Hardcover, 609 pages
English language
Published May 2, 2023 by Orbit.
The third and final novel in a space-opera trilogy about humanity on the brink of extinction, and how one man's discovery will save or destroy everyone.
The 2nd book was a slog to get through but this third and final novel wraps up the series well. As always, Adrian’s strengths are his world building, characters, and he always leaves you with things to think about. This universe contains some of my new favorite characters.
The third and last installment in The Final Architecture space opera series had some high expectations to meet, with a story hinging on the nature of all reality and the stakes set to the possible extinction of all intelligent planet-dwelling life in the universe. We readers have suffered along with the crew of the Vulture God who just happened to sit right at each crucial intersection of galactic forces warring with the unknown menace out of Unspace and by now are wondering what agonies they will be put through in this last outing. I feel like the story comes off exceeding my hopes, adding intriguing and unexpected plot details as all the twisted plot strands get tied up. The heroes don't get out of this completely unscathed but the losses are all invested with meaning for the reader, and the characters who make it through intact are changed by the …
The third and last installment in The Final Architecture space opera series had some high expectations to meet, with a story hinging on the nature of all reality and the stakes set to the possible extinction of all intelligent planet-dwelling life in the universe. We readers have suffered along with the crew of the Vulture God who just happened to sit right at each crucial intersection of galactic forces warring with the unknown menace out of Unspace and by now are wondering what agonies they will be put through in this last outing. I feel like the story comes off exceeding my hopes, adding intriguing and unexpected plot details as all the twisted plot strands get tied up. The heroes don't get out of this completely unscathed but the losses are all invested with meaning for the reader, and the characters who make it through intact are changed by the trial in a convincing manner. Some antagonists do get put in their place too and the whole mystery behind the uncanny universe-building setup basically holds up thanks to some ingenious prose work. It's a thick book but I felt pulled through faster as the climax neared. Half of my pleasure, as I mentioned in my earlier reviews, was due to the virtuosic narration by the audiobook narrator Sophie Aldred. Top rating to a fun deep space thriller which held up its end of the bargain on so many levels.
This book twisted into many unexpected directions after the first arc. +1. Some of the characters were definitely chefs kiss. This series was sufficiently world-buildy/fantady to keep you wondering. Not far fetched, but wild, regardless
This book brought the series to a satisfying end. My only complaint is that the whole thing seems to run long with a lot of repetition. Probably about a third of the entire saga could have been cut. But still a fun ride regardless.
I reviewed this novel for the Hugo-winning blog Nerds of a Feather:
http://www.nerds-feather.com/2023/05/review-lords-of-uncreation-by-adrian.html
