Mycroft Canner is a convict. For his crimes he is required, as is the custom of the 25th century, to wander the world being as useful as he can to all he meets. Carlyle Foster is a sensayer–a spiritual counselor in a world that has outlawed the public practice of religion, but which also knows that the inner lives of humans cannot be wished away.The world into which Mycroft and Carlyle have been … have been born is as strange to our 21st-century eyes as ours would be to a native of the 1500s. It is a hard-won utopia built on technologically-generated abundance, and also on complex and mandatory systems of labelling all public writing and speech. What seem to us normal gender distinctions are now distinctly taboo in most social situations. And most of the world’s population is affiliated with globe-girdling clans of the like-minded, whose endless economic and cultural competion is carefully managed by central planners of inestimable subtlety. To us it seems like a mad combination of heaven and hell. To them, it seems like normal life.
And in this world, Mycroft and Carlyle have stumbled on the wild card that may destablize the system: the boy Bridger, who can effortlessly make his wishes come true. Who can, it would seem, bring inanimate objects to life…
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It’s taken me way too long to finish Too Like the Lightning, but I’m glad I made the journey.
I have no words.
Literally, none.
All right, maybe a few.
When you pick up a book attempting something profoundly different from everything within its genre, you’re bound to struggle. To question. To disagree. Too Like the Lightning reads like an ancient text precisely because the author intended it so. Every word placed on the page by Ada Palmer is there because she wished it to be; no phrase or punctuation mark or stray comment exists outside of purpose.
Through the written word, Palmer weaves a tale set centuries in the future portrayed and told as if centuries in the past. Through the enigmatic Mycroft Canner, we begin to experience the tumultuous days destined to throw a Utopic Earth into disarray. What will be the cause? Ego? A wildcard, unexpected by all? Pure mathematics? Ignorance?
All are possible. All are not sufficient.
Even in the moments when the story confuses, you feel, as the reader, as if you are intended to be confused. As if the narrative requires you not to understand. For the language of a 25th century tale would be as alien to us as a tale from the 17th or 18th century.
I don’t know if Too Like the Lightning is my favorite book I’ve recently read . . . but it is definitely one that will impact me more than others.
Writing: 10/10. As I said, every word matters.
Plot: 7/10. The plot confuses. Obfuscates. That’s all right.
Character: 8/10. An immense cast of characters, but by the end, you recognize them all. Especially Mycroft, Thisbe, Bridger, Sniper, Mason, and more.
Setting: 9/10. As alien to us as the Enlightenment, once you recognize Palmer’s genius, there’s no turning back.
Overall: 8.5/10. Four stars—but a high four stars. I loved this book, but it was difficult to read. That’s a good thing. I’m excited to explore its future installments. If you’re looking for a SciFi novel beyond anything you’ve read as of late, Too Like the Lightning will exceed all expectations.
What do you like in a novel? Realistic science fiction? Deep philosophy? The interplay of science, religion, and political power? Beautiful writing? Fantasy about god(s)? The grand sweep of history, or maybe a ghastly murder mystery? I never expected to find all of that, and more, in Ada Palmer’s “Too Like the Lightning”, but it’s there, and more. Never has a book seized my mind for months and months like this one did. Fortunately, this is just the first of a four book series
I couldn’t finish this book; it was too little to my taste, although it may appeal to others.
A world of billions shrunk to city-size by universal supersonic taxi service, so that geographic nations have given way to huge voluntary associations. Public religious discourse has been outlawed after devastating religious wars centuries ago. A miracle-working child appears and threatens the political balance that has kept the peace and created a golden age longer than any other in human history.