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A review by colossal
Our Lady of the Ice by Cassandra Rose Clarke
4.0
Android noir set in Antarctica.
Oh? You're still here? I thought you'd have switched over to amazon to hit buy several times by now.
In an alternate 20th century Hope City is an Antarctic colony built around nuclear power plants which supply power to the Argentine mainland. It's a domed city which encloses a human settlement supported by sentient maintenance drones and an abandoned amusement park which houses a handful of sentient androids. The story is about a Eliana, a PI saving to leave for the mainland, her boyfriend, a gangster named Diego, the leader of the androids, a former pleasure android Sofia and a cyborg noblewoman Marianella. There's also the gangster boss Cabrera and Sofia's wonderful right-hand android Luciano.
All of these characters are beautifully realized, from Eliana's confusion around staying or leaving, Diego's love for Eliana and also his father-figure Cabrera, Marianella's one-foot-in-both-worlds issues and Sofia's desperate struggle to overcome her programming. Almost every main character is torn by their duality and it's just wonderfully played out.
However, I will say that this feels incomplete. It very much feels like a duology, and like when I read [b:The Assassin's Curse|13533650|The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335967954s/13533650.jpg|18229805] there's absolutely no indication anywhere I can find that there's going to be a second volume. It's actually this incompleteness that makes me drop a star for an otherwise wonderful book.
For context these were the last three books I gave 4 star reviews to:
[bc:Last Song Before Night|23704941|Last Song Before Night|Ilana C. Myer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432245329s/23704941.jpg|43314142] [bc:This Census-Taker|25489159|This Census-Taker|China Miéville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1439829142s/25489159.jpg|45263607] [bc:Infidel|11470277|Infidel|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317841525s/11470277.jpg|16404567]
Oh? You're still here? I thought you'd have switched over to amazon to hit buy several times by now.
In an alternate 20th century Hope City is an Antarctic colony built around nuclear power plants which supply power to the Argentine mainland. It's a domed city which encloses a human settlement supported by sentient maintenance drones and an abandoned amusement park which houses a handful of sentient androids. The story is about a Eliana, a PI saving to leave for the mainland, her boyfriend, a gangster named Diego, the leader of the androids, a former pleasure android Sofia and a cyborg noblewoman Marianella. There's also the gangster boss Cabrera and Sofia's wonderful right-hand android Luciano.
All of these characters are beautifully realized, from Eliana's confusion around staying or leaving, Diego's love for Eliana and also his father-figure Cabrera, Marianella's one-foot-in-both-worlds issues and Sofia's desperate struggle to overcome her programming. Almost every main character is torn by their duality and it's just wonderfully played out.
However, I will say that this feels incomplete. It very much feels like a duology, and like when I read [b:The Assassin's Curse|13533650|The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335967954s/13533650.jpg|18229805] there's absolutely no indication anywhere I can find that there's going to be a second volume. It's actually this incompleteness that makes me drop a star for an otherwise wonderful book.
For context these were the last three books I gave 4 star reviews to:
[bc:Last Song Before Night|23704941|Last Song Before Night|Ilana C. Myer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432245329s/23704941.jpg|43314142] [bc:This Census-Taker|25489159|This Census-Taker|China Miéville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1439829142s/25489159.jpg|45263607] [bc:Infidel|11470277|Infidel|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317841525s/11470277.jpg|16404567]