So that was an experience. This book has been out long enough that it’s really hard to avoid reading about it online. I’ve tried my best to stay deep spoiler free, but I’d already heard about the change in perspective (to a second person voice), and I had a pretty good idea of why things were unfolding in the way they were pretty early on.
I can see why this book is controversial. It’s very different from Gideon the Ninth, and if you don’t immediately twig to why things are being presented the way they are, you’re going to be very confused. I think having had some space between reading this book and the last one was actually good for me – I didn’t remember enough about certain things that I could let the hard changes wash over me.
I am very curious to see where things go from here. I’ve also been trying to avoid reading much about Nona the Ninth – I know just enough to wonder how Nona is going to work in from where we’ve ended – I have a couple theories, and I’ll be interested to see how right or wrong I end up being. This is definitely one of the most inventive stories I’ve read in a long while.