A review by helynalc
Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is the type of book after which I immediately want to read more from the author. Damn.

What can I say? For a long while, I had no idea why I was reading this book. This usually bothers me; I like when there's a promise of where we're going and why, at the beginning, but I didn't really have that here. Even the blurb was vague...nothing really hooked me except the dying sun bit. But you know, I wasn't really bothered and it was because of the style. Needed a few pages to settle for me but this slow (slooooow) memoir-like writing just took me with it. Stefan didn't even seem like such an interesting personality first (he got some layers later), but I was very much there for his story.

So, we got to this prison with him, not really sure why, yet, the swamp and the whole place is Bonkers, stuff is happening...sure. Then there's a long flashback bit and suddenly, there are weird powers, characters who start to connect into a network, slowly, distant Shadrapar, the Last City, becomes something living too. This whole apocalyptic world gets slowly colored in, and everything I thought was "well, alright" turns "oh boy". And..."oh, that too??". And I still didn't really know why I was reading about all these weird, *weird* tidbits. I mean, I'm not even sure now, when I finished it. I was always like...okay, this story bit is over, it was fun but now, surely, we get to The Point, right? Oh okay, there's another episode of Stuff, that's cool, okay, let's do this! :D And the little episodes slowly built out the world, the characters, the mood.

And what's this book? It's a story from the end days of humanity. About people, about their chaotic but so, so human decisions and paths. About the cages we lock ourselves in (wow, deep). What's the meaning of it? Well, I think the meaning is that the story was told.

I was never bored (okay, lowest points were the fight scenes but those aren't my friends in the best of circumstances). I enjoyed every page. There was even a Big Sci-fi Moment towards the end to blow my mind. And yes, I wanted to look forward, and I wanted more, but...this was a story from the end days of humanity. Whatever comes after will be a whole another story.

I loved it. I really did. I need the cover as a poster on my wall.