Book Review: Eyes of the Void, by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The second book in the Final Architecture series.
Orbit, 2022, 595 pages
The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us the second novel in an extraordinary space opera trilogy about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.
After eighty years of fragile peace, the Architects are back, wreaking havoc as they consume entire planets. In the past, Originator artifacts-vestiges of a long-vanished civilization-could save a world from annihilation. This time, the Architects have discovered a way to circumvent these protective relics. Suddenly, no planet is safe.
Facing impending extinction, the Human Colonies are in turmoil. While some believe a unified front is the only way to stop the Architects, others insist humanity should fight alone. And there are those who would seek to benefit from the fractured politics of war-even as the Architects loom ever closer.
Idris, who has spent decades running from the horrors of his past, finds himself thrust back onto the battlefront. As an Intermediary, he could be one of the few to turn the tide of war. With a handful of allies, he searches for a weapon that could push back the Architects and save the galaxy. But to do so, he must return to the nightmarish unspace, where his mind was broken and remade.
What Idris discovers there will change everything.
The Final Architecture series (a trilogy so far) is one of Adrian Tchaikovsky's big epic space operas. Yes, one of them. The man churns out multi-volume series like a machine, and yet every one reads like another author's primary work.
In this space opera, moon-sized constructs called the Architects destroyed Earth, as they have destroyed the homeworlds of many other races throughout the galaxy. Humanity and several other races fought a war of survival against the Architects decades ago, before the Architects abruptly withdrew, for reasons known only to a few.
Now they are back, and Idris Telemmier, one of the few survivors of the first war, is also the only one who knows the truth: the Architects are not the real enemy. They are merely the servants of some other entity.
The first book in the series, Shards of Earth, introduced us to the Final Architecture setting, to Idris Telemmier, and to all our other characters aboard the crew of the free trader and salvage vessel Vulture God. With a motley cast of space buccaneers and a bunch of different factions, it was fun and grand in scale while still keeping a tight, Firefly vibe.
Eyes of the Void is the second book of a (so far) trilogy, and while I enjoyed it a lot, it mostly just... continued the story and felt very much like the series mid-point it is. Idris is a hot property that multiple space empires want to acquire-ahem, employ, to reproduce the brutal, low-survival-rate "Intermediary" program that created Intermediaries like him who can guide spaceships faster than light through Unspace. Idris is unhappy with his role despite knowing that the survival of billions probably depends on his efforts.
Despite the looming threat of the Architects, humanity of course cannot get its shit together. The Parthenon - an empire of genetically-engineered warrior women - are on the verge of war with the Council of Human Interests. The rival space empire the Hegemony, ruled by a race of clam-like beings who consider themselves gods, is no better at unity or cooperation. Idris falls in with a group of mad scientists trying to plumb the secrets of Unspace, and winds up being somewhat unwillingly "rescued" by the crew of the Vulture God.
There is a lot going on here, with a story told from multiple POVs. My favorites of course are the family-like crew of the Vulture God, including Olli, the cantankerous cripple who doesn't like anyone, Myrmidon Executor Solace, a Parthenon warrior who is slowly releasing the genetically engineered stick up her butt, Kris, a lawyer from a world where "legal cases" are fought with knife duels, and Kit, a hivemind accountant whose flat one-liners are the funniest of all.
There were no big revelations in this book, nor really, any huge moments where the entire war turns. Idris is unraveling the secrets of the Originators a bit at a time, and being his usual neurotic self, while the rest of the galaxy tries to get its act together as the Architects return. Tchaikovsky's strength is really characters; while he creates big, sprawling interesting settings with a dozen different races suitable for RPGing (yet less RPG-like than another author I could name coughBrandon Sandersoncough), it's the characters who make you come back to see how they will PC their way through the plot.
A very good book that really just whets your appetite for the conclusion.
Also by Adrian Tchaikovsky: My reviews of Children of Time, Children of Ruin, Children of Memory, Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling, Blood of the Mantis, Salute the Dark, The Scarab Path, The Expert System's Brother, The Expert System's Champion, Made Things, and Shards of Earth.
My complete list of book reviews.
Orbit, 2022, 595 pages
The Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author of Children of Time brings us the second novel in an extraordinary space opera trilogy about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy us all.
After eighty years of fragile peace, the Architects are back, wreaking havoc as they consume entire planets. In the past, Originator artifacts-vestiges of a long-vanished civilization-could save a world from annihilation. This time, the Architects have discovered a way to circumvent these protective relics. Suddenly, no planet is safe.
Facing impending extinction, the Human Colonies are in turmoil. While some believe a unified front is the only way to stop the Architects, others insist humanity should fight alone. And there are those who would seek to benefit from the fractured politics of war-even as the Architects loom ever closer.
Idris, who has spent decades running from the horrors of his past, finds himself thrust back onto the battlefront. As an Intermediary, he could be one of the few to turn the tide of war. With a handful of allies, he searches for a weapon that could push back the Architects and save the galaxy. But to do so, he must return to the nightmarish unspace, where his mind was broken and remade.
What Idris discovers there will change everything.
The Final Architecture series (a trilogy so far) is one of Adrian Tchaikovsky's big epic space operas. Yes, one of them. The man churns out multi-volume series like a machine, and yet every one reads like another author's primary work.
In this space opera, moon-sized constructs called the Architects destroyed Earth, as they have destroyed the homeworlds of many other races throughout the galaxy. Humanity and several other races fought a war of survival against the Architects decades ago, before the Architects abruptly withdrew, for reasons known only to a few.
Now they are back, and Idris Telemmier, one of the few survivors of the first war, is also the only one who knows the truth: the Architects are not the real enemy. They are merely the servants of some other entity.
The first book in the series, Shards of Earth, introduced us to the Final Architecture setting, to Idris Telemmier, and to all our other characters aboard the crew of the free trader and salvage vessel Vulture God. With a motley cast of space buccaneers and a bunch of different factions, it was fun and grand in scale while still keeping a tight, Firefly vibe.
Eyes of the Void is the second book of a (so far) trilogy, and while I enjoyed it a lot, it mostly just... continued the story and felt very much like the series mid-point it is. Idris is a hot property that multiple space empires want to acquire-ahem, employ, to reproduce the brutal, low-survival-rate "Intermediary" program that created Intermediaries like him who can guide spaceships faster than light through Unspace. Idris is unhappy with his role despite knowing that the survival of billions probably depends on his efforts.
Despite the looming threat of the Architects, humanity of course cannot get its shit together. The Parthenon - an empire of genetically-engineered warrior women - are on the verge of war with the Council of Human Interests. The rival space empire the Hegemony, ruled by a race of clam-like beings who consider themselves gods, is no better at unity or cooperation. Idris falls in with a group of mad scientists trying to plumb the secrets of Unspace, and winds up being somewhat unwillingly "rescued" by the crew of the Vulture God.
There is a lot going on here, with a story told from multiple POVs. My favorites of course are the family-like crew of the Vulture God, including Olli, the cantankerous cripple who doesn't like anyone, Myrmidon Executor Solace, a Parthenon warrior who is slowly releasing the genetically engineered stick up her butt, Kris, a lawyer from a world where "legal cases" are fought with knife duels, and Kit, a hivemind accountant whose flat one-liners are the funniest of all.
There were no big revelations in this book, nor really, any huge moments where the entire war turns. Idris is unraveling the secrets of the Originators a bit at a time, and being his usual neurotic self, while the rest of the galaxy tries to get its act together as the Architects return. Tchaikovsky's strength is really characters; while he creates big, sprawling interesting settings with a dozen different races suitable for RPGing (yet less RPG-like than another author I could name coughBrandon Sandersoncough), it's the characters who make you come back to see how they will PC their way through the plot.
A very good book that really just whets your appetite for the conclusion.
Also by Adrian Tchaikovsky: My reviews of Children of Time, Children of Ruin, Children of Memory, Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling, Blood of the Mantis, Salute the Dark, The Scarab Path, The Expert System's Brother, The Expert System's Champion, Made Things, and Shards of Earth.
My complete list of book reviews.