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A review by badmc
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer
challenging
dark
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
Rereading in 2024: Six years later, I remember just the broad strokes of this epic. It seems more philosophical this time around, and more sad. It also seems more like a prologue, once more, with the last quarter getting it off the ground. Audiobook was a good choice because it does seem like a discussion on topics.
__________________
This is a murder mystery in 25th century, where gender and religion are illegal, and some really weird world leaders meet in unusual circumstances. Aaaand it's all narrated by a serial killer. Also, there is a god in a child's form. Really.
I took my time with this book. It's thickly layered with philosophy and it raises many interesting questions, which for me boiled down to "What does it mean be human?". It is easy to get lost in this book, full of characters, places, and ideas all thrown at you. In this 'sink or swim' situation I merely floated, letting most of it flow past and choosing that which I found interesting. I chose to ignore numerous and confusing characters (there is no index) and focused on the few: our narrator, the boy he guards, and a "family" he is a part of.
This is a slow burner. Stuff happens, but it is hard to follow, and interwoven with meta moments I didn't care for much. The author really put thought in it: you can immerse yourself in linguistics, in psychology, sociology, statistics, theology... It was a bit much at times, to tell the truth. It didn't help that the narrative jumped around quite a lot, and that being confused about character interactions, or kept in the dark about their motives, also means you don't care for them that much. What kept me going was curiosity, more than anything else: what will the author throw in next? Which philosopher also found his home in this 25th century setting?
The book really starts going in the second half, the pace accelerates, the stakes get higher (or don't, but one just then manages to grasp all the clues), and down the rabbit hole you go. I was very repulsed by some of the scenes and all that "moral is relative and a social construct" bit about how the actions of human animals is also quite ambiguous and really, can you prescribe moral standards to beings quite outside your world?... it just made me sick and made most of the characters unappealing. That is not a good thing, damn it! I want to root for someone!
All that being said, I will read on. This is just too interesting to pass up!
__________________
This is a murder mystery in 25th century, where gender and religion are illegal, and some really weird world leaders meet in unusual circumstances. Aaaand it's all narrated by a serial killer. Also, there is a god in a child's form. Really.
I took my time with this book. It's thickly layered with philosophy and it raises many interesting questions, which for me boiled down to "What does it mean be human?". It is easy to get lost in this book, full of characters, places, and ideas all thrown at you. In this 'sink or swim' situation I merely floated, letting most of it flow past and choosing that which I found interesting. I chose to ignore numerous and confusing characters (there is no index) and focused on the few: our narrator, the boy he guards, and a "family" he is a part of.
This is a slow burner. Stuff happens, but it is hard to follow, and interwoven with meta moments I didn't care for much. The author really put thought in it: you can immerse yourself in linguistics, in psychology, sociology, statistics, theology... It was a bit much at times, to tell the truth. It didn't help that the narrative jumped around quite a lot, and that being confused about character interactions, or kept in the dark about their motives, also means you don't care for them that much. What kept me going was curiosity, more than anything else: what will the author throw in next? Which philosopher also found his home in this 25th century setting?
The book really starts going in the second half, the pace accelerates, the stakes get higher (or don't, but one just then manages to grasp all the clues), and down the rabbit hole you go. I was very repulsed by some of the scenes and all that "moral is relative and a social construct" bit about how the actions of human animals is also quite ambiguous and really, can you prescribe moral standards to beings quite outside your world?... it just made me sick and made most of the characters unappealing. That is not a good thing, damn it! I want to root for someone!
All that being said, I will read on. This is just too interesting to pass up!