REVIEW: Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone
A feminist Guardians of the Galaxy—a smart, swashbuckling, wildly imaginative adventure of a rag-tag team of brilliant misfits, dangerous renegades, and enhanced outlaws in a war-torn future.
A wildly successful innovator to rival Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, Vivian Liao is prone to radical thinking, quick decision-making, and reckless action. On the eve of her greatest achievement, she’s trying to outrun those who are trying to steal her success.
In the chilly darkness of a Boston server farm, Viv sets her ultimate plan into motion. A terrifying instant later, Vivian Liao is catapulted through space and time to a far future where she confronts a destiny stranger and more deadly than she could ever imagine.
The end of time is ruled by an ancient, powerful Empress who blesses or blasts entire planets with a single thought. Rebellion is literally impossible to consider–until Vivian arrives. Trapped between the Pride, a ravening horde of sentient machines, and a fanatical sect of warrior monks who call themselves the Mirrorfaith, Viv must rally a strange group of allies to confront the Empress and find a way back to the world and life she left behind.
A magnificent work of vivid imagination and universe-spanning action, Empress of Forever is a feminist Guardians of the Galaxy crossed with Star Wars and spiced with the sensibility and spirit of Iain M. Banks and William Gibson.
Review:
Dear Max Gladstone,
I loved your Craft series. I am still couple of books behind so when I saw a new seemingly stand alone fantasy book coming up, I preordered it, full price and all that. I have to say first and foremost that I absolutely see how it can be a five star book for other readers. It is certainly a work of a writer who knows his craft very well and the world building of the future is *fascinating* for the lack of better word. Unfortunately despite that the book did not really work for me, and the main character is to blame for my disconnect with the story I think.
The blurb gives you the set up and it happens pretty much in the first chapter, so I don’t think it is a spoiler to talk about Vivian who is amazing, brilliant, awesome, super super rich and socially conscious to boot. She gives her workers free health care and even free housing. Her people help out in the time of natural disasters. There was something else she did, but I forgot what was that to show case her social consciousness. I am writing this review two or three weeks after I read the book hoping I would have a clearer picture of what I thought about it.
So far so good, socially conscious billionaire is somebody who I wish existed more often in real life, but right in the very beginning the plot made a weird turn – in my head I called that plot turn “Atlas Shrugged” backwards. Yes, I read that book, no I didn’t care for it. I read Atlas years ago and my recollection of the premise was that extra rich decided to temporarily fall of the end of the Earth because the world did not appreciate them enough.
In this book, apparently the establishment didn’t like Vivian – so much that they decided to kill her. I am still not sure why, but I think I was supposed to think that because she was socially conscious establishment decided to do away with her. Sorry but I did not buy it. When you are on the top, do the others really care what your political views are as long as you have tons of money? Not that I would put past her alleged ultra rich pals to do something horrible to her, but I seriously needed better justification than none? I mean, Vivian implied that because she was socially conscious (my words, the book does not use those), but it sounded kind of ridiculous to me.
Of course I get that the author needed a reason for Vivian to run and very soon (first or second chapter.) She ends up in the bizarre future, with the world where, as blurb tells you, the Empress can kill or foster the civilizations and planets and god forbid you get on her bad side. Vivian does together with some other characters whom she saves along the way and who save her several times.
As I said before, the worldbuilding in this book truly shines – the book starts to twist and turn pretty much the moment Vivian appears in the future, and the author does not chew the information for us but lets us figure it out as we move along, or to be more precise run or fly together with the characters. It is a fast-moving, fast-paced fantasy adventure.
Unfortunately I could not figure out why I am supposed to care about the main character, her shining perfection even when she ends up in idiotic situations grated on my nerves. The last third of the book produced a plot twist which should have been obvious but it was not for me, so I liked that. I also ended up caring for one secondary character, who ends up almost dead, but that’s about it.
Grade: C
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It’s too bad the book didn’t work for you as the first paragraph of the blurb makes it sound as if it would be amazing.
I listened to this on audio, and my main complaint was that I wanted the story to be tighter–I felt it needed to lose a good chunk of plot, which while reading didn’t feel unnecessary, but upon reflection slowed things down waaaaay too much as the end goal kept shifting.
But I LOVED the characters, and how Gladstone played with the ragtag band of misfits trope. That was absolutely worth it for me. He’s really, really good at characters and world building.
Floating Lush yes I think he is amazing writer so I can easily understand why the book worked for you . Jayne if the blurb appeals I would try the sample . See if it works . Writing was definitely top notch .i wish I could loan it to you but it is not lendable .
I really liked this book as I was reading it, but it hasn’t stuck with me the way some of Gladstone’s other books do.
As for why people want to kill her, I thought it was because she was threatening the existing social order by showing that her organization could create a new, better social order that actually cared about people. And I read her as being a bit sociopathic; the do-gooding was a means of amassing public goodwill and, with it, power.
Until she’s thrown into space, everything she does is to further her own goals, her own viewpoints, amass more power for herself. Her viewpoint is the only one that matters. And throughout the book, she comes to understand other people’s viewpoints and what they care about. For me, it was a book about an I becoming a We.
@elizabeth cheung: Makes sense ( re: why people wanted to kill her). I suppose I just did not get a feel that what she was doing was so radical as to threaten political order . And I really like that you read her as being a bit sociopathic – maybe it will help me to think of her as at least somewhat flawed character.
Did you read his collaboration with Amal El-Mohtar, THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR? It’s about an epistolary rivalry / love affair between two time-travelling agents for their respective eschatons – both female, one cybernetic/technological , one biological/botanical. I was expecting more of a romp, to be honest, but was completely wrecked by the trippy world-building, ravishing prose, and heartbreaking romance.
Like oxygen, it both burned me and revived me. I think you’d like it.
@hapax: I have read it upon Janine’s recommendation actually :). I loved the romance and mostly loved the story ( when I say mostly I only mean that I found couple of things confusing). That actually is a good place to ask what did you guys think about romantic elements in this story?
@Sirius: I meant “Empress forever” just to be clear.
@hapax: Sirius and I both read it. We wanted to do a joint review, but we ended up deciding not to because it’s hard to say much about this book without massive spoilers. I plan to write a bit about it in my next “What Janine is Reading” post but there will probably be only a paragraph or two devoted to it because of that.