Some Desperate Glory

This was my favorite book I read in 2023. I know some people couldn't get past their dislike of the protagonist at the beginning, but they missed out on some wonderful character growth and an excellent story. Seeing Kyr slowly realize that the fascist cult she was raised in is a distorted view of the world was immensely satisfying. I don't know how to talk about this book without spoiling it, so I'll just say that it was an excellent novel and I am so excited to read more from Emily Tesh.

I read a review in the Washington Post recommending it and added it to my ever growing list of books I’ll never have time to read. I started Some Desperate Glory anyway, out of turn, and I’m glad I did. It starts slow and with a relatively unlikable protagonist in a bleak setting. I almost stopped, thinking about all those other books, but again, I’m glad I stuck with it because in short order the story is compelling! No spoilers here but the plot twists keep coming and the character’s transformation and progress is a joy. Highly recommended!

The world-building is masterful here but it does not even touch next-level the characterization Tesh achieves. And even that pales in comparison to how carefully crafted the narrative is. Every page has a payoff later in the book. If you finish this and think it is not one of the best books you have read recently that’s on you, not this wonderful novel.

This isn’t a very “technical” science fiction novel. According to your preference on that subject, you may or may not enjoy this book. I don’t mind technical science fiction, but there is a point that it becomes tedious with all of the details even though I do like to know how things work. The workaround regarding the tech in this book was essentially, no one knows how the Wisdom works – including itself. As with most science fiction novels, some things remind me of video games that I’ve played. Reading this put me in a universe similar to those of Halo, Mass Effect, and surprisingly a little bit of Fallout 3.

The author did an amazing job with the world-building in this book – all of the places! I’ll leave it at that – no spoilers. Gaea Station is what made me think of Fallout 3 – if you’ve ever played it then the descriptions of the station felt similar to that of a Vault except in space. The middle of the book was a complete shock and I LOVED it. The book became a lot more interesting and thought-consuming after that. There was a whole swath of text covering the human issue of Utopia and it hit HARD.

Seeing Kyr grow over this entire book was a unique experience – it wasn’t easy for her to do so but she did. I LOVED Yiso, my only regret there is that I wish there would have been more about not only him but the majo in general. I found the ending a little bit odd – but I’ll be truthful, I would want to know too if I were in their situation.

I picked this up to group read for the Great Space Read in July and I really enjoyed it. I would highly recommend checking out Some Desperate Glory if you liked any of the video games I mentioned or love non-technical science fiction. I would like to thank Emily Tesh for the chance to win this signed copy of her book!

Ultimately I really enjoyed this book, but have to admit I almost gave up on it initially. It is very heavy handed at the beginning regarding the neofascist state the main character grows up in and her unswerving belief that all is right with the world around her. It comes across as very flat, which I suppose the author did to highlight the protagonist's refusal to really see the world around her. How, and when, she really begins to see what is truly happening around her is done well.

So, give it time for the rest of it to come to light, and for the characters to develop. It is worth the wait.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2023. While I did enjoy the story, at times, I felt I just didn't care about the story, that it was going on a little bit longer, and a bit fantastical. I loved seeing Kyr's character development. I had gone into this book thinking it was "lesbians in space" and was pretty disappointed. While it is queer, it was really lacking on the wlw content as I had anticipated more (my fault I am sure). It felt a bit disjointed at times.