English language
Published Oct. 30, 2023 by Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom.
I was absolutely hooked. Our protagonist starts as being very unlikeable, but if you are willing to bear with her, it will be rewarding. There is somewhat a change of direction around halfway through, which seems a bit more generic after that. But the world building and the characters still hold up very much. All in all, really well written.
Some Desperate Glory is a space opera set after Earth's destruction. Gaea Station, home to a radical group of warbreed humans, has pitted itself against the majo race, the ones who annihilated their homeland. Without spoiling anything, the novel is a whirlwind of moral turmoil, intergalactic politics, and the Wisdom's immense power over all of existence.
Valkyr, our ornery and entitled protagonist, is tough to love but easy to understand. While there were times I wanted to throttle her for being so short-sighted and petty, I often felt she desperately needed a hug. Mags and Avi were fun characters, and I believe their presence really rounded out Valkyr's dominating personality. However, Yiso (the majo prisoner), was my absolute favorite of them all.
It took me about 100 pages to really get into the story, but after that I was hooked. The novel is formatted into five parts, and …
Some Desperate Glory is a space opera set after Earth's destruction. Gaea Station, home to a radical group of warbreed humans, has pitted itself against the majo race, the ones who annihilated their homeland. Without spoiling anything, the novel is a whirlwind of moral turmoil, intergalactic politics, and the Wisdom's immense power over all of existence.
Valkyr, our ornery and entitled protagonist, is tough to love but easy to understand. While there were times I wanted to throttle her for being so short-sighted and petty, I often felt she desperately needed a hug. Mags and Avi were fun characters, and I believe their presence really rounded out Valkyr's dominating personality. However, Yiso (the majo prisoner), was my absolute favorite of them all.
It took me about 100 pages to really get into the story, but after that I was hooked. The novel is formatted into five parts, and by the false peak, I couldn't put it down. The science behind the tech is wonky, fascinating, and certainly absurdist if given much thought... but it's still done with finesse and ingenuity.
I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys space operas, crazy space tech, or complicated friendships.
This book really stuck with me after reading it. I had to stop reading it before bed because I would stay up too late reading it, which is a trait I cherish in a book and is also hard to pull off in a book with such heavy themes -- brainwashing, abuse, reproductive coercion, war,.... And the characters were so well articulated. I really live for books where characters seem like actual humans who are capable of being really truly horrible to each other and also capable of kindness and growth.
This will probably be my book of the year choice. I loved the themes and potential discussions in this one, and there's not a whole lot I can say in a review without either spoiling it or setting up a new reader to see things a certain way. I don't want my own biases to influence someone coming to this fresh. I think who you are and what you believe will drastically change how you perceive this book, and that's kind of fantastic to me. I will say, I borrowed this from the library but will be buying a permanent copy to own. I think I'll see and feel different things on subsequent re-reads. I will also say this is a completely different flavor from her fantasy duology.
This will probably be my book of the year choice. I loved the themes and potential discussions in this one, and there's not a whole lot I can say in a review without either spoiling it or setting up a new reader to see things a certain way. I don't want my own biases to influence someone coming to this fresh. I think who you are and what you believe will drastically change how you perceive this book, and that's kind of fantastic to me. I will say, I borrowed this from the library but will be buying a permanent copy to own. I think I'll see and feel different things on subsequent re-reads. I will also say this is a completely different flavor from her fantasy duology.
