Don’t read this review if you’re planning to read the book.
After my unfortunately middling review of book 6 (largely thanks to the Marvel-esque villain problem) I am so happy to report that holy COW we are back! Also please forgive typos, tangents, and the like – I am suffering so mightily from a terrible jet lag.
I’m going to beef up these first few sentences of the review because while I hate to call it a spoiler (given that it’s revealed in, like, literally the first ten words) there is a key element in this book that is so much better when you go in blind. I did a read, and then a “huh?”, and then a reread, and then I skipped with joy. It’s a change that gives book 7 a much-needed boost and it makes every character reintroduction a goddamn delight.
K, I should be below the fold now. Persepolis Rising takes place THIRTY YEARS after Babylon’s Ashes. Getting back in touch with everyone after all this time has passed is an absolute joy – seeing how they’ve grown and who is still a key player and how relationships have evolved and strengthened or let fall to the side. It’s an unusual choice this far in a series that has really told such a tightly chronological story and it is a change that I did not see coming and appreciated all the more for it being a surprise.
And overall, I liked the change in stakes. The holy shit we lost so fast and now we’re the rebels scrambling for survival, it’s awesome. Captain Bobbie Draper is amazing. The resistance on Medina is a joy. Laconia is such a deeply complex evil – a rational evil, kind of like Thanos (bring this review full circle back to Marvel!)
I can’t believe book 8 is going to be the end but damn am I happy to be along for the ride.
I’m pretty sure there are going to be two more books, so you’ve got at least one more than you thought.
Oh, brilliant! I never want it to end.