Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee

Machineries Of Empire, the most exciting science fiction trilogy of the decade, reaches its astonishing conclusion! When Shuos Jedao wakes up for the first time, several things go wrong. His few memories tell him that he's a seventeen-year-old cadet--but his body belongs to a man decades older. Hexarch Nirai Kujen orders Jedao to reconquer the fractured hexarchate on his behalf even though Jedao has no memory of ever being a soldier, let alone a general. Surely a knack for video games doesn't qualify you to take charge of an army? Soon Jedao learns the situation is even worse. The Kel soldiers under his command may be compelled to obey him, but they hate him thanks to a massacre he can't remember committing. Kujen's friendliness can't hide the fact that he's a tyrant. And what's worse, Jedao and Kujen are being hunted by an enemy who knows more about Jedao and his crimes than he does himself...

A satisfying conclusion to the somewhat bizarre trilogy.

These three books were great, set in a strange universe of calendrical warfare. I still can't explain what that is, but that doesn't matter. Just remember Clarke's Law. What made this book extra challenging was the fact that the protagonist exists twice, and at least at the start, is referred to by the same name, no matter which one of them the story currently focuses on. Once again, it all netaly comes together in the end, and makes for a good “final” book.

“You're not supposed to spend on frivolous shit, but what good is life without some frivolous shit?”

Here we are, the end of a trilogy I greatly enjoyed. It's a testament to how intriguing I found the series that I finished all three books within a span of six months, because I never read series books back-to-back. This was a wild ride, and on the other side I'm still not sure I could explain some of the concepts going on, but I still really enjoyed it.

I won't go into story details, because basically anything I can say about the plot would be spoilers for this book and the series as a whole. Suffice it to say that things get a bit weird(er?), there's new POVs introduced for this book, and some are more endearing than others. If Hemiola could get her own spinoff series, I'd be super happy, thanks. I'm slightly disappointed in the ending, but I guess I can see how things wrapped up.

I do feel like, as tight and clean as the second book felt in terms of plot and progression, this third book felt like a bit of a regression. The story is a bit fragmented for large chunks of the book, and it's hard to see initially how things are supposed to fit. The ending felt a bit rushed and blended together to get everything to work, which felt a bit different than the endings of the other two books.

I still would recommend this series to anyone willing to take on a bit of a challenge in terms of sci-fi terminology and concepts. Jedao is a delight and a treasure.

Executive Summary: A satisfying conclusion to a pretty enjoyable series.Audiobook: Emily Woo Zeller does another great job with the narration. She reads at a good pace with good inflections and volume. I will say this is one of the more difficult series I've done in audio. There are parts I find confusing where I'd probably have reread them if I was doing the text instead of the audio. I think if you're a seasoned audiobook listener you'll be fine, but I'd probably recommend against the audio for the more casual listeners.Full ReviewI feel like this series is one of those people either absolutely love, or simply get put off by all the strange calendar/math stuff. I'm somewhere in the middle. I struggled a lot with the calendar thing and “formation instinct”, until I decided to forgo caring much about it. I basically just treat it like magic or a plot device. At its core this series is a space opera about a struggle for freedom from an oppressive government. Once I focused on that, I enjoyed it a lot more.Of course I decided that two books ago, or I wouldn't be here writing a review of the third book. I don't remember when I read [b:Raven Stratagem 32927239 Raven Stratagem (The Machineries of Empire, #2) Yoon Ha Lee https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1478799108s/32927239.jpg 51237351], but it felt like forever ago because I was REALLY lost for the first day or so of listening. Eventually I got my bearings (and realized that some of my confusion was due to some plot developments) and I really enjoyed the book overall.Three books in, there isn't much I can say without getting into spoiler territory. I'll say that I felt like things were resolved pretty well and that most of the questions I had were answered to my satisfaction. I'd probably read another book in the series if he decided to do a spin-off/sequel series but I don't feel it's necessary either. I will definitely be on the lookout to see what Yoon Ha Lee does next.