A review by wardenred
The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Oh, Tesla was under no illusions that being innocent would keep him out of prison.
Money would, though.

This book has lots of strong points, exactly the sort I’ve come to expect  from Mary Robinette Kowal’s writing: easy, readable prose, a strong mixture of sci-fi STEM stuff and human experiences, some joyous quirkiness, and strong characterization. Unfortunately, I didn’t click with the main character at all. I definitely appreciated the disability rep that was exceptionally well done and relatable for me as a person with a chronically fucked-up spine. I loved Tesla’s doggo companion and the way the bond between a human and a service animal was presented. I need more service dogs in fiction! I even appreciated some of her wit and some of her thinking, but ultimately, idk. She’s the kind of person who, for me, very much falls under the Eat the Rich umbrella. Yes, she tries to acknowledge her privilege and to use it for good, sort of. She’s also quite content with throwing it around to get what she wants, to constantly feel the urge to talk to the manager, and to take her frustrations out on the small people who decide nothing. At least her husband points out her flaws to her in a loving and gentle way and she kind of listens? Though that speaks better about the husband than it does about her.

Frustrating main character aside, the mystery is fun, even if there are a couple of key points of it that rely too much on happenstance and, yes, money rather than deduction, or so I felt . The retrofuturistic setting with its mixture of high-tech and 1930s vibes is amazingly vivid and full of colorful personalities. I appreciated the inclusion of nonbinary folks and the way stating pronouns here is just a normal part of the culture. All the representation felt rather organic to me. There was some fun banter, too, and some awesome scenes with the MC and her husband being total newlyweds while also leaning into it to be sneaky and secretive under surveillance—I found those pretty fun. So all in all, a pretty good read, really. It’s just that my ever-growing aversion to the people on top of the capitalist food chain made it harder for me to engage.