Spoiler-free
This could well be my most anticipated release of the year with how much I loved The Greenbone Saga (also by Fonda Lee). Naturally, I pre-ordered a copy at Drop City Books and was gassed when I received the text message saying it was ready for collection 3 days early! Hell yeah! I was there pretty much instantly as I was already in town at the time and was (slightly embarrassingly) informed that that was by far the fastest anyone has ever collected a book from there but hey... I was hyped for this! So, did it live up to my expectations? Let's find out...
The Premise
Corporate samurai in space. No really... That's literally what it's about. Set on a planet which has lost all communication with Earth (known as the great silence) we follow Isako - an aging samurai/assassin figure working for one of the big competing corporations. She is about to undergo her last ever contract before walking out into the surrounding frozen wasteland leaving nothing but her legacy behind. However, this last contract becomes much more complicated than it first seems and she is thrusted into the messy corporate politics that will shape humanity's existence forever. Oh, and it's a standalone!
To serve is to live. To live is to die.
The Review
The premise sound pretty cool right? And I'm glad to say that it delivers on that premise for me. The whole story feels very sleek and stylish. Proper nerd shit. It's also so refreshing reading from an older character's perspective within the sci-fi/fantasy space. Isako is past her prime and ready to retire, and so this theme of aging plays a prevalent role throughout the book. This makes a welcome change from the classic 17 year old with beady eyes ready to dive head first into the adventures of the world.
I went into this blind, trusting Fonda Lee as the incredible writer that she is. However, since finishing this book I have seen it advertised as a space opera which doesn't sit right with me. Correct me if I am wrong, but a space opera to me suggests much more of a galaxy spanning epic in the vein of The Expanse and Sun Eater etc. This world is self contained and cut off from the rest of civilisation. Honestly, you could read this and totally forget at times that it's even set in space and not some sci-fi dystopian future. The entire novel takes place in one city, on one planet, so to market it as a space opera seems kinda wild to me. Anyway, who even cares lol.
The world building is very vivid and matches that stylish futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic, we all know and love. This city has been isolated from earth for the past 500 years and in that time there have been many technological advancements. Most notably Synthbodies, which allow someone to live out the rest of their brain's lifespan (approx. 150 years) in an specially designed artificial body. Obviously, this is creepy as fuck and is incredibly dark the more you think about it. These bodies don't need to eat, exercise, fuck or do anything remotely humane in order to survive. Of course, this body also makes them more difficult to kill. Synthbodies are very much a luxury in this world with only the upper elite/big corporate bosses having access to them. This whole concept is so fucked up because where do you even draw the line? These advancements are only going to get better and more lifelike, meaning some rich man is effectively playing god and creating new life. bruh...
Another piece of world building I want to highlight is that people write their own Codas ready for their death. A coda is essentially your last words immortalised in writing. Some codas become very popular and are published for years after, whilst others are more personal and offer support to loved ones. Some people find it all too much and even hire a ghost writer to do their coda for them. This whole concept of actively thinking about what impact you want to imprint onto the world is mad to me. I feel like knowing that you will leave a message that everyone will read may even change how you live your life. It's also a lot of pressure to think what kind of tone you wish to take for it. Do you be profound, hopeful, or even comedic? It gave me a lot of food for thought about what message I would leave behind to the world, but I hope I don't die anytime soon because I have no idea. I for sure wouldn't hire a ghost writer for my last words though. That's embarrassing...
Side note - There's a character called Waterboy and every time I read his name I had to whisper waterman under my breath xD.
The Greenbone Saga is obviously a phenomenal series with some of the best characters ever created, so I had high hopes for the characters here. And honestly, I was a little let down on that front. There are some really cool ideas and the plot went into some interesting and unexpected directions, but I didn't connect all that much to the characters. They weren't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but I wouldn't say I was rooting for any of them at any point, but rather just engaged in what the hell was going to happen. I guess that's not a bad thing, I'd say the intrigue and mystery of the plot drove me to read on more so than my love for any character. I do really appreciate the unique stance of having a much older protagonist, who clearly has a more mature and complex view on the world, but ultimately Isako came across a little dry and boring. Hey, I don't blame her. She's tired and over it. She's been through enough.
Fonda Lee's writing is still top notch. I'm not normally a fan of action scenes in general but Fonda Lee writes them in such a vividly cinematic way that it's just epic. Whilst it failed to reach the heights of The Greenbone Saga, Fonda lee continues to cement herself as one boss ass bitch within the fantasy/sci-fi space and I will continue to read whatever she publishes next. That's all for the spoiler-free section - thanks for reading!
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 - 4 stars
Spoiler chat
The structure of this book was really well crafted and put together. I think having this dual POV one after another was fantastic. I admit I was apprehensive at first when we first made the switch over to Martim's Pov, but I ended up even preferring his part of the story. It was really interesting to get these 2 distinct sides and we really learned a lot about the inner workings of corporate leadership whilst still retaining onto the overall mystery of what the fuck is going on with Uchi lol. Having this perspective shift happen just as Isako shoots one of the Uchis was mental. At the time I literally had no idea why there were even 2, so that aspect motivated me to plough through the second half of the book. This is such a pivotal moment in the story and both sides are required to fully understand the complexity of the situation and I am so glad that we got these POV chapters one after another in big chunks as opposed to a duel perspective all the way through. It was just really clever.
So, there's 2 Uchi's because Martim basically becomes Uchi as a jarbrain, whilst Uchi's original body remains active. Honestly, this was kinda big brain from Uchi but also soooo fucked up for Martim to have to do. He's basically eviscerating his entire existence, let alone his physical body, to completely transform into a different person. This is DARK. That must make you feel like absolute shit, knowing that your self-worth means nothing. I really felt bad for him in that moment because what choice did he realistically have? Also, for Martim to die in Uchi's body at the end without anyone ever discovering it was actually him was heart-breaking. His life ultimately did amount to nothing. As soon as Martim became Uchi, Martim was dead and gone.
The ending felt a little anticlimactic but I found myself quite enjoying that. I like how Isako chose the Ronin life with Kob. She's put in a shift and deserves to eat cinnamon buns and be happy yanno. I was expecting her to walk out into the vastness and that the book would end with her Coda. This seems like the obvious choice as there is so much talk about what her coda will be throughout the book, so it seems odd that we never actually find out. Fonda Lee states in the end note how she actually changed the ending in a later draft so I wonder if Isako's death and coda was the original ending. I do think that would have been much more powerful and had a bigger emotional impact. However, I also enjoy that she was able to fully be with herself and relax a little, as one should in retirement.
I need to talk about this Shadowcon scene. So, Isako and Kob are leaving from a meeting with Uchi and they get in a self-driving car organised by Uchi to escort them away. The meeting went badly and they are told they have a grace period of 24 hours to leave so think nothing of it. Turns out this self driving car auto locks and it was a ploy organised by Thea to have Shadowcons assassinate them both. I think mistake number one was getting in a self driving car to begin with. That shit is terrifying! I don't think I would ever do it. Honestly, Teslas are scary enough as it is... The thought of being in a car crash has always been horrendous to me, so to have the idea of being in a self driving car, that won't let you escape, adds a whole new layer to the fuckupery of it all. This scene was epic though and it was fun to see Isaka and Kob in all their samurai glory.
The big twist at the end is that The Great Silence is actually fake news. Turns out that Earth has made frequent attempts to make contact with this planet and every 50 years the board hold a meeting to decide whether it is in their best interest to return that contact or not. It's fascinating how they keep refusing so they can retain on to complete control of this isolated bubble in space. It just goes to show how big leaders really have little interest in what's best for the people and only care about how much more power and control they can have over everyone. As depressing as this is, it makes complete sense to human nature and unfortunately reflects on our own history and current climate of political leadership.
I think that's all for spoiler chat. Whilst it wasn't as good as The Greenbone Saga I still really enjoyed it, which doesn't surprise me as Fonda Lee is clearly an incredible writer. I feel like she writes books which I wouldn't necessarily pick up based on their premise alone, which is great for widening my reading tastes within Fantasy/Sci-fi. Very excited for what she releases next and will no doubt have it on pre-order.
-Ang x
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