-packed sub-plots that could have made it a duology vs. a trilogy with some equally obvious editing. Those gratuitous subplots had no effect on the series' major themes. Too many plots and themes needed to be tied-up in this final doorstop-length book. I also personally reviled the use of the Standard Sci-Fi Setting (the author typically writes hard-ish sf), the progressive loss of grittiness in the narrative book-by-book, and the cynical late addition of a LGBTQ+ sub-plot.
Still, it was amusing in places. For example, I got a kick out of the obvious British-isms, used by the Ollie character who’s POV dominated the narrative for a large part of this book. Although, her eventual fate was eye-rollingly bad. The world building was good, with the above noted exception. The aliens were good. Although, that's to be expected from this author. I marvel at the Essiel Clam Aliens, and try to imagine how they achieved space flight? And snarky robots and cutesy aliens with dry humor are very hip right now in YA science fiction.
Recommended for folks who find Las Vegas-style All You Can Eat Buffets to be their jam. That is, preferring familiar, sweet and salty, stories with extra high-word counts over nourishing content.
Folks interested in a better somewhat similar YA space opera should try [b:The Mote in God's Eye|100365|The Mote in God's Eye (Moties, #1)|Larry Niven|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399490037l/100365._SY75_.jpg|2190500] or [b:Startide Rising|234501|Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, #2)|David Brin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476445711l/234501._SY75_.jpg|251634].
P.S. Congratulations to me on this, my 500th review. It only took: 11-years, 4-months, and 2-weeks.
Architect in unspace?
My audio version was a lengthy 21 hours. In dead tree format it would have been a moon-sized entity of about 624 pages. It had a 2023 US copyright in both print and audio.
Adrian Tchaikovsky is a British author of science fiction and fantasy novels. He has published more than twenty (20) novels in several series and standalone. In addition, he has published several novellas and many short stories. This was the final book in the author’s Final Architecture trilogy. This was the eighth book I've read by the author. The last book being Eyes of the Void (The Final Architecture, #2) (my review).
Sophie Aldred was the narrator. She was the narrator for all the series’ books. She did well with voicing the female characters, of which there were many. However, male character voices were very similar. Also, her use of accents in voicing the many characters was idiosyncratic, which I eventually came to find charming. Although, most folks in space speaking with British or British Commonwealth accents was initially a stretch?
The Final Architect series was long (63 hours of audio/1792 dead tree pages) and in three volumes. In places it was very good. In others, it dragged. It’s also YA, despite the late to the series LGBTQ+ pairing. However, it’s always been a Lord of the Rings type epic fantasy dressed-up as a space opera with elements of horror. It could have been better in a less is more way.
The series was a thinly veiled High Fantasy with the accoutrements of a Space Opera. Specifically, The Lord of the Rings, but in space with the story’s protagonist Idris Telemmier, playing the role of Campbellian hero Frodo Baggins.
In the story, the Dark Lord (The Architect's masters) defeated two human generations ago have returned. (Think of the Architects as Orcs.) The fractious, free human kingdoms (Council of Human Interest (Hugh), Parthenon, Hegemonic humans) and their allied species (Castigar, Hanni, Hivers, etc.) are in disarray. A mysterious, wandering wizard (Harbinger Ash) gathers heroes to face the danger. The best one hope, was the PTSD-affected hero (Idris Telemmier) of the previous Architect War. He, along with a small band of unlikely fellow travelers (spacers: Kris, Olli, Barney, Medvig and Solace (The Fellowship of the Ring)) quest through strange lands (planets: Jericho, Tarekuma, Huei-Cavor, Roshu, etc.) inhabited by monsters, strange folks (Nativists, Broken Harvest Society, the Intervention Board, Hegemony, etc.) to save the human world(s).
Having ear-read this final book and the entire series, I found it easier to take. That is despite The Well reminding me of Mordor in The Return of the King, now that Idris possesses The Eye, which is The One Ring.
The entire story could have been hundreds of pages shorter, by forgoing the numerous peripheral action sequences that broke the flow of the story. For example, this book's Partheni Civil War. The use of different POVs could have been more economical. Four (4) unnecessarily diluted the narrative with their context switches. For example, in this book. the Ollie character dominated the first half of its narrative, to the detriment of Idris' main narrative, without any character development occurring. The human antagonists were almost cartoonishly derivative. For example, did Tchaikovsky have to re-badge the Dune Harkonnens and portray Hugh as a Kafkaesque bureaucracy? Tchaikovsky’s prose was purple in places of this final book. (I suspect that was Lovecraftian horror affectation?) These issues and others caused this final book to be a logjam of plots and themes. Too many new plots and long-term plots had to end in this single moon-sized entity (Tchaikovsky liked that snippet and used it a lot) of a book's pages. That made this final book a mad rush, of entangled plotlines, to the exit. I also felt the de facto Epilog to be weak. It also could be setting-up for additional books?
Spoiler
In yet another borrowing from Dune, Idris becomes the unspace worm.This was not a great work, because of its dependence on too many overused tropes and the obvious 'borrowings' of the story. It was also bloated with unnecessary action-packed sub-plots that could have made it a duology vs. a trilogy with some equally obvious editing. Those gratuitous subplots had no effect on the series' major themes. Too many plots and themes needed to be tied-up in this final doorstop-length book.
Spoiler
Who has possession of The Eye at the end of the story?Still, it was amusing in places. For example, I got a kick out of the obvious British-isms, used by the Ollie character who’s POV dominated the narrative for a large part of this book. Although, her eventual fate was eye-rollingly bad. The world building was good, with the above noted exception. The aliens were good. Although, that's to be expected from this author. I marvel at the Essiel Clam Aliens, and try to imagine how they achieved space flight? And snarky robots and cutesy aliens with dry humor are very hip right now in YA science fiction.
Recommended for folks who find Las Vegas-style All You Can Eat Buffets to be their jam. That is, preferring familiar, sweet and salty, stories with extra high-word counts over nourishing content.
Folks interested in a better somewhat similar YA space opera should try [b:The Mote in God's Eye|100365|The Mote in God's Eye (Moties, #1)|Larry Niven|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1399490037l/100365._SY75_.jpg|2190500] or [b:Startide Rising|234501|Startide Rising (The Uplift Saga, #2)|David Brin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476445711l/234501._SY75_.jpg|251634].
P.S. Congratulations to me on this, my 500th review. It only took: 11-years, 4-months, and 2-weeks.
overall I enjoyed this trilogy. The author's worldbuilding remains very strong and there are some interesting alien cultures and ideas. The mysterious and god-like Essiel Barnacles and the crab like Hannilambri who work for a life to retire, fertilise some eggs before changing sex and laying their own with all their accumulated wealth as a starter fund are highlights. However overall there was a bit of rushed writing that could have used more editing. Also the main action is the battle against the architects and this all takes place within unspace. We are regularly given the action through Idris in unspace and told that he is experiencing deep revelations...but what are they? After a bit this started feeling like a fantasy novel hiding as a sci-fi novel with overall a magical or mystical reality driving the action rather than there being an attempt to create a scientific reality and that felt a little less satisfying as a result. Enjoyable though.
Prose: 8/10
Re-readability: 7/10
Character development: 8/10
World building: 9/10
Pacing: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Re-readability: 7/10
Character development: 8/10
World building: 9/10
Pacing: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
ok, as much as I disliked the second book and found it boring, as much I loved this one. I do feel like this trilogy could have consisted of two books easily (and would actually benefit from shortening). Anyways, this third book is excellent - it has the closure, the closure has relevance to the real world, and it's packed with action and tons of weird and exciting aliens. And as a big bonus (for me), you get extra time with Ollie. I loved her character so much and was constantly wondering why the author was not paying her attention in the first two books (so rich, vivid, well-made, unique character! love love love her!). Now I understand - she was supposed to get on the stage in the last part.
I'd remove 0.5 stars for zero character development, but that must apply to the set. I know Adrian can do that (Dogs of War, the Children of Time), but he chose not to do it here. All characters are fully formed and set in stone from the start to the end.
I'd remove 0.5 stars for zero character development, but that must apply to the set. I know Adrian can do that (Dogs of War, the Children of Time), but he chose not to do it here. All characters are fully formed and set in stone from the start to the end.
I think I have warmer feelings about this series as a whole than I do about any individual book. I’m pretty fond of the characters and the universe, and the plot wraps up in a reasonably satisfying way.
I’m glad the
(crosspost)
Spoiler
(It’s a mildly surprising conclusion, too: unlike what other Tchaikovsky novels have led me to expect, this one doesn’t quite end with everyone coming together. The ultimate bad guys just get straight-up beaten, possibly exterminated.)I’m glad the
Spoiler
betrayal-and-internecine-conflict plot was resolved relatively quickly after it was introduced; it made sense for it to happen, but it was a real downer.(crosspost)