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A review by mgerboc
An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Whooaoaaaaa buddy I wasn't entirely sold on this series after parts 1 and 2, but man they certainly laid a solid foundation for this - the character development and relationships that began in previous entries in this series have always been a strong suit, but they're even better here. The quiet, intimate moments are so powerful and laden with subtext and implication. The world-building also expands in this book. We've always known about the wider world, but we get some perspective from a Galtic character. While we're at that, Balasar Gice, introduced in this book's prologue and set up to be the...antagonist? Wait that can't be right, protagonist? Nah it's not that either. In any case, in a short amount of time, Gice becomes as complex a character as the rest. He is ruthless and violent and makes cruel decisions but damn if this story doesn't pretty well justify it (on a similar note, in the real world, if you knew a way to completely annihilate nuclear weapons, but it required the murder of everyone who had anything to do with the development and maintenance of said weapons, plus the burning of all knowledge surrounding them, would you do it? Would you be a hero or a villain?).
The rest of the cast (Otah, Kyian, Liat, and Maati) are depicted in such a mature, real way. Their journey to where they are now informs their character as it would in real life. The choices they have to face based on problems they've inherited and the decisions they made in their youth play out in such a realistic, sympathetic way.
Lastly, and this is coming from someone with zero experience in the craft of writing so take it with a grain of salt, I noticed a marked improvement in Daniel Abraham's writing. The ideas, world, and characters were all strong in books 1 and 2, but the prose never really hooked me, and I found myself slogging through at times and easily distracted. An Autumn War had me hooked from the prologue. The pacing was near perfect and the tension that built throughout the entire book had my heart rate soaring at points.
Anyway, I can't recommend this enough. If you're starting this series, remember that these are relatively short books (especially for the fantasy genre) and try to at least make it to this entry. I can't wait to start the fourth and final chapter tonight.
Here's a quote that hit home hard for me, from the perspective of a character in middle age thinking back on her life and whether or not she would change anything:
“It was too much. The changes, the differences were too great to think of as good or bad. The world they had now was too much itself, good and evil too tightly woven to wish for some other path. And still it would be wrong to say she found herself without regrets.”
The rest of the cast (Otah, Kyian, Liat, and Maati) are depicted in such a mature, real way. Their journey to where they are now informs their character as it would in real life. The choices they have to face based on problems they've inherited and the decisions they made in their youth play out in such a realistic, sympathetic way.
Lastly, and this is coming from someone with zero experience in the craft of writing so take it with a grain of salt, I noticed a marked improvement in Daniel Abraham's writing. The ideas, world, and characters were all strong in books 1 and 2, but the prose never really hooked me, and I found myself slogging through at times and easily distracted. An Autumn War had me hooked from the prologue. The pacing was near perfect and the tension that built throughout the entire book had my heart rate soaring at points.
Anyway, I can't recommend this enough. If you're starting this series, remember that these are relatively short books (especially for the fantasy genre) and try to at least make it to this entry. I can't wait to start the fourth and final chapter tonight.
Here's a quote that hit home hard for me, from the perspective of a character in middle age thinking back on her life and whether or not she would change anything:
“It was too much. The changes, the differences were too great to think of as good or bad. The world they had now was too much itself, good and evil too tightly woven to wish for some other path. And still it would be wrong to say she found herself without regrets.”