Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture, 3)

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It was close run but I think Olli stole the show for me so I’ll conclude with a quote (no spoilers): Idris Telemmier, an intermediary navigator and self-confessed inferior human being, has uncovered a secret that changes everything; he has found the biggest weakness of an Architect. Human and Alien interests wrestle to control the discovery that Idris has made, causing the galaxy to erupt into a mutually destructive and self-defeating war.

Lords of Uncreation finishes the series with a beautiful, justifiable ending even if it does shatter your heart in a million pieces. This book flips expectations I had from some of the characters from the first two books. And it gave me a lot of unsuspected twists and turns. It gave me a beautiful ending that I had yearned for since book 1. This is the final part of a trilogy, and it pulls everything together beautifully. There's a lot going on here. At one point, which I assumed was the climactic scene, I realised I was just over half way through. Having said that, I was torn between tearing through it and deliberately slowing myself down. I wanted to stay in this world. I've been through a lot with these characters, and it was hard saying goodbye to them. Tchaikovsky manages to have the incredible task of saving the universe as you know it by more or less regular persons (some human, some not — and even the Unspeakable Aklu, the Razor and the Hook) seem not as ridiculous as it should be, and that’s quite a feat to accomplish. The matters of existential threat and plain human petty power trips are nicely balanced, as are space battles and genuine human (and nonhuman) moments. And he concludes all the storylines in a way that I didn’t quite anticipate, and it works quite well — since at its heart it’s not a story about winning or losing, but about the power of understanding and empathy and bonds between us. Most people here have read books 1 and 2, so I’m going to assume you know the premise of the series and aren’t really looking for the sell. Clare Wilson (12 May 2021). "Shards of Earth review: A rip-roaring space opera with a psychic twist". New Scientist . Retrieved 7 Sep 2022.Yes, the core story is intriguing and yes, the cast of characters is pretty groovy. But the superfluous bunny-trails, the overly-frequent and unnecessary shoot-'em-up scenes, the constant conniving between factions with no resolutions, and the repeated, identical forays into Idris' weaknesses and failings (as well as the entire swaths of hand-wavium, metaphysical blather about the nature of unspace) make this feel like a nine-hour long Marvel Comics movie. It took me weeks to read a book that would normally have taken three days because I got too bored to continue. The final wound comes with the resolution: it occurs nearly in passing and is not referenced again: very unsatisfying. From Adrian Tchaikovsky, author of Children of Time and winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, Lords of Uncreation is the final high-octane instalment in the Final Architecture space opera trilogy.

Oh, and everybody who has already read the first two books will read this one as well anyway, of course. This series has broken me! I have been too invested in these books. I am suffering from a book hangover. I can't stop thinking about Idris and the entire Vulture God space crew.

About this book

Shards of Earth is narrated from several different perspectives, most notably those of Idris and Solace. [2] I found the first half of the book rather slow, to be honest. It was mostly focused on squabbles among the assorted human and human-adjacent factions. There wasn’t anything wrong with it; it just wasn’t what I wanted. Yes yes, the nobles from Magda are bastards, there are competing factions within the Hugh, let’s just get on with the Architects, please.

I would recommend this one to fans of the first and second book and are looking for a conclusion. While not the most satisfying ending, I'm still glad I saw it through. Patiesu prieku sagādāja tas, ka autors stāstu bija izstrādājis jau no pirmās grāmatas (vismaz tāds iespaids radās) un tādēļ neviena grāmata nešķita atrauta no pārējām. Pasaule ir izveidota perfekti, palīdz arī tas, ka notikumi tiek apskatīti tieši tik daudz cik vajadzīgs grāmatai, neieslīgstot pārmērīgās detaļās. Arī zinātniskās detaļas stāstam ir līmenī, nav nekādu iekšēju pretrunu un uz beigām pazūd arī maģijas piegarša, jo viss top atklāts. Stephen Case (28 Feb 2022). "Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky". Strange Horizons . Retrieved 7 Sep 2022. I mean the action sequences were literally out of this world! And the dialogues are amazing. You really know the characters by the end of it and you can't let them go! I love Idris and Ollie and Solace and Kris and Kit and all of them really. It felt like I was a part of their crew The scenes in the "unspace" are too metaphysical to be interesting, and I think the attempted descriptions of the action in this place where things "are" but not really, are difficult to follow. The frequency with which they are entering and being pulled out of that place to deal with yet more inconsequential filler turned the book into a slog.Also, to my mind, the confrontation at the end felt a bit too abstract, and the solution just a bit underwhelming compared to the all encompasing threat of the Architects. I am afraid Tchaikovsky bit off just a bit more than he could chew here. Junior. There needs to be epic art of junior plastered all over everything so I can celebrate a new favorite sci-fi thing. This was a solid ending to an epic science fiction novel. I liked the first two books, but I didn't love this third one quite as much. I felt this one dragged too much in the first half which really pulled my enjoyment down. Deep within Unspace, where time moves very differently, and what passes for reality is not quite what it seems. The Masters of the Architects, the Originators, are the real danger. They are just becoming aware of all planet-residing species of humanity and the threat it poses to their grand scheme. And are taking steps to eradicate this infestation, this annoyance forever.

It is unfortunate to me that I have to reiterate both negatives but more egregiously towards the third and final of these novels. Narratively, I am satisfied, and the cosmic unknowability of the Originators and the Presence and all of Unspace was played perfectly and poetically and with enough distance and fear that I am satisfied with the universe Tchaikovsky built and the questions that it leaves me about the Essiel and the world after the Architects. Human and inhuman interests wrestle to control Idris’ discovery, as the galaxy erupts into a mutually destructive and self-defeating war. The other great obstacle to striking against their alien threat is Idris himself. He knows that the Architects, despite their power, are merely tools of a higher intelligence.But this novel's first half is entirely unnecessary padding that absolutely bored me to tears. It is action scene after action scene after action scene, space battle after space battle, with an occasional hand-to-hand battle thrown in for good measure. It is pointless to the rest of the novel and story; it treads THE EXACT SAME GROUND as the second half of Eyes of the Void. It is another long battle against the Ark Ship faction conspiracy that was finished in the last book, and of which nothing new happens except some players that could have just expired are wiped off the board. The pacing as usual is top notch – Tchaikovsky doesn’t let the story settle for too long before ramping things up again, and this time the entire last third of the book just builds and builds, as the peril and stakes get higher and higher. It’s something I admire about some action heavy books, how they can create a climax that lasts so long but never gets stale. And the ending really lands, with an epilogue that brought a couple of tears to my eyes.