Lords of Uncreation (The Final Architecture, 3)

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Lords of Uncreation is the triumph of the series, when so many details snap into focus, and I get awed all over again at the scope and depth of Tchaikovsky’s imagination. The third volume of what should NOT have been a trilogy, Lords of Uncreation bears the greater burden of the chronic bloating, padding, filler, and regurgitation that stretches this story out for well over 1500 pages. The scientists and politicians controlling the Ints hope to destroy the Architects where they live in the mysterious world of unspace.

And even if my expectations were for it to be something more surprising and exciting, it did provide a satisfying ending to the central mystery of the series (the nature of unspace and the mysterious masters of the architects). Idris is really kind of a drag in this one, especially his forays into Unspace with their lengthy descriptions of what he sees and feels. Fans of space opera should leave the book in breathless anticipation of the second installment in the trilogy.The third installment really rounds out the story and fleshes out the characters in ways I didn't expect. The other is providing a way for our relatively mundane protagonists to fight back without straining credulity. Because I have now decided it ranked higher in my estimation than the Children of Time trilogy just because of the sheer adrenaline rush it gives alone. I pretty much skimmed the last 50 pages just to get it over with but I give the whole series 4 stars as a whole and hopefully I’ll understand it more on a reread and will give it 5 stars! Yet as a someone who judges books more as a journey than a destination, my excitement was dulled by the time that the story picked up.

Well, if you need a mind-blowing, awe-inspiring, emotionally-charged powerhouse of a Science-Fiction novel, look no further than Adrian Tchaikovsky. The Eye is surrounded by fragments of a vast spaceship which turns out to be its own unique design created by some unknown species. Lords of Uncreation achieves a remarkable turnabout of perspective in which we see Idris looking at the universe from the other side of the real. Idris argues against the extermination of the Architects and senses in their strangely artistic way of reworking the planets they destroy “the expression of their grief at being made to do the will of monsters. Here everything is fleshed out and written in a way where it's easier to grasp as pieces of the story start getting resolved.Deep within Unspace, where time moves very differently, and what passes for reality is not quite what it seems. Then Olli is made a hero for the rest of the book through Essiel magic and gets to live a happy lesbian life at the end. As frustrating as it was, it’s depressingly realistic to see politicians and oligarchs causing conflict and sacrificing the majority just for the sake of keeping their status.

But still, even a slightly sub par book for Tchaikovsky is still head and shoulders above most other competitors in the field. What draws me most to this series are the amazing descriptions of the encounters of the Intermediary Idris Telemmier with the creatures of unspace, a level of space beneath the real where its visitors aren’t even real anymore. Broken Harvest attempts to kidnap the crew again, and eventually catches them near Berlenhof, capital of Hugh. I really loved the first book Shards of Earth and sadly struggled with the middle book Eyes of the Void.His modified brain allows him to reach out and touch the mind of an Architect, and he knows that what they do to the planets they destroy is forced upon them, that they are simply slaves to some greater master. The scene shifts to the perspective of Kris, lawyer and knife-fighter, once a crew member of the Vulture God, who is traveling to Estoc. Can we talk about how freaking amazing all these alien species and cultures and worlds and just NEW imaginings this book inspires? The fact it took an age to reach the ending did not matter one iota, as it was text-book Tchaikovsky through to a spellbindingly stunning finale. That “tedious round of politics and violence” occupies much of the novel and reveals how crazily committed to power through war the rest of the world seems to be.

However, just when this unnecessary distraction (unnecessary not as in the author added something to make the book bigger but unnecessary because aggravating and people should have been better) is over, the shit is hitting the fan. Tchaikovsky’s artistry is focusing on a few key, well-wrought characters facing impossible odds in keeping Idris safe while allied races turn against each other. Please note that while none of the spoilers I mention are particularly notable, there will be spoilers in this review. And he concludes all the storylines in a way that I didn’t quite anticipate, and it works quite well — since at its heart it’s not a story about winning or losing, but about the power of understanding and empathy and bonds between us. But overall I enjoyed the way everything was wrapped up, and I recommend the entire Final Architecture series for anyone looking for some epic space opera.As the Parthenon and Hugh fight over the fate of Idris and the Originator relics, an Architect appears at Berlenhof.