The Ministry of Time

Maybe a 3.5 if I’m being generous? While the story is intriguing, the execution is muddy. It is never really clear what anybody’s motivations are, and the on-the-brink-of-collapse world-building is depressing. It feels like the author had a goal in mind, but I could never work out what that was (something about refugees and colonialist attitudes?). The authors also had a very odd turn of phrase when it comes to similes; they sound poetically original, but fall apart if you think about them too long...