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A review by thereadingrambler
The Practice, the Horizon, and the Chain by Sofia Samatar
2.5
One Sentence Review: This novella has a really strong promise, but too much of the plot relied on world building that was never done in the book, leaving the reader confused and unsatisified.
At this point, I should be more suspicious of Tordotcom’s novellas, really. Tor and its imprints are consistently among my least favorite books (although they occasionally knock one out of the park, like The Locked Tomb trilogy), but for the most part, the books are playacting at being more radical than they actually are. The premises give you a promise of something revolutionary that is considering significant elements of our present moment, but in execution, they are watered down to the point of uselessness. I’m beginning to suspect Tordotcom particularly is doing this on purpose because there is so much in this book that I want to love. The world we’re thrust into is so interesting. The intense class structure, the mining economy, and the spacefaring culture. There are so many questions: what are the people in the hold even doing? Where did this fleet come from and why? What is beyond this fleet? Anything? I suspect Samatar has the answers to these things, but the editors at Tordotcom made her take these answers out to pull back on making any statements that could be considered offensive to some readers. The result is a bland book when it should’ve had teeth.
At this point, I should be more suspicious of Tordotcom’s novellas, really. Tor and its imprints are consistently among my least favorite books (although they occasionally knock one out of the park, like The Locked Tomb trilogy), but for the most part, the books are playacting at being more radical than they actually are. The premises give you a promise of something revolutionary that is considering significant elements of our present moment, but in execution, they are watered down to the point of uselessness. I’m beginning to suspect Tordotcom particularly is doing this on purpose because there is so much in this book that I want to love. The world we’re thrust into is so interesting. The intense class structure, the mining economy, and the spacefaring culture. There are so many questions: what are the people in the hold even doing? Where did this fleet come from and why? What is beyond this fleet? Anything? I suspect Samatar has the answers to these things, but the editors at Tordotcom made her take these answers out to pull back on making any statements that could be considered offensive to some readers. The result is a bland book when it should’ve had teeth.