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A review by eely225
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Vol. 2: Ambition by Yoshiki Tanaka
3.0
I read the first one of these books three years ago. But it didn't take long to get back in the swing of things with volume two.
The issue that became increasingly apparent is that only two characters matter and one of them is never wrong. Both of them are interesting. One is wrong in substantial ways letting the ends justify the means, one is so openly apathetic about the ends that he just does the right and proper thing with the means. As a reader, you're supposed to be compelled by both but find one more admirable.
My issues with the book are mostly issues with sci-fi generally. Lots of important Capitalized Terms and Ideas that that people discuss in vaunted terms. Lots of people who are the best in the galaxy at something and also being space admirals before their 21st birthday. The old people are Scheming. And the young people are Righteous. The scale of the conflicts described is amplified one hundred times over to make them seem more interesting and important than the descriptions of those conflicts can (e.g. "they launched a skirmishing fleet of 16,000 battleships").
There are two things that kept me reading the book. Despite how brazen the author is in insisting on Yang Wen-li's likability, he is pretty likable. And his dialogue strikes a different chord than most of the cast.
The second, and more substantial, thing is reading the book as a historical document. While sci-fi always projects into the future, it does so as a way of engaging with contemporary ideas. It's sometimes a more interesting exercise to read the idea behind the book and try to infer the author's influences. Is this really about the Prussian Wars as he said? How much of it was informed by the rise of totalitarianism in interwar Japan? Or the position of Japan as buffer between the powers in the Cold War? Seeing how this specific author used this narrative to engage with many sides of many historical conflicts and trying to come to his own conclusions is a fun exercise.
The book reads quickly. While the language is often overly hyperbolic and most characters blend together, the plot clips along enough that you can skim intermittently and still have a good time. I don't know if I'll read all ten of these suckers, but I probably have at least one more in me.
The issue that became increasingly apparent is that only two characters matter and one of them is never wrong. Both of them are interesting. One is wrong in substantial ways letting the ends justify the means, one is so openly apathetic about the ends that he just does the right and proper thing with the means. As a reader, you're supposed to be compelled by both but find one more admirable.
My issues with the book are mostly issues with sci-fi generally. Lots of important Capitalized Terms and Ideas that that people discuss in vaunted terms. Lots of people who are the best in the galaxy at something and also being space admirals before their 21st birthday. The old people are Scheming. And the young people are Righteous. The scale of the conflicts described is amplified one hundred times over to make them seem more interesting and important than the descriptions of those conflicts can (e.g. "they launched a skirmishing fleet of 16,000 battleships").
There are two things that kept me reading the book. Despite how brazen the author is in insisting on Yang Wen-li's likability, he is pretty likable. And his dialogue strikes a different chord than most of the cast.
The second, and more substantial, thing is reading the book as a historical document. While sci-fi always projects into the future, it does so as a way of engaging with contemporary ideas. It's sometimes a more interesting exercise to read the idea behind the book and try to infer the author's influences. Is this really about the Prussian Wars as he said? How much of it was informed by the rise of totalitarianism in interwar Japan? Or the position of Japan as buffer between the powers in the Cold War? Seeing how this specific author used this narrative to engage with many sides of many historical conflicts and trying to come to his own conclusions is a fun exercise.
The book reads quickly. While the language is often overly hyperbolic and most characters blend together, the plot clips along enough that you can skim intermittently and still have a good time. I don't know if I'll read all ten of these suckers, but I probably have at least one more in me.