Pretenders to the Throne of God (The Tyrant Philosophers #4), by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Book
Synopsis:
Arthur C. Clarke winner and Sunday Times bestseller returns to a world steeped in magic – and the Tyrant Philosophers' campaign to bring reason, logic and 'perfection' to it.
Eres Ffenegh - “the City on the Back of a Crab” - is the next state slated for conquest by the Palleseen, but its citizens won't give up sovereignty easily, and the siege has now dragged into the harsh Eresi winter. The defenders – both locals and Pal renegades – hold an uneasy alliance against the enemy at the gates, while the Pal army is constantly looking over its shoulder for the next self-destructive dictate of their government back home.
Within the city, Devil Jack is the apprentice to the notorious conjurer and bawd known as the Widow, a good man driven to bargaining with hell to get back what he's lost. Meanwhile Kiffel ea Leachan is the city's champion, a child of privilege who's just lost everything to the invaders. We follow the ups and downs of both as they try to survive the siege and make their own destinies in a world that's cut them loose.
Outside the city, the Pals have been desperately waiting for reinforcements so they can finally take the city, but when new soldiers finally march in with the winter it's the worst kind of help, enough to damn the entire army.
My Review
Each instalment of the Tyrant Philosophers has shown us another step of the Palleseen Crusade in the search for perfection, changing perspectives and progressively exploring more parts of that wild world they are trying to shape in their own vision; Pretenders to the Throne of God is not an exception, portraying the siege of Eres Ffenegh, the pieces that form this mosaic and finally showing cracks in the Palleseen Ways, a story with the usual brilliance that characterizes Adrian Tchaikovsky's novels.
A common element on all the novels of the series is how Tchaikovsky uses a vast number of eyes to show the complete picture of the situation; in this case, we will be in both sides of the conflict, with the inhabitants of Eres Ffenegh and renegade Pals, trying to do what they can to save their homes, finding some compromise, but also inside a Palleseen army, trying to reclaim Eres Ffenegh to impose their perfect ways, even when inside the own army we will start to see more discordant voices with the strict rules imposed by the Temporal Commission. Each character's narrative connects and intertwines with the others, creating that big portrait that becomes a study of the own setting, this Eres Ffenegh under siege.
And it's incredibly interesting to see how the usual orthodoxy that rules the Palleseen ways cracks in the confrontation with Eres Ffenegh, recurring to unusual tactics like the ones provided by the Lich Queen or how many soldiers can become a problem for the Commission once they return to the Archipelago; each one of those small defects, as they would be called, in the end become pivotal pieces on the plot, and in certain ways, are the start of a fracture that will threaten the Empire. Like you can see a system that is eating itself as it becomes too rigid, unable to accept certain out of the box ideas that were already fine for them.
Said that, Tchaikovsky makes exploring the own Eres Ffenegh equally interesting to the siege, opening a window to the Palleseen past and their old ways; a bit of chaos, but especially with Black Jack's plot, I couldn't stop reading, because each single piece helped me to tie all the knots.
What can I say at this point? I love this series, and honestly, I think Tchaikovsky has outdone himself with this particular instalment; I can't recommend The Tyrant Philosophers enough, but if you want an adult epic fantasy that invites you to think while showing the skill of an author in the craft of a multilayered story, this should be your pick. Can't wait to see how everything ends with The Grave of Perfection next year!
The Author/s
Adrian Tchaikovsky
Adrian Tchaikovsky es un autor británico de fantasía y ciencia ficción, galardonado con varios premios, incluidos el Arthur C. Clarke, el British Fantasy, el British Science Fiction y el Sidewise. Es autor de la aclamada decalogía fantástica Shadows of the Apt, y de exitosas series como Children of Time y Echoes of the Fall, además de un gran número de novelas independientes y relatos cortos. Gran aficionado a los juegos de rol en vivo y la entomología, actualmente vive en Leeds junto a su familia.