A review by ielerol
The Rosewater Redemption by Tade Thompson

3.0

Nearly everything that I didn't love about the second book continues in this one, some things intensified. Too many points of view, too many quick cuts between scenes when I wanted time to wrestle with what was going on, too many ideas all packed together. I feel like I could have read a whole novel just about Hannah Jacques' trial on behalf of reanimates (what a bombshell to drop 2/3 of the way through the final book!), or Oyin Da's entire...existence (what a bombshell to drop 1/3 of the way through the final book!) or any of several other plot threads and revelations. It's a lot to take in, and also not quite enough of any one thing. The final resolution to the conflict was ultimately very good, I think, in terms of staying true to the messy grey areas these characters live in, and also the core concept of a postcolonial society facing a new and even more destructive and final invasion, but I felt almost numb to it by the time it ended.

I'm also not sure Tade Thompson understands very much about computer programming, which is an extremely minor nit to pick, except for how much that kind of thing stands in contrast to the careful way the xenosphere was set up and details worked through in the first book. When you've got just a couple of big, thorny, ambitious ideas to cover in your novel you can take the time to get the details right. When you've got a new big, thorny, ambitious idea showing up every chapter, you risk getting sloppy!

At least I got some idea of what other characters see in Kaaro (literally, someone else), even as they agree that he's terrible. I'm just not sure I found it a very satisfying explanation.