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Raven Strategem
Jan. 31st, 2020 04:15 amAm currently reading Raven Strategem by Yoon Ha Lee and am partway through chapter 10. These are fairly character-driven stories, which is something I appreciate, but the large amount of military minutiae here is really not my thing. I don't skip over things like that, though, especially since it's an important part of the story.
I do find the worldbuilding intriguing, though often confusing as well. The worldbuilding is extensive, and the universe (galaxy? galaxies??) Yoon Ha writes about is truly alien even while the people seem to be mostly human. It takes a while to even start to understand a lot of the terminology which is immediately thrown at you, and even after it's explained somewhat I tend to blink and think 'did I understand that correct?' Example: Composites apparently refers to more than one person (I get a sense this is usually a small number, like 2 or 3) being somehow merged into one person? That one's weird but at least somewhat understandable. I still don't understand threshhold winnowers, except that they sound truly terrible. The worldbuilding is off the charts in this series, and one of my motivations for reading through the story is trying to get a better handle on that. The worldbuilding has had quite a bit of significance to the overall story so far, so I try to pay attention to those sorts of details.
I find it difficult to categorize the plot. Is it action? There is some action, but less than one might expect in a book about space battles. Mystery? I feel like a mini-mystery is solved every time I learn more about how this universe works, and there are some significant reveals at the end of the first book, but it doesn't really quite have a mystery feel to me. Psychological thriller? This one probably seems like the most accurate to me, though I think it's probably taking a somewhat nonstandard approach to that.
This has been a difficult series to read through for me, for a number of reasons. It doesn't shy away from upsetting things, and while I appreciate that in a story about war and intricate political machinations, it can also be a bit too much for me at times. I certainly do want to see where the characters and story eventually end up, though, and dicipher the complex universe the author has built.
I do find the worldbuilding intriguing, though often confusing as well. The worldbuilding is extensive, and the universe (galaxy? galaxies??) Yoon Ha writes about is truly alien even while the people seem to be mostly human. It takes a while to even start to understand a lot of the terminology which is immediately thrown at you, and even after it's explained somewhat I tend to blink and think 'did I understand that correct?' Example: Composites apparently refers to more than one person (I get a sense this is usually a small number, like 2 or 3) being somehow merged into one person? That one's weird but at least somewhat understandable. I still don't understand threshhold winnowers, except that they sound truly terrible. The worldbuilding is off the charts in this series, and one of my motivations for reading through the story is trying to get a better handle on that. The worldbuilding has had quite a bit of significance to the overall story so far, so I try to pay attention to those sorts of details.
I find it difficult to categorize the plot. Is it action? There is some action, but less than one might expect in a book about space battles. Mystery? I feel like a mini-mystery is solved every time I learn more about how this universe works, and there are some significant reveals at the end of the first book, but it doesn't really quite have a mystery feel to me. Psychological thriller? This one probably seems like the most accurate to me, though I think it's probably taking a somewhat nonstandard approach to that.
This has been a difficult series to read through for me, for a number of reasons. It doesn't shy away from upsetting things, and while I appreciate that in a story about war and intricate political machinations, it can also be a bit too much for me at times. I certainly do want to see where the characters and story eventually end up, though, and dicipher the complex universe the author has built.
