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tani 's review for:
Too Like the Lightning
by Ada Palmer
This was a really slow start for me. I think part of that is because it is a slow start. The emphasis is on introducing the characters and the world, and on setting the scene for events and revelations that will come later. Part of it was also a huge disconnect between my expectations and what I actually got. I'd read reviews, but I still had only a vague idea of what to expect when I started, and I was overly focused on the far-future aspect of the story. I expected something far more technological and scientific. What I got was much more like a fantasy of manners, although even that is not really accurate at all. So, I had a bit of literary whiplash for the first little bit, which also hindered my settling into the story.
The writing style is also a bit of an adventure. Mycroft will warn right at the beginning that the writing style is weird, and it is, but not just for the reasons that he cites. First, he writes in a 18th century style, which is what he warns about. However, there are also issues of pronouns that lend some serious confusion. In this society, gendered pronouns are not a thing done in polite society. Everyone should be 'they.' However, Mycroft insists of using 'he' and 'she', which shouldn't be confusing, except that he often uses the pronoun that corresponds to a given character's personality, rather than anything physical. So in one breath he may talk about a character's breasts, and in the next he may call that same character 'he.' Confused yet?
But once I settled in, maybe a little over a third of the way through, this was very enjoyable indeed. The characters, for one thing, were fantastic. So many of them were highly developed and fleshed out that during the day, when I was away from the book, I would of think of them as real people. Once I became acquainted with them, particularly Mycroft, they took on a sense of reality that was almost startling.
Which makes the revelations and twists of the story just that much better. This is a story that delights in reversing your expectations. It will build you up toward certain ideas and expectations, and then make a revelation that completely turns that on its head. The first one is around halfway through the book, and it will completely call into question all of the conclusions that you've drawn in the earlier parts of the book. That was the point where I really was drawn into this book and knew that I hadn't made a mistake in picking it up.
This is a book that aims to make you think, and philosophy plays a part in that. Thankfully, for those of us who haven't read a ton of philosophy, Palmer is really good about introducing the ideas fully and understandably, which I appreciated. However, even without the philosophical connections, I think that this is a book that would have always had me asking questions. Some of the societal changes that are shown here are ones that seem very positive on the surface. However, Palmer explores them with a depth that really made me question whether they were as positive as I would have expected. I'm still not sure what conclusions I'd like to draw from this book, if any. Things are definitely complicated, and I like that this book reflects that.
So yeah. Despite a slow start, this is a rich and complex book, and I am excited to read the next one in the future!
The writing style is also a bit of an adventure. Mycroft will warn right at the beginning that the writing style is weird, and it is, but not just for the reasons that he cites. First, he writes in a 18th century style, which is what he warns about. However, there are also issues of pronouns that lend some serious confusion. In this society, gendered pronouns are not a thing done in polite society. Everyone should be 'they.' However, Mycroft insists of using 'he' and 'she', which shouldn't be confusing, except that he often uses the pronoun that corresponds to a given character's personality, rather than anything physical. So in one breath he may talk about a character's breasts, and in the next he may call that same character 'he.' Confused yet?
But once I settled in, maybe a little over a third of the way through, this was very enjoyable indeed. The characters, for one thing, were fantastic. So many of them were highly developed and fleshed out that during the day, when I was away from the book, I would of think of them as real people. Once I became acquainted with them, particularly Mycroft, they took on a sense of reality that was almost startling.
Which makes the revelations and twists of the story just that much better. This is a story that delights in reversing your expectations. It will build you up toward certain ideas and expectations, and then make a revelation that completely turns that on its head. The first one is around halfway through the book, and it will completely call into question all of the conclusions that you've drawn in the earlier parts of the book. That was the point where I really was drawn into this book and knew that I hadn't made a mistake in picking it up.
This is a book that aims to make you think, and philosophy plays a part in that. Thankfully, for those of us who haven't read a ton of philosophy, Palmer is really good about introducing the ideas fully and understandably, which I appreciated. However, even without the philosophical connections, I think that this is a book that would have always had me asking questions. Some of the societal changes that are shown here are ones that seem very positive on the surface. However, Palmer explores them with a depth that really made me question whether they were as positive as I would have expected. I'm still not sure what conclusions I'd like to draw from this book, if any. Things are definitely complicated, and I like that this book reflects that.
So yeah. Despite a slow start, this is a rich and complex book, and I am excited to read the next one in the future!