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A review by restless
The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart
3.0
A bittersweet ending that left me unaccountably sad.
It was so frustrating seeing Lin flail for what felt like an authorial-political message. And then Ranami's new position in the end? Seriously? What exactly did Ranami do to deserve that ending? Even Phalue managed to be more interesting than she was.
And Jovis... don't even get me started about Jovis. Most of the baddies in this book felt like they had a "just because" motif. Like we had to spend 650 pages watching Lin flail about so that at the end, the book could say: "see? you can't fix a broken system".
Which honestly, made me sad. Because one of the most exciting things about book one was precisely that: the idea that this cast could fix a broken system. The notion that broken systems aren't immutable behemoths. That they can change, and grow, and reform.
Am I against the council ending? No, of course not. But I would have liked to have seen that ending on Lin's terms, rather than as a thing that she was forced into.
Spoiler
And angry, if I am honest. I feel like the series is an allegory for the idea that some things can't be fixed, which - yes fine maybe ? - but Lin never actually gets a chance to fix anything. Throughout the whole series, literally every other cast member is arrayed against her for like what, reasons? And also, why was someone who was smart enough to take down the former emperor so naïve about trusting people? If someone screws you over, believe them the first time.It was so frustrating seeing Lin flail for what felt like an authorial-political message. And then Ranami's new position in the end? Seriously? What exactly did Ranami do to deserve that ending? Even Phalue managed to be more interesting than she was.
And Jovis... don't even get me started about Jovis. Most of the baddies in this book felt like they had a "just because" motif. Like we had to spend 650 pages watching Lin flail about so that at the end, the book could say: "see? you can't fix a broken system".
Which honestly, made me sad. Because one of the most exciting things about book one was precisely that: the idea that this cast could fix a broken system. The notion that broken systems aren't immutable behemoths. That they can change, and grow, and reform.
Am I against the council ending? No, of course not. But I would have liked to have seen that ending on Lin's terms, rather than as a thing that she was forced into.