The best metaphor for this novel that I've come up with is that of sitting down to a pile of steamed blue crabs for supper. Generally speaking, this means engaging in a lot of work, for not much meat, but the endeavor is made enjoyable by good company and good beer. The problem here is that the company is not that great.

Before picking up this novel I was aware that people had mixed feelings about it, but it still seemed worthwhile giving it a go. My experience is that while the high concept of it all appeared interesting, and the main character does have some sympathetic aspects, what you mostly have is a dreary picaresque in something of a crap-sack world. Is there a character development payoff in the end? Yes. But I'm pretty sure that it wasn't worth the work to get there and I'm not sure that this world made any sense. For a big chunk of the book I was wondering if the setting was an obnoxious virtual reality where a malevolent AI was putting the main character through the wringer, just for the hell of it.

Having said that, there is some nice prose here, and Ms. Candon obviously approached this enterprise with some high ambition. My recommendation is that you look at this book yourself, but if after 50 pages you don't find the novel engaging you, just set it aside; it doesn't get better until almost the very end. ( )

This novel is a hot mess in my opinion. I like a lot of fantasy and science fiction but this novel plods along for well over four hundred fifty pages with a virtual absence of plot. The author should have included a detailed glossary for all the creatures and terms that shat she uses virtually without explanation. That said virtually nothing gets accomplished of any value by any characters. They live, they die, they get eaten and they always seem to pop back to life. Makes little sense. ( )

This book was a wild ride. How to even begin describing it? Firstly, I loved it, just so we're clear on that. This book was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 and I am glad to say it did not disappoint. It is about Sunai, who died 17 years ago but continues to be alive despite his best intentions. It is about Iterate Fractal, a powerful AI who controlled and was worshiped by a beautiful island nation until it died and killed them with it. It is about a land of city states ruled either by heavy handed AIs or heavy handed humans, where AIs can be called up to join an empire we never really see, and where far above orbits the Cradle, to which humanity fled and from which it returned, once upon a time.

It is a book that doesn't hand you anything, but forces you to pay attention as you read and do the math in your head to connect the dots of what is going on. I admit I was occasionally lost, but my brain absolutely enjoyed the exercise. There will never be a lengthy explanation for what is going on, for how the world came to be the way it is, but that is okay because why and how don't matter particularly to our main characters, they are just trying to deal with what is.

It is the type of book that rewards rereading, because once you know the general storyline you can pay attention to all the little details that form threading roots to bring this conglomerate structure together. I might go back and reread it right now actually.

In conclusion, I don't feel like I have the words to describe what reading this book was like. But I loved it. I loved Sunai, I loved Veyadi, I loved Jin and the Maw and I can not wait to read more about them. I hope you love them too. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for this honest review. ( )