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firefly's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, War, Grief, Chronic illness, Gore, and Death
Moderate: Death
Minor: Medical trauma and Medical content
caryndi's review
adventurous
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I first want to note that the title of this novel seems like the first part in a trilogy rather than actually having a lot to do with what the book is about. This hasn't affected my review score in any way, but I did want to note that for anyone whose expectations are heavily shaped by titles.
Like many sci-fi novels written in the current era, Architects of Memory deals with the hellish effects of late capitalism applied to space exploration and first contact. There is nothing particularly unique about this depiction of it, but also nothing I found to be beyond belief. Main character Ashlan is an indenture hoping to win citizenship (and much needed medical care) through her work on salvage missions.
There is a distinct class divide between citizens and non-citizens and, though I think it got mostly cut out of the description, citizens dress differently (hair up, for one) and have tattoos that designate them as members of the upper echelon. I do wish this had been explored further because it seemed like there could be an interesting gendered aspect to it but without doing a close read, I didn't get enough of it to go into deep analysis.
Aside from the never-ending corporate politics and intrigue, this is a first contact novel in a way. Ashlan and her crewmates are not the first to meet Vai, but in their explorationsthey are some of the first people to truly understand the Vai. Without going too deep into spoilers, I will say I really enjoyed the take on aliens/consciousness in this novel. In the complete disconnect between human and Vai lives/thinking/knowledge, it reminds me a bit of The Expanse. I feel there were just enough hints dropped for the reader to start to put together some of what might be coming later in the series and I'm very excited to see if my guesses and suspicions pan out.
Execution wise, there were some gaps (to be expected, as I see this is the author's debut novel). Ashlan's illness was supposedly progressing at an unprecedented rate to the point where she shouldn't be able to function much, if at all, during the end, yet I felt that was alternately used and skipped over as needed. Should there be more struggle? Ashlan is hallucinating. Does Plot need to happen? Ashlan is actually fine for a bit and we're not sure why, because she sure wasn't thirty minutes ago and nothing has changed since then. While this was only an issue for me in the last ~third of the novel, I found it more disruptive there because it should have had more of an effect on the narrative.
I also felt the emotional arcs were a bit uneven (surprise!).Ashlan and Kate's romance, after starting with some unnecessary She's leading me on/No she likes you but can't be with you drama, dropped that line of forced misunderstanding and was much better for it. Len and Natalie...ehhh. There was definitely some buildup there but not to the point where we needed an I'm dying so tell her I love her moment from Len. Neither of these were extremely emotional for me; I was fine with them, but didn't spend a lot of time rooting for them. There was also an element of found family pushed through the characters' narration that I didn't feel was actually reflected in the text.
Natalie's background as a soldier in the Vai war added some interesting conflict I wasn't expectingbut I feel she backed down too easily at the end compared to the previous strength and vigor of her anti-Vai sentiment. Of course as someone who had fought in a war and seen so many people die, that was natural, but because she was so entrenched in it, I found it hard to believe that she could have a conversation with Ashlan that was essentially Really, I was wrong?/Yep, sorry and that would change her entire approach.
I liked the ending, though I wanted to know whyKate and Ashlan couldn't just build a trebuchet or something to launch the screamers somewhere not right next to them and/or hide underground like Len did. While it was an evocative visual, it did feel like a bit of an oversight on their parts. I am also curious to learn how the blue screamers actually work against humans (as in, the mechanism by which instant death) and in some cases why Vai tech ends up acting like weapons at all.
When the sequel comes out, I do plan to read it.
Recommend? If you're looking for a fast-paced read that plays well with common sci-fi tropes, do it!
Like many sci-fi novels written in the current era, Architects of Memory deals with the hellish effects of late capitalism applied to space exploration and first contact. There is nothing particularly unique about this depiction of it, but also nothing I found to be beyond belief. Main character Ashlan is an indenture hoping to win citizenship (and much needed medical care) through her work on salvage missions.
There is a distinct class divide between citizens and non-citizens and, though I think it got mostly cut out of the description, citizens dress differently (hair up, for one) and have tattoos that designate them as members of the upper echelon. I do wish this had been explored further because it seemed like there could be an interesting gendered aspect to it but without doing a close read, I didn't get enough of it to go into deep analysis.
Aside from the never-ending corporate politics and intrigue, this is a first contact novel in a way. Ashlan and her crewmates are not the first to meet Vai, but in their explorations
Execution wise, there were some gaps (to be expected, as I see this is the author's debut novel). Ashlan's illness was supposedly progressing at an unprecedented rate to the point where she shouldn't be able to function much, if at all, during the end, yet I felt that was alternately used and skipped over as needed. Should there be more struggle? Ashlan is hallucinating. Does Plot need to happen? Ashlan is actually fine for a bit and we're not sure why, because she sure wasn't thirty minutes ago and nothing has changed since then. While this was only an issue for me in the last ~third of the novel, I found it more disruptive there because it should have had more of an effect on the narrative.
I also felt the emotional arcs were a bit uneven (surprise!).
Natalie's background as a soldier in the Vai war added some interesting conflict I wasn't expecting
I liked the ending, though I wanted to know why
When the sequel comes out, I do plan to read it.
Recommend? If you're looking for a fast-paced read that plays well with common sci-fi tropes, do it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Chronic illness, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Slavery, and Xenophobia
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