Reviews and Comments

China Miéville is a storyteller, as he is a leftists. His month-by-month retelling of the October Revolution is deeply researched and engaging. He's also fair in his portrayal of a very partisan moment in time. And I really enjoyed the fact that he avoided delving into tedious debates about finer points of marxist theory ; there's a greay many books for that, but this book is perfect for a more general approach with rich details.

I liked this book. It's not as serious and realist as Abercrobie's writing, not as convoluted as G.R.R. Martin's stories, it's 'adult' without falling into voyeuristic and misogynist drivel or manly-man power fantasies… A good summer reading, with a beautiful map before the story (and even a calendar with special months and weeks)

The worldbuilding is well done, especially when it comes to the use of magic. I was less concerned by the languages invented for the book, but it's of little importance in the logic of the book. Some prominent characters are not as engaging and well rounded as the main, but I guess that's what you get when your narrator is self-absorbed, kinda dishonest (he's a thief, after all) and more interested in this blind cat he found by chance.

A monk looking for a purpose meets a robot. They both have much to discover from each other, as they tackle the meaning of life.

Short as it is, this book might serve as an introduction to a larger body of work set in the same world, but it also works well alone from other expectations.

I'd love to see more of that world, a sort of solarpunk utopia where suffering, or illness, or poverty, seem very foreign. The robot wants to check in on humanity, to ask them what they need, what the population of wild robots could help them with. What are the need of a society that's got everything? I'm curious. I want to read more.

My gripe with the second volume in the series was that Baru seems to lose all of her agency, after showing so much of it in the first volume. Here, it all comes together, along with some memorable settings and scenes.

I can't wait for the fourth (and final?) book.

I can't put the finger on what I didn't like in this book, but it felt too long, the characters didn't feel fleshed out, and the main character doesn't get interesting until about 4/5 through.

Apart from that I liked the setting, this big, enormous tower with a kingdom (or "ringdom") on each storey. Too much is kept from our knowing, which is slightly frustrating but makes me want to keep reading the series. The unreliable guidebook gets tired fast, and I don't miss it. I just hope to see more of the tower, and I hope that the end that's been hinted at during the market scene will happen. I need my Chekhov's unfinished tower summit.

There are some things I didn't quite like in this series. The fight of the book's Breakers (people rising up against industrialisation which mirrors fights from our 19th century, who are breaking factories) is portrayed at best as hopeless and led by idealists without plans, and at worst as utterly corrupted and devoid of principles. Sad. Of course, it's dark fantasy, but the supposed "realism" is nothing more than cynicism. All of the other types of policies are portrayed in the same way, and the end doesn't often justify the means.

It excels at cynicism. And rhythm. And structure. And characters. (the worldbuilding part has been done in the previous trilogy+novel+shorts, so I'll pass) It may not be the best book I've read in the last year, but it's easily in the top 10.

Joe Abercrombie comes back one generation after his “First Law” trilogy. The main characters from the previous age have aged or gone back to the mud, leaving only stories behind them. Now is the time for their sons or daughters to conquer the world, fight each other, and wake up the old fights.

The “First Law” world has been established, so the author can really build on his characters. There's a lot of foreshadowing in this book (I think), a lot of buildup towards a great finale for this book, but also a good setup for what's next in the two following books. A key is given early (look for the one cursed with the long eye), but how will it all play?