Described on the jacket as “sociological science fiction.” Humanity lives in a network of cave cities deep beneath the ground, in a society organized into a rigid caste hierarchy. The ruler of the cave city in which this is set dies and a succession struggle ensues. Follows two brothers in a family of the caste that, more or less, rules this city, as well as a servant newly placed in their household. I bought this pre-pandemic, and knew very little about it before I picked it up, so it was a bit of a shock to discover that taboos around touch meant to prevent the spread of infectious disease play an important role in this world and this story. Smart and politically intricate, but not necessarily easy to get into. It certainly doesn’t help its readability that everything and everyone is so dysfunctional, even the more sympathetic characters. One of the brothers is neurodivergent, seemingly with something along the lines of OCD, and I’d be interested in knowing what folks with a richer analysis than me around neurodivergence and mental illness and disability think of the representation, particularly around the way that this aspect of his character and his general villainy and terribleness as a human being were wound together. Overall, the book did manage to grip me by the end…though it felt like a few too many things fell into place too quickly in the final couple of chapters, clearly setting things up for the sequel. It also managed to pique my interest about what comes next: While this one focused on machinations among the nobility and to an extent the servant caste, the cluelessness among the rulers about how this society actually functions was evident and it seemed to be signalling a broader focus and broader sorts of social struggles will show up in future books.
Originally posted by Scott on Goodreads.