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A review by achilliad
Matrix by Lauren Groff
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Matrix blends ephemeral interiority of the characters with moments of tense action. It's a character-driven book, but periods of deep reflection are broken by difficult moments in monastic life that help keep up the pace of the book and prevent the tedium of endless introspection.
Matrix's management of religion and the deific was especially interesting to me. Deific importance and a very real intrusion of the deific into normal life simultaneously exist and do not. It seems to capture the ineffable quality of religions that are both constantly changing and also claim to be stable and immutable. The presentation of the Christian god here reminds me of Greek gods more than anything; technically present but not the ultimate director of all action and, when their is deific influence, changing the world in complex ways with complex motivations (rather than the unilaterally good and kind god or the unilaterally vengeful god the Christian god has been read as at various points in history).
Matrix's management of religion and the deific was especially interesting to me. Deific importance and a very real intrusion of the deific into normal life simultaneously exist and do not. It seems to capture the ineffable quality of religions that are both constantly changing and also claim to be stable and immutable. The presentation of the Christian god here reminds me of Greek gods more than anything; technically present but not the ultimate director of all action and, when their is deific influence, changing the world in complex ways with complex motivations (rather than the unilaterally good and kind god or the unilaterally vengeful god the Christian god has been read as at various points in history).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death