Critiques et Commentaires

Finished this novel by @samitbasu@mastodon.social on the backdrop of Indian PM Narendra Modi visiting Macron for Bastille Day celebrations. Fitting, really, when in France there's talks of generalized surveillance of the population (like the ability for the police to unlock your phone to record people).

A fun and engaging read, with an interesting magic system.

Heard a lot of good things from this book!

The idea of a “ship of Theseus” disposable human is engaging, but the book doesn’t do it justice. It’s a short read, not without its entertaining moments, but I don’t think I’ll be curious enough to read what’s bound to come next.

La langue pseudo-moyenâgeuse déployée par l’auteur peut paraître comme un gimmick au premier abord, mais elle est fluide et divertissante. Le mythe de Jeanne d’Arc est égratigné avec brio et références moultes, il y a du Pratchett dans l’esprit, mais aussi du Douglas Addams et même une grosse louchée de Lovecraft. Une excellente surprise, lue rapidement, que je conseille à toutes les personnes qui aiment être diverties par la lecture.

I liked it because it was well written and short. Longer would have been boring, shorter would have cut too much. I wonder how the author's experience during the pandemic influenced the Last Book Tour Before the End of the World chapter (at least one discussion in the book was real—but from 2015). I liked this book very much, but I liked Station Eleven better, hence the 4 stars.

Three successive stories, told in interwoven chapters. Three visions of what Maya culture was, is and could be. One tale could be read like mesoamerican fantasy, one like contemporary magical realism and one like the best kind of utopian science fiction.