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A review by residual_sizzle
The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon
4.0
Plot: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
World building: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Execution: ⭐⭐⭐
I want to say first and foremost that I LOVED this book. And I cannot wait for the future of the series. The world building was so rich and engrossing, so full of life and imagination. The characters were so human, and relatable, not just in and of themselves –but in their relationships with each other. The world created was just so vastly imaginative and so cool to discover. I absolutely love the way Emma names things within the world (Reconcile Elegy, So-Beloved, Register Parse, Chom Dan, Kuhon Mo).
The biggest detriment to this book is how confusing it is, and the mental weight it takes to read it. It is not a light undertaking. I had to have a separate sheet of paper to try to keep all my concepts straight. I think the biggest flaw of this novel is perhaps the execution. Which is so heartbreaking because it is such an amazing story. Many of the created concepts, while well fleshed out were just not brought across very clearly. I often found myself thinking that something worked one way and then was totally wrong when it was stated later. Its too vague sometimes for its own good which made it at times hard to get through. Not only are you learning an entire new environment and societal structure, but you are learning about entirely new concepts (The idea of God-AI city constructs and the religious implications around them) with little to no explanation at the time. I found myself struggling to differentiate between what an archive, a fragtech, an archivist, an ENGINE, or a Guardian is. Is an archive a place or a thing? And Who is what and how do they relate to each other on the scale of corrupted cities? If you stick to it and come out on the other side it comes together.
I usually can get through a novel or two a week but it took me the better part of 2 months and lots of annotations to finish this one. So I say with honesty – this novel is an undertaking to read, but I whole heartedly believe it is worth all of the effort. I felt similarly with Dune when I read it the first time. All of the new language, the new concepts, the flurry of information. I would just keep that in mind when reading. If you go into it expecting action packed Mech battles and the stories of their Pilots, this isn’t that. It is so good though and I am SO glad I got the opportunity to read it.
Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for an amazing ARC.
World building: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Execution: ⭐⭐⭐
I want to say first and foremost that I LOVED this book. And I cannot wait for the future of the series. The world building was so rich and engrossing, so full of life and imagination. The characters were so human, and relatable, not just in and of themselves –but in their relationships with each other. The world created was just so vastly imaginative and so cool to discover. I absolutely love the way Emma names things within the world (Reconcile Elegy, So-Beloved, Register Parse, Chom Dan, Kuhon Mo).
The biggest detriment to this book is how confusing it is, and the mental weight it takes to read it. It is not a light undertaking. I had to have a separate sheet of paper to try to keep all my concepts straight. I think the biggest flaw of this novel is perhaps the execution. Which is so heartbreaking because it is such an amazing story. Many of the created concepts, while well fleshed out were just not brought across very clearly. I often found myself thinking that something worked one way and then was totally wrong when it was stated later. Its too vague sometimes for its own good which made it at times hard to get through. Not only are you learning an entire new environment and societal structure, but you are learning about entirely new concepts (The idea of God-AI city constructs and the religious implications around them) with little to no explanation at the time. I found myself struggling to differentiate between what an archive, a fragtech, an archivist, an ENGINE, or a Guardian is. Is an archive a place or a thing? And Who is what and how do they relate to each other on the scale of corrupted cities? If you stick to it and come out on the other side it comes together.
I usually can get through a novel or two a week but it took me the better part of 2 months and lots of annotations to finish this one. So I say with honesty – this novel is an undertaking to read, but I whole heartedly believe it is worth all of the effort. I felt similarly with Dune when I read it the first time. All of the new language, the new concepts, the flurry of information. I would just keep that in mind when reading. If you go into it expecting action packed Mech battles and the stories of their Pilots, this isn’t that. It is so good though and I am SO glad I got the opportunity to read it.
Thank you to Tor Publishing Group and Netgalley for an amazing ARC.