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A Desolation Called Peace
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Series: Teixcalaan by Arkady Martine ("A Desolation Called Peace")
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Anyone else finished with Desolation? I finished it several days ago...
I recently read and enjoyed #1. Unfortunately, Desolation is not released on kindle in Australia till May 11th, which is where I live. *shrugs* Oh well. Once I've read it I might come back and visit the discussion here and read the comments then.
I've finished it and I liked it better than the first book.
I’m still 2 of 2 on my library hold
Umm so I kinda finished it but maybe not really since I skimmed 1/3 of the book. Definitely lost interest despite a spike in 2/3 of the book that jolted me awake (view spoiler). Not sure if it's the overall plot, characters, writing, or even the combination, they just did not work for me.
I am just getting back to Desolation right now. I started listening when it first came out, and then life happened, and now I'm finally back to it. I'm on chapter 7. I loved Memory and so far I'm loving this one too.
I'm at like 21% and I'm still having problems, though I am glad to find out that it's mostly going to be about (view spoiler)The more I think about it, the more annoyed I am that after all that happened in book one, (view spoiler)
Silvana wrote: "Umm so I kinda finished it but maybe not really since I skimmed 1/3 of the book. Definitely lost interest despite a spike in 2/3 of the book that jolted me awake [spoilers removed]. Not sure if it'..."Oh right, I completely forgot to comment here after I finished. I'm very much with Silvana here. I finished it, there was a skeleton of a good story in it, but it was buried underneath so much talking and explanations and feeling that it left me untouched.
I should not have read all this lol. I’m getting from library today and I’m not as excited 😝
Rachel wrote: "I should not have read all this lol. I’m getting from library today and I’m not as excited 😝"Gabi and I are the minorities, look at the ratings :D
I guess it depends also how much you are invested in the story. TBH, I was not too invested from the first book.
ETA
There are some aspects in it that I enjoyed much better in other novels:
(view spoiler)
YMMV
Well I’ll post here as I go - sounds like I’ll be alternating this with another overly wordy book (ministry fir the future) Si we’ll see how it goes!
Well ... I quite liked the prelude- it was cool.
I never (successfully) do this, but I'm giving serious thought to putting this down for a while. The pace I'm reading this at is murder; it's the kind of pace where I eventually find I just stop reading entirely for a while.
Just too much else I want to read right now.
I still intend to finish this one, it's on my alphabet challenge so I kinda gotta, but just not right now.
And I'll be perfectly honest; so little has happened at 30% that I'm not too concerned about "remembering what happened" when I pick it back up.
Good choice, Joon. Reading should be fun.
Gabi wrote: "... But there is so much talking and thinking going on, that no suspense is created."I finally started listening to this and it didn't take long to see your point. I remember there being a lot of that in the first book too but there was an immediacy in the first one that pulled me in and meant that the book worked well for me. So far that's not happening here.
Really? I think a lot happens in both books! And there is a lot of thinking about it as well...
I think I was in the minority in this BR as I liked it quite well - maybe more than the first. The alien first contact plot is a nice SF plot and fine well. I liked the main POVs (at first I wasn’t sure about the boy emperor but I ended up liked him too).
I liked it too, Rachel, but my experience was seriously marred by that crappy ARC I had to suffer through. I thought there were some really great moments in this one and I loved the characters of “Cure” the Heir Emperor and “Swarm”. I liked the various ways collective intelligence or hive mind were created and the promise of collaboration in order to communicate.
I’m 90% in and loving it so far, probably more than the first TBH.
I developed a bit of a chile pepper obsession when I was living in New Mexico so I was very amused to see a character named Six Capsaicin in this book. I wondered what prompted that, checked, and found that the author now lives in New Mexico. Yay! Another convert. 🌶️
Necroposting! I just got this book from my library and I’m about a third of the way through. I find the world and tone enjoyable, if a little chilly. I definitely feel C.J. Cherryh’s influence, but Martine isn’t quite able to reach the emotional depths of Cherryh’s work, at least so far. I’m also struck again by how enamored Martine is with italics. Although that’s a quirk that doesn’t really bother me. (view spoiler)I count these books as ones to admire and be fascinated by, but I have yet to fully fall in love with them.
I finished this yesterday, and I wound up being quite impressed overall. It’s rare these days to read a *duology* rather than a trilogy, and I was very satisfied by how Martine managed to build off of the first novel to reach a well-earned conclusion. And I admired how well she was able to broaden her POV work in this volume. I especially enjoyed spending time with Eight Antidote’s POV. I also thought Swarm was a wonderful new character. All in all, I think Arkady Martine is a fine, fiercely intelligent writer willing to take big risks, and I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.
Cheryl and I are going to read A Desolation Called Peace starting Monday, February 10.Please join if you're interested.
We also have a readalong over on TGS with some other club members - https://app.thestorygraph.com/readalo...
Thanks for posting in this thread, Olga! I have trouble finding the right threads for our buddy reads.
I'm really looking forward to continuing this duology in the intriguing world of the Teixcalaanli Empire.The two quotes about colonialism, including one related directly to the Incan empire, provided before the Prelude are interesting additions, and I suspect the first is providing quite a bit of foreshadowing. And the Prelude? Wow, not sure this bodes well for the humans.
Cheryl L wrote: "I'm really looking forward to continuing this duology in the intriguing world of the Teixcalaanli Empire.The two quotes about colonialism, including one related directly to the Incan empire, prov..."
Absolutely agree on both the quotes and the Prelude. Such a teaser on what our aliens are going to turn out to be. Some kind of hive mind, based on technology, rather than "meat"?
Also, Teixcalaan culture is all about poems, and "we" speak about singing...
Finished Chapter 3, enjoying the multiple POVs so far.And I just felt so excited when (view spoiler)
I'm at chapter 9 and I find that the second book is a tad slower and, I don't know, less focused maybe? In the first one Mahit was the sole focus of our attention and everything else was perceived through her. It gave the book a clear direction.Here, though, I feel a bit discombobulated and this makes me less eager to take up the book, so I mostly procrastinate. I should have finished the book by now, but I'm actually only 41% through.
I did like the different POVs at first, but now it somehow became too distracting.
I enjoy (view spoiler)
Olga, I'm a little behind on my reading this week but am now getting back into the book. I'm currently on chapter 3. I generally don't mind multiple points of view in a narrative so we'll see how I get on. I am intrigued by the very strange seeming aliens.
Cheryl L wrote: "Olga, I'm a little behind on my reading this week but am now getting back into the book. I'm currently on chapter 3. I generally don't mind multiple points of view in a narrative so we'll see how..."
No worries, I got distracted by The Mercy of Gods a little, so paused Teixcalaan for a day or two.
And speaking about aliens, the Corey duo nailed them. They also have a swarm mind there and a whole range of utterly alien aliens.
Olga wrote: "Cheryl L wrote: "Olga, I'm a little behind on my reading this week but am now getting back into the book. I'm currently on chapter 3. I generally don't mind multiple points of view in a narrative..."
I haven't read Mercy of the Gods yet but it sounds intriguing. I do want to read the entire Expanse series though.
Oh, the Expanse is amazing, one of my all-time favourite sci-fi series. It's absolutely worth the time to go through.
Apparently they have a SyFy deal to adapt The Mercy of Gods as well!
MadProfessah wrote: "Apparently they have a SyFy deal to adapt The Mercy of Gods as well!"Nice!
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I mean it's basically to the point where if book two isn't primarily about (view spoiler)[the mysterious alien threat (hide spoiler)] then I'm out.
I can't overstate how little I care about ANYONE in this book other than Mahit and Three Seagrass. Every single other character in this book can **** right off.
Which is kind of why I tend to avoid "political intrigue" type books. Because 1.) nothing ever happens in them, and 2.) I end up hating almost everyone.