Book Review
Feb. 9th, 2020 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariEmpress of Forever
by Max Gladstone
It's the near future and tech mogul Viv Liao is about to pull off her greatest achievement when she is kidnapped to the far future and a distant galaxy where all is ruled and controlled by a mysterious and powerful Empress. Her quest to find out what is going on and how she can get home brings her into alliances with a murderous pirate queen, a monk from a mystical order dedicated to understanding the Empress and her ways, a shapeshifting nano-creature, and a pilot from a viking-style culture. As Viv pieces everything together, the stakes get higher and solutions riskier.
I really enjoyed The Empress of Forever - it was action-packed and clever, with a lot of sweep and innovative world (universe?) building. I especially loved the way all the relationships between the characters developed and how those relationships had meaningful effects and consequences. Gladstone does a great job of exploring the value of friends and found family without getting smarmy or overly sentimental. Friendship may be magic, but it's also messy and gritty and conflicted. And it can save the world by kicking everything else's ass.
by Max Gladstone
It's the near future and tech mogul Viv Liao is about to pull off her greatest achievement when she is kidnapped to the far future and a distant galaxy where all is ruled and controlled by a mysterious and powerful Empress. Her quest to find out what is going on and how she can get home brings her into alliances with a murderous pirate queen, a monk from a mystical order dedicated to understanding the Empress and her ways, a shapeshifting nano-creature, and a pilot from a viking-style culture. As Viv pieces everything together, the stakes get higher and solutions riskier.
I really enjoyed The Empress of Forever - it was action-packed and clever, with a lot of sweep and innovative world (universe?) building. I especially loved the way all the relationships between the characters developed and how those relationships had meaningful effects and consequences. Gladstone does a great job of exploring the value of friends and found family without getting smarmy or overly sentimental. Friendship may be magic, but it's also messy and gritty and conflicted. And it can save the world by kicking everything else's ass.
