A review by saepsi
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer

dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

  • the scifi aspect is mostly window dressing, which was disappointing since I picked it up because I was in the mood for scifi. honestly only started working for me once I stopped thinking of it as future-speculative fiction and moved it into the realm of pure fantasy in my mind, especially since
    magic and maybe god? are real in this setting while they obviously aren’t in real life.
  •  it was extremely gripping as a political thriller in the first half, a real page turner once you get used to the narrator’s… idiosyncrasies. unreliable narration enjoyers will have a field day with them and their extremely twisted view of just about everything. the plot starts to slow down later on and get into the philosophical elements more - most of which I disagreed with, but to its credit the book never presents any of the political systems or philosophies in it as correct or incorrect, it simply leaves them there for you to judge as you will. 
  • clear attempts were made to differentiate the chapters “written” by characters besides the main narrator, but it’s obvious that the author is most comfortable writing in a certain rather pretentious style and that comes through occasionally  in places where it shouldn’t.
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