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Notes -
One of those books I've never really contemplated reading on account of who the author is and who are her friends.
Am I missing anything ? Is it better written than Iain Banks, not too preachy or stupid ?
People kept telling me to read e.g. Ursula Le Guin and then I stopped in disgust when the author started talking about a planet stealing natural resources from another planet and exporting them by rocket. Wood was mentioned as a commodity. There's suspension of disbelief and there's that.
Oh, goodness. You're probably not going to like it.
There were no obvious SoD-breakers to the setting, in my opinion. It's not hard sci-fi; the underlying principles of the tech aren't reliably explained, but the results are reasonably utilized. No rocket equation issues. Tech is far more constrained than Culture "a wizard computer did it." The worldbuilding is well-executed, and the empire feels like a product of its tech and history rather than a plot contrivance.
I don't know anything about the author or her friends, but I can make some educated guesses. The empire's language is aggressively non-gendered, which the narrator always renders as "she* on account of being a warship. I will argue that such features are well-used rather than preaching or a gimmick--the narrator constantly misgendering non-imperials gives away her background--but if that raises your hackles, you will not enjoy the book.
Doesn't sound too bad, I'll probably check it out. Thanks!
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