Too Like the Lightning (Palmer)
Jan. 24th, 2024 07:59 pmI had tried this back in 2016 when it came out (having read Palmer's blog on occasion) and got twenty percent in before grinding to a halt. I knew that a lot of what I couldn't deal with was the narrator Mycroft's voice, and when ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hamsterwoman posted about her Terra Ignota Yuletide gift, I thought, hmm, you know, I've always intended to try this out again, and now that I have several years of salon (working on year 5!) and a LOT more reading of Enlightenment sources under my belt... Also, I was spoiled for what Mycroft Canner had done
And I finished it this time! It did indeed make it rather easier that I now have a lot more experience with the Enlightenment and Enlightenment prose. (Also, I laughed when a salon showed up in the book, although sadly in this salon there was a lot less discussion of historical/literary/scientific ideas (there was a little) and a lot more sex.) I am also now much more used to reading primary documents without being the target audience and therefore not having the applicable context and only being given that later either by reading more or byselenak and mildred_of_midgard -- which is somewhat similar to the experience of reading this book, in that in-character-Mycroft is writing for an audience that is again Not Me but in the future. It's neat that Palmer is able to structure it that way.
I think it's an interesting book! I'm not going to talk about the gender stuff (it's interesting to see that eight years after publication it doesn't seem all that shocking or confusing, whereas I remember it being rather more so on first reading). The worldbuilding is interesting. I was definitely lost for most (maybe all) of the book. I was also warned that the book would end without tying up everything (though there's one very interesting revelation that does get made!) as it's really supposed to be half a book, which was good to know and I will follow up with the next half.
( Ruminations on the concept of the bash', the ending, and Voltaire. No spoilers visible after clicking on this; ending spoilers under a separate details cut. )
Anyway, I very much enjoyed that the book made me think about things, I am definitely going to read the second book, and then we'll see whether I get more or less into the series!
hamsterwoman posted about her Terra Ignota Yuletide gift, I thought, hmm, you know, I've always intended to try this out again, and now that I have several years of salon (working on year 5!) and a LOT more reading of Enlightenment sources under my belt... Also, I was spoiled for what Mycroft Canner had done that is, that he was a serial murderer, though I did not know details
which helped me not throw the book across the room when I got to that part :)And I finished it this time! It did indeed make it rather easier that I now have a lot more experience with the Enlightenment and Enlightenment prose. (Also, I laughed when a salon showed up in the book, although sadly in this salon there was a lot less discussion of historical/literary/scientific ideas (there was a little) and a lot more sex.) I am also now much more used to reading primary documents without being the target audience and therefore not having the applicable context and only being given that later either by reading more or by
selenak and mildred_of_midgard -- which is somewhat similar to the experience of reading this book, in that in-character-Mycroft is writing for an audience that is again Not Me but in the future. It's neat that Palmer is able to structure it that way.I think it's an interesting book! I'm not going to talk about the gender stuff (it's interesting to see that eight years after publication it doesn't seem all that shocking or confusing, whereas I remember it being rather more so on first reading). The worldbuilding is interesting. I was definitely lost for most (maybe all) of the book. I was also warned that the book would end without tying up everything (though there's one very interesting revelation that does get made!) as it's really supposed to be half a book, which was good to know and I will follow up with the next half.
( Ruminations on the concept of the bash', the ending, and Voltaire. No spoilers visible after clicking on this; ending spoilers under a separate details cut. )
Anyway, I very much enjoyed that the book made me think about things, I am definitely going to read the second book, and then we'll see whether I get more or less into the series!
