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A review by yak_attak
Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer
3.0
In my original short review of this book, the overwhelming feeling was this: to me the 'pushing to the precipice' (Book 1) was *far* more interesting than actually watching the hammer drop (Book 2). I was very interested in rereading and giving it another shot (then continuing on with the rest of the series I haven't read). Dear reader, unfortunately, sometimes you get it in one.
Too Like the Lightning plays out as a complex interweaving murder mystery, introducing you to the world and its bizarre inhabitants alongside the investigation into a fairly arcane crime, but one you understand more and more as the story continues and you see how it might affect the balance before you. Revelations abound and twists confront you.
And then it all comes to a screeching halt for Seven Surrenders. Most of the reveals have been shown, and you know most of the characters, so in lieu of growing or changing them, we get this litany of scenes showing various characters (Most of which the narrator isn't present for, the framing device breaking down even further) spouting their philosophies at each other, but not driven to an end. The finale is fairly straightforward after what we learned in book one - Not that a gradual slide into the inevitable can't be a great story too, but well...
I think the main problem comes in the fact that Palmer's characters are anything but - they're more like avatars, signifiers and signs of an idea, used to spout philosophy and prose and aesthetic, but they're not well embodied in a person in a scene in a context. It's hard to take them seriously as more than a staged doll, even with all the beautiful, overwrought language Palmer architectures with. It's less political thriller than it is a personal diatribe in a dissertation about the enlightenment. And it's less substantial academic writing than it is just... lurid soap opera.
So we have a powerfully written story about the inevitability of war, the breakdown of power, the malleability of story, people with a whole bunch of raunchy hot people who are too smart not to be fun, and too stupid to actually exist, all scheming and playing against each other in a messy impermeable tangle... what's not to love? I dunno, it sounds pretty great, but man it's just kinda dull in the read. Everything on paper sounds great, dear reader, but in the doing, just so little of what Palmer is focusing on feels engaging to me - so even when things *do* get going, it's far too late.
Too Like the Lightning plays out as a complex interweaving murder mystery, introducing you to the world and its bizarre inhabitants alongside the investigation into a fairly arcane crime, but one you understand more and more as the story continues and you see how it might affect the balance before you. Revelations abound and twists confront you.
And then it all comes to a screeching halt for Seven Surrenders. Most of the reveals have been shown, and you know most of the characters, so in lieu of growing or changing them, we get this litany of scenes showing various characters (Most of which the narrator isn't present for, the framing device breaking down even further) spouting their philosophies at each other, but not driven to an end. The finale is fairly straightforward after what we learned in book one - Not that a gradual slide into the inevitable can't be a great story too, but well...
I think the main problem comes in the fact that Palmer's characters are anything but - they're more like avatars, signifiers and signs of an idea, used to spout philosophy and prose and aesthetic, but they're not well embodied in a person in a scene in a context. It's hard to take them seriously as more than a staged doll, even with all the beautiful, overwrought language Palmer architectures with. It's less political thriller than it is a personal diatribe in a dissertation about the enlightenment. And it's less substantial academic writing than it is just... lurid soap opera.
So we have a powerfully written story about the inevitability of war, the breakdown of power, the malleability of story, people with a whole bunch of raunchy hot people who are too smart not to be fun, and too stupid to actually exist, all scheming and playing against each other in a messy impermeable tangle... what's not to love? I dunno, it sounds pretty great, but man it's just kinda dull in the read. Everything on paper sounds great, dear reader, but in the doing, just so little of what Palmer is focusing on feels engaging to me - so even when things *do* get going, it's far too late.