Ven was once a holy man, a keeper of ancient archives. It was his duty to interpret archaic texts, sorting useful knowledge from the heretical ideas of the Burning Age—a time of excess and climate disaster. For in Ven's world, such material must be closely guarded so that the ills that led to that cataclysmic era can never be repeated.
But when the revolutionary Brotherhood approaches Ven, pressuring him to translate stolen writings that threaten everything he once held dear, his life will be turned upside down. Torn between friendship and faith, Ven must decide how far he's willing to go to save this new world—and how much he is willing to lose.
Beautiful and hopeful; distant yet familiar (both for better or worse). Exceptionally structured and framed - one of those books where every twist is unexpected yet obvious in hindsight. On top of that, beautiful and true worldbuilding, with rich, earthy prose. Good for when the weather is turning; like warm, hearty soup.
Beautifully and darkly poetic, there's a lot here about the value of life, the fallacy of human elitism, and the bleakness of history. It's not an easy read, and as far as stories go, it's not one with the beginning, middle, and end. But it is a slice of a very dark life, and not a bad read.
A solarpunk setting for grim reactionary political intrigue. Somewhere between "Psalm for the Wild-Built" and "Ministry for the Future" in several directions.
Not what I expected. Full of understated twists and turns, and a Le Carré story seems to emerge at the end.
