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The Mercy of Gods (James S. A. Corey) (2024): Multi-PoV novel where aliens brutally annex a far future human world that, for reasons so far not signaled, has no idea where it came from, and pull our human PoV characters, academics with bonus secret ridealong spy, into publish or perish on a species level.
Word of God is that this is not in the same universe as the Expanse novels, and since Corey is not J. J. Abrams and this is not Star Trek: Wrath of Khan Reboot Into Darkness, I'm inclined to believe them.
( Spoilers for the novel, oblique Expanse spoilers. )
Good enough to keep reading, if only to see if the bonkers character naming conventions stay bonkers. Some people should make better friends with conlang people, just saying.
"Livesuit" (James S. A. Corey) (2024): Novella in the same universe as TMoG. Timeline bounces between the "now", when the protagonist is an experienced livesuit solider, and episodes leading up to that period.
( More spoilers, same cautions. )
She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker-Chan) (2021): Fantasy-ish retelling of Chinese history, this time the origins of the first Ming emperor, who rose from humble origins to unite China.
In this case, the protagonist is a peasant girl who seizes her brother's destiny of "greatness". This contributes to the novel being Very Gender, especially contrasted with antagonist Ouyang, eunuch and survivor of an otherwise extinct male line. Ouyang spends a lot of time curdling in his damaged masculinity and the long list of things he's not: a Mongol; a Nanren; an undamaged man; an equal of Esen, son of the Prince of Henran; happy in his fated vengeance plan. There's some peak wuxia moments like ( massive late novel spoiler )
If it wasn't evident, there's wuxia vibes. Lots of politics, revenge plotting, and talk of fate.
One of the fun plays on the plotting and alliances is that, in this universe, the Mandate of Heaven manifests as a summon-on-command visual effect. Multiple characters demonstrate this ability. As a worldbuilding nerd, I look at this and ask, "is this a Mandate of Heaven or the person's belief in themselves and/or their ambition?" From a plotting and scheming perspective, it gives the in-universe characters multiple Chosen Leaders to pick from, as their biases see fit.
It's a satisfying book: executes on its premises, worldbuilding checks out, characters are mostly interesting. (Ouyang's angst gets boring for me.) People who aren't me liked it more, so it's probably going to appeal to the Very Gender and Elaborate Sociopolitical Plot people a lot.
Word of God is that this is not in the same universe as the Expanse novels, and since Corey is not J. J. Abrams and this is not Star Trek:
( Spoilers for the novel, oblique Expanse spoilers. )
Good enough to keep reading, if only to see if the bonkers character naming conventions stay bonkers. Some people should make better friends with conlang people, just saying.
"Livesuit" (James S. A. Corey) (2024): Novella in the same universe as TMoG. Timeline bounces between the "now", when the protagonist is an experienced livesuit solider, and episodes leading up to that period.
( More spoilers, same cautions. )
She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker-Chan) (2021): Fantasy-ish retelling of Chinese history, this time the origins of the first Ming emperor, who rose from humble origins to unite China.
In this case, the protagonist is a peasant girl who seizes her brother's destiny of "greatness". This contributes to the novel being Very Gender, especially contrasted with antagonist Ouyang, eunuch and survivor of an otherwise extinct male line. Ouyang spends a lot of time curdling in his damaged masculinity and the long list of things he's not: a Mongol; a Nanren; an undamaged man; an equal of Esen, son of the Prince of Henran; happy in his fated vengeance plan. There's some peak wuxia moments like ( massive late novel spoiler )
If it wasn't evident, there's wuxia vibes. Lots of politics, revenge plotting, and talk of fate.
One of the fun plays on the plotting and alliances is that, in this universe, the Mandate of Heaven manifests as a summon-on-command visual effect. Multiple characters demonstrate this ability. As a worldbuilding nerd, I look at this and ask, "is this a Mandate of Heaven or the person's belief in themselves and/or their ambition?" From a plotting and scheming perspective, it gives the in-universe characters multiple Chosen Leaders to pick from, as their biases see fit.
It's a satisfying book: executes on its premises, worldbuilding checks out, characters are mostly interesting. (Ouyang's angst gets boring for me.) People who aren't me liked it more, so it's probably going to appeal to the Very Gender and Elaborate Sociopolitical Plot people a lot.