Decades after the Samaria Trilogy, Sharon Shinn writes a new book and the plot is completely different, but the vibes are...familiar. Which is pretty reasonable; it's a Shinn story after all. This one didn't permanently rewrite my psyche, though, unlike Archangel. But sometimes I just want to reread Archangel for the first time. Still very much enjoyed this one.
 

This book is fundamentally "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" in terms of plot, which is both part of why it's fascinating and part of why the end feels...the way it does. There's a little bit of a...machina ex deus going on that is either a total copout of refusing to answer the Omelas choice OR it's a deep critique of the idea that the options are always either to hurt some or lose the city. There's always another choice. I want to think it's intentional.