This is the middle entry in the Final Architecture series. Middle books often fade a bit, but this one really impressed me. It seems to be hard to be original in Space Opera these days--so many of the award-nominated books in most of the majors are fantasy, alternate history, or barely speculative at all. Tchaikovsky manages to tell a real grabber of a story and at the same time add something to the subgenre.
All space opera is really sea stories--a technology is introduced that makes voyages between stars possible, but difficult, like a long hazardous sea voyage. The sea here is Unspace, a place where nothing seems real but something is present. Idris Telemmier is one of the few remaining identified talents at navigating, and bearing the strain of, this space.The plot is amazing and convoluted, and the fights are somehow realistic among all the speculation. I still don't know how writers do that--what incredible world building goes into making aliens and technology come together in believable combat. There's a lot of it here and it's really well integrated and satisfying.
What I like best about this series, though, is the relationship of the crew. There are plenty of intrepid, marginal spaceship crews pulling off amazing feats through their devotion to each other (the Rocinante of the Expanse is the best). The great thing here is the crew's unique devotion to utterly damaged, fragile, crucial Idris Telemmier. He is so obviously vital to every player's plans that he can't move without an army chasing him. He is also utterly helpless in most circumstances, such that the Vulture God crew would do anything for him and yet it's not at all weird or cloying, just charming and inspiring. Even those who want to use him utterly tend to soften up. His specific strengths allow him to come through and save the day.
Am looking forward to reading the last one in the series, and if it's the end, I will miss this bunch.
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