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A review by icecreamemperor
Lady of Mazes by Karl Schroeder
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Between this and Ventus, I don't understand why Karl Schroeder isn't a lot better known. His other books are also great, but if I was going to try to get someone to understand what makes his writing so compelling, it would be Ventus followed by Lady of Mazes. (Chronologically they are in the other order, but they both stand alone just fine and he wrote Ventus first.)
I don't read as much sci fi as I used to, but as far as I can tell Schroeder's ability to combine tightly-plotted, character-driven space opera/fantasy with seemingly rock-hard post-scarcity sci fi is a massive outlier in the field. And it's not nitty-gritty hard sci fi, it's wildly speculative, conceptual worldbuilding that seemingly works at every level of scope — to the point that you barely even notice how good it is, until you've finished the book and have a moment to reflect.
I don't read as much sci fi as I used to, but as far as I can tell Schroeder's ability to combine tightly-plotted, character-driven space opera/fantasy with seemingly rock-hard post-scarcity sci fi is a massive outlier in the field. And it's not nitty-gritty hard sci fi, it's wildly speculative, conceptual worldbuilding that seemingly works at every level of scope — to the point that you barely even notice how good it is, until you've finished the book and have a moment to reflect.