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The Mimicking of Known Successes
by Malka Older
30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4
Book 27/30
This was really good! I loved the vibes and the writing and the setting. Definitely reading book two. I'm honestly surprised how much I liked this. It's really hard to find great, vibesy sci-fi these days. A lot of sff authors go for the colder, more depressing, gritty machine-like futures, I think forgetting that humans like to be COMFY. Even though this book is set after humans have colonized Jupiter (of all places); the humans here like their tea and their big warm blankets, and they go apeshit over animals (who are rare bc humans destroyed Earth). The two MCs plan their entire day around going to this special restaurant called Slow Burn that sounded AMAZING.
In hindsight, this makes sense because this book is all about ecosystems, both organic and human-made. Of course the author is concerned with how humans and systems live together on a harsh (groundless!) planet, the same way the characters in this book are attempting to painstakingly recreate the best possible potential ecosystem for repopulating Earth. (The title is actually a gut punch once you realize what it's referring to.)
Anyway, this is actually a murder mystery! And it is definitely in the Holmseian tradition, with a sapphic/sci-fi twist. Our Holmes is Mossa, a definitely neurodivergent investigator who we meet when she is looking into the disappearance of a scholar who appears to have unalived himself by stepping off the platforms that make life possible on Jupiter, directly into the planet, whereupon he will freeze to death and then be crushed into atoms. Her investigation leads her to Pleiti, her old housemate from university, who is also a scholar and who Mossa feels can provide valuable insight. Pleiti, of course, is our Watson, and in grand Watsonian fashion, the story is told from her first person POV. Also, in true Watsonian fashion, she is super gay for her Holmes.
I've already placed a hold for book two at my library and very much hope there is a book three!
[4.5 stars]
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a sci-fi novella.
Book 27/30
This was really good! I loved the vibes and the writing and the setting. Definitely reading book two. I'm honestly surprised how much I liked this. It's really hard to find great, vibesy sci-fi these days. A lot of sff authors go for the colder, more depressing, gritty machine-like futures, I think forgetting that humans like to be COMFY. Even though this book is set after humans have colonized Jupiter (of all places); the humans here like their tea and their big warm blankets, and they go apeshit over animals (who are rare bc humans destroyed Earth). The two MCs plan their entire day around going to this special restaurant called Slow Burn that sounded AMAZING.
In hindsight, this makes sense because this book is all about ecosystems, both organic and human-made. Of course the author is concerned with how humans and systems live together on a harsh (groundless!) planet, the same way the characters in this book are attempting to painstakingly recreate the best possible potential ecosystem for repopulating Earth. (The title is actually a gut punch once you realize what it's referring to.)
Anyway, this is actually a murder mystery! And it is definitely in the Holmseian tradition, with a sapphic/sci-fi twist. Our Holmes is Mossa, a definitely neurodivergent investigator who we meet when she is looking into the disappearance of a scholar who appears to have unalived himself by stepping off the platforms that make life possible on Jupiter, directly into the planet, whereupon he will freeze to death and then be crushed into atoms. Her investigation leads her to Pleiti, her old housemate from university, who is also a scholar and who Mossa feels can provide valuable insight. Pleiti, of course, is our Watson, and in grand Watsonian fashion, the story is told from her first person POV. Also, in true Watsonian fashion, she is super gay for her Holmes.
I've already placed a hold for book two at my library and very much hope there is a book three!
[4.5 stars]
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a sci-fi novella.