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A review by mar
Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Look, if it's been a couple months since you read the second book, you're probably gonna find the first couple chapters of Lords of Uncreation quite rough - there's a disorientating time skip between the books, you get thrown head-first into the plot, it takes forever to wade through, I know. KEEP GOING. GET TO OLLI'S FIRST CHAPTER. That is when I remembered that Oh, Right, This Series Rules, and spent the next 85% of the book having the time of my life.
And speaking of Olli! Oh man, her storyline is absolutely the highlight of this book for me; it went in a direction I did not expect at all, and it was both enormously satisfying and very narratively fulfilling. Not to mention how incredible it is to see a physically disabled character who gets to shine like this. (And get the girl! Even if it's only mentioned offhandedly one (1) time. Canon gay Olli is very important to me as someone with a huge gay crush on her okay!!!). She also remains as sarcastic and funny as ever, and her and Kittering's banter brings some delightful humour to the book. Olli spinoff series WHEN!
Not much else to say about the majority of the book other than I enjoyed it immensely! The one thing that brought it from 5 stars to 4 for me was the ending, which I've got a lot of mixed feelings about. It really stuck out to me that some of the more exciting reveals - notably the Originators', well, origins, and their Grand Plan™️ - felt a little... underused? For such a central mystery it got weirdly brushed aside with only a couple lines. And there was SO MUCH potential there for some absolutely chilling cosmic horror, so I was really surprised (and disappointed) to see it left unexplored like this, especially with how much this series leans into cosmic horror with unspace. Also, was it just me, or did some of the unspace stuff towards the end sound a little too much like fantasy gibberish made up on the go?
Finally, this probably has more to do with my personal preferences when it comes to character endings, but a lot of them kinda fell flat for me. I did love where Olli's arc in particular led her, but Idris... less so, and I'm not much of a fan of found family stories where they all just split up and go their separate ways in the end. Yes, even if they meet up for tea sometimes.
That being said! I really did thoroughly enjoy the ride, and I think the book is a solid finale to the trilogy, even if it isn't quite the ending I was hoping for.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
And speaking of Olli! Oh man, her storyline is absolutely the highlight of this book for me; it went in a direction I did not expect at all, and it was both enormously satisfying and very narratively fulfilling. Not to mention how incredible it is to see a physically disabled character who gets to shine like this. (And get the girl! Even if it's only mentioned offhandedly one (1) time. Canon gay Olli is very important to me as someone with a huge gay crush on her okay!!!). She also remains as sarcastic and funny as ever, and her and Kittering's banter brings some delightful humour to the book. Olli spinoff series WHEN!
Not much else to say about the majority of the book other than I enjoyed it immensely! The one thing that brought it from 5 stars to 4 for me was the ending, which I've got a lot of mixed feelings about. It really stuck out to me that some of the more exciting reveals - notably the Originators', well, origins, and their Grand Plan™️ - felt a little... underused? For such a central mystery it got weirdly brushed aside with only a couple lines. And there was SO MUCH potential there for some absolutely chilling cosmic horror, so I was really surprised (and disappointed) to see it left unexplored like this, especially with how much this series leans into cosmic horror with unspace. Also, was it just me, or did some of the unspace stuff towards the end sound a little too much like fantasy gibberish made up on the go?
Finally, this probably has more to do with my personal preferences when it comes to character endings, but a lot of them kinda fell flat for me.
That being said! I really did thoroughly enjoy the ride, and I think the book is a solid finale to the trilogy, even if it isn't quite the ending I was hoping for.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence and Gun violence