A Desolation Called Peace
Jul. 18th, 2024 10:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearWe did the first book in this duology by Arkady Martine for family book club some time ago and I finally got around to reading the sequel - and it was mostly really good!
I enjoyed spending time with familiar characters and meeting new ones. I enjoyed finding out more about the world and following the intricacies of all the many different factions. I was engaged by the overall plot of interstellar war and the plot was suspenseful and compelling.
I mostly liked the continuing development of the romance that was set up in the first book, though the introduction of the mid-point conflict felt contrived and annoying.
I loved the perspective of Eight Antidote, the 11-year-old heir to the Teixcalaan Empire, and how this developed throughout the book.
I wasn't happy about one of the things that happened towards the end, but I saw it coming so its traumatic impact was lessened.
There were some things that didn't make a lot of sense and some things that were left unexplained. And I was continually tripped up by the long and complicated names and terms used.
It was dense and layered (in a good way) but also almost physically hard to read in places - it took a lot of attention and focus, but that's not necessarily wholly a bad thing.
So, overall, a good read and a satisfying conclusion to the story - though it did have some flaws.
I enjoyed spending time with familiar characters and meeting new ones. I enjoyed finding out more about the world and following the intricacies of all the many different factions. I was engaged by the overall plot of interstellar war and the plot was suspenseful and compelling.
I mostly liked the continuing development of the romance that was set up in the first book, though the introduction of the mid-point conflict felt contrived and annoying.
I loved the perspective of Eight Antidote, the 11-year-old heir to the Teixcalaan Empire, and how this developed throughout the book.
I wasn't happy about one of the things that happened towards the end, but I saw it coming so its traumatic impact was lessened.
There were some things that didn't make a lot of sense and some things that were left unexplained. And I was continually tripped up by the long and complicated names and terms used.
It was dense and layered (in a good way) but also almost physically hard to read in places - it took a lot of attention and focus, but that's not necessarily wholly a bad thing.
So, overall, a good read and a satisfying conclusion to the story - though it did have some flaws.
