The Will to Battle

November 6, 2017
The third installment in Palmer’s Terra Ignota political science fiction epic builds upon the complexities introduced in Too Like the Lightning and Seven Surrenders. Criminal mastermind Mycroft Canner recounts the slow decline of a 25th-century utopia where class, language, and family are rendered obsolete, and war is virtually unknown. The fate of this seemingly progressive world hangs upon old alliances and friendships. As Mycroft plays with allegiance to several different masters, readers are further plunged into the intrigue. Palmer’s writing is decidedly difficult; upon a second and third reading, however, one appreciates the wry humor and the ingenious depth of her worldbuilding. The interplay between reader and narrator is especially enjoyable, calling into question reliability and truth. Growing accustomed to this future world and Mycroft’s description of it takes time, but the payoff is rewarding.

December 1, 2017

Once utopian inspirations for the world, the nations known as the Hives are beginning to crumble as their dark secret is revealed: rulers kept the peace for centuries through secret murders, mathematically planned, to make sure the powerful factions remained in check and the universe in balance. But when there has not been a war in more than 300 years, how will such a conflict even start? Mycroft Canner, having already recorded the historical events that led to this moment, must find a way to document the looming crisis as nations choose sides, shore up their defenses, and deal with leaders who will try to shape the war to come. Perceptive insights into the minds of the novel's many characters propel the story from start to finish. VERDICT Palmer's penultimate series title (after Seven Surrenders) raises provocative questions about the nature of peace and corrupting influences that will appeal to readers who appreciate political sf.--KC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2017
A stagnant, complacent Earth faces war in the 25th century in the third of an ongoing science-fantasy series (Seven Surrenders, 2017, etc.).The world, now ruled by Hives affiliated with philosophical viewpoints instead of geographic nations, has had 300 years of peace, now coming to an end. Anger rises over various revelations that peace was maintained by corruption, secret assassinations, and government manipulation. The data suggest that war is coming, but no one seems sure precisely what the sides will be and what they will fight about. All the issues eventually coalesce around J.E.D.D. Mason, the young man who plays a major role in all the Hive governments and who has proclaimed himself a god from another universe, incarnated in human form as a Conversation with this universe's Creator. There is something curiously compelling about Palmer's narrative, but its success depends on whether the reader believes in this world of technological marvels that is purportedly our own but which also features two gods and a resurrected Achilles created from a toy soldier. It's clear that the Hive system isn't working, but should the only alternative be an autocracy directed by a supposedly kind and benevolent alien god whose two closest companions are a cannibalistic murderer and a sadistic serial kidnapper? The cannibalistic murderer is our narrator, the brilliant, brutal, and extremely broken Mycroft Canner, who in this volume is showing signs of extreme mental deterioration. What initially appears to be a literary device--Mycroft's intense conversations with an imagined audience which includes a future reader of the book; the philosopher Hobbes; and Apollo Mojave, one of his murder victims--actually signals a growing madness that apparently no one is bothering to treat except in the most minimal way. Appreciating the book depends on whether one is willing to spend extended time in Mycroft's pompous, servile, and erratic company. Some might also find Mycroft's beliefs about gender in what is purportedly but not convincingly a gender-neutral society somewhat offensive.Still intriguing and worth pursuing, but the strain may be beginning to show.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.