REVIEW: Engines of Reason by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The highly anticipated sequel to the Hugo Award–nominated Elder Race, by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky. Visit a world where sorcery intertwines with science.
On a planet where stories govern identity, where science and magic are merely a point of view, a fallen princess, a reluctant wizard, and a precocious child must unravel the past to shape the future.
Betrayal, ancient myths, and a clash of worlds converge in this spellbinding tale of courage, friendship, and self-discovery from one of science fiction’s most compelling voices.
Dear Mr. Tchaikovsky,
Roughly five years ago, I read “Elder Race” which I found fascinating but still had some problems with. Now a failed anthropologist who has broken the rules and engaged with his study subjects plus a student princess magician whom he helped all those years ago, that princess’s daughter, a bandit trying for something better from the dregs of what the powerful have left him, and something that no one seems to know exactly what she is are all facing off in a world of failing politics.
I have not reread “Elder Race” in the years since I initially read it so bits and pieces of it came back to me as I read this long novella. I guess that new readers could start here but I fear that they would be too adrift in some parts. So, if possible, start with book one.
This is a world in which language is key to diplomacy and politics. The story mentions a bit about how Nyr – the anthropologist/wizard – and the descendants of the original colonists to the planet used to speak the same language but how that language has morphed over a millennia. Sometimes Nyr doesn’t realize how pompous or condescending he sounds. He does realize that the purpose for which he and three others – now gone – were sent to this planet, to study what these colonists had become, is pompous and condescending. He also tries to avoid being used for political gains or threats by Lyn’s elder sister, the regent.
In the years since “Elder Race” in which Lyn and others plus Nyr, saved this world from a ghastly demon, politics have stirred up all kinds of issues. I caught what I guess are references to today’s politics and political powers run amok. Bandit Sendra and his followers are the displaced and disenfranchised little people who are caught between the machinations of the powerful, ground to dust, and left with little or nothing. As I read on, I, like Nyr, couldn’t help but feel sympathy for them regardless of the fact that at times their banditry is described as bloody and ruthless. When you’re fighting for scraps, you’ll be ruthless.
When Nyr arrives to discover Lyn in talks with Sendra, who has happened upon ancient mechanical tech he’s now using, with help from a witch, to raise his importance, the witch is who catches Nyr’s attention. Who or what is she? What is her game plan and will the planet’s inhabitants survive? And this is where things get a little hard to follow. Later, Lyn and Nyr speculate on what is driving Ilmoth Elder but speculation is all the reader gets which … I guess, okay. We’re talking about one planet’s colonists spreading across the stars and encountering something and then dealing with it, sort of.
Anyway, I finished “Elder Race” thinking it a standalone but here we are with a years later follow up. “Engines of Reason” leaves plenty of possibilities for another story in the series. I might not totally grasp everything about them but I want to dive into this world and swim through the currents. The self discovery and growth that Nyr, Lyn, and Sendra go through is another plus. Another novella here, please and more of Esha. B
~Jayne
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