an excellent addition to this epic series.

lots of random thoughts - apologies if I have any misspellings, I listened to the audio.

another excellent installment in this series. I was a bit lost at first since it's been a while since I read the first two, but there were lots of reminders of the previous stories included, and it actually helped me get into Kinri's mind a bit more to be less informed about Dara history. I love the characters, the language, the thoughts about learning and rank and status and wealth and society, honor and disgrace, loyalty and treason... so important to think about in modern political reality as well as theoretical. I also LOVE all the geeky mechanical inventions and technology and the way the different cultures interact with history, progress, memory, social structures. What is valued and rewarded, devalued and punished, varies in a believable way and the characters act according to their "nature" which has just as much to do with their upbringing as their inherent personalities. so good.

peace at what cost? war for what purpose?
love with what secrets? competition with what injustice?

there are so many awesome themes in this book that really apply to our world today - power, tradition, language, education, the idea of who we are can be so very shaped by what is important to our people - and just who are we anyway?
I love the way the "gods" are handled in this series.

I really like the "common people can have great ideas" theme throughout - and the blatant corruption and forgetfulness that happens to those common folk when they rise to power (usually)

I also liked the way the author treated a disabled character and highlighted some great consent/power/personhood/accessibility issues without being too heavy-handed.

Quite a few characters have intense mental struggles and it's interesting to see their various coping mechanisms with varied degrees of "success"

Inherent bias is on full display, as many people's ability (including your favorite heroes) to receive, consider, or value other people's ideas -or even existence- is predicated on their ethnicity, social standing, education, cultural honorifics, etc. The colonial mindset - or maybe simply cultural arrogance- is so strong, it's gross to think how real that is, even now, and on "all sides".

There are moments when I can see Ken Liu's translator brain working in this book and it's very fun. The book jumps around a bit too much and Zomi is weirdly incompetent in a way that doesn't make sense given the previous novel. BUT I'm a softy for the philosophy on love that Liu presents and I really want the last book NOW.

This book grabbed me and held my attention throughout its ostentatious length and long descriptions of cooking competitions. A truly wonderful read... I hope book four sticks the landing!