User Profile

Kemp lays out four relevant forms of power: resource access, decision-making, violence, and information. It is notable and alarming that in our society, three of the four now seem to primarily rest in the hands of the corporate elite, rather than democratic governments.

Interesting so far!

Pitched to me as a more cohesive, cyberpunk Cloud Atlas

Overall I really enjoyed this book while I was reading it. The writing is pretty strong, and the author is great at humanizing her characters, even side characters, to a degree that makes me want to study her writing. And the way the gods were integrated into the story was very fun.

On the other hand, I found the animal-themed orders into which society is divided rather tiresome and at times silly (The bears are ascetics? Has the author met a bear?), and the fact that the plot is set against the backdrop of a formalized game-like competition for the throne that has apparently been running this empire for a thousand plus years felt more distracting than helpful.

Enjoyed the first book!

Read an interesting review of this on reddit.

Excited to read another Waggoner book! I loved the last two.

Good read! And a good way to do the dramatic, catastrophic ending to the first book in a series without getting too dour.