Some Desperate Glory - A Review

Emily Tesh has written an intriguing book. It's one of the Hugo Award nominees this year, and certain sci fi news outlets, such as the Octothrope podcast, have declared it the best candidate for a win. It's good, I can't deny that, but I'm forced to hold back a little bit of praise.

***Warning, some spoilers ahead!***

In this future world, Earth has long ago been destroyed by an alien consortium known as the Majo. Using an all-powerful technology known as "The Wisdom," the Majo nearly wiped out humanity. Now, several human colonies remain, most of whom have integrated into Majo culture.

But there is one enclave that remains defiant, and seeks revenge for Earth.

Val Kyr (a version of the name "Valkyrie") is the best female fighter in the misogynistic space station of Gaea, the aforementioned militaristic hold-out against the Majo. Val Kyr anticipates being sent for combat duty as her assignment upon coming of age. To her shock and horror, she is instead assigned to Nursery. Why? Because her superior fighting skills are indicative of superior genes - which Gaea wants passed on to the next generation. Instead of going off to fight, she will spend the next ten years of her life perpetually pregnant. For her, it is a fate worse than death.

At this point in the story, I'm hooked. It's a remarkable concept, and one with lots of promise. But Tesch nearly blew it with a horrific scene right before this, in which Val Kyr sees some kids playing with a puddle of dirty water, scolds them for it, and makes one of the kids stoop down and drink it! Even knowing that this disciplinary action is meant to preserve one of the station's most valuable resources, it's hard to like Kyr afterward. It was a bitchy thing to do. Tesh wins me back later on, but not easily.

In the wake of her dreaded Nursery development, she learns that her brother, Magnus (or "Mags"), has apparently fled the station rather than accept his assignment. She recruits Max's friend (and crush) Avi, a queer tech genius, to track him down. But when Avi finds Mags, they also learn that he didn't go AWOL. Rather, he was assigned to something called "Strike," which is essentially a terrorist suicide run against the Majo. Kyr determines to rescue him. She rescues/kidnaps a Majo alien prisoner named Yiso, then stages a daring escape from Gaea, sustaining a severe injury to her leg in the process.  Fortunately, her genetically combat-enhanced body is able to heal itself from such injuries.

Upon finding Mags, she rediscovers a long-lost (and presumed dead) sister named Ursa. She tries explaining to Kyr that she's been radicalized by the militaristic junta that runs Gaea station, but Kyr isn't ready to hear it. Mags then tells her that he's not doing his Strike assignment. He's out, and wants to stay out. He doesn't care about the war with the Majo, and wants nothing to do with it. Saddened by this, Kyr decides if Mags won't do his assignment, then she must. And the best way to do this, she reasons, is by taking out the Wisdom.

She reaches the node, but is intercepted by Avi, Magnus, and Yiso. In the course of their interactions, Yiso explains that it is actually possible to win the war outright by using the Wisdom instead of destroying it. Eventually they succeed in taking control of the Wisdom, but Avi, not Kyr, is the one who does so, since he's the expert on Majo technology. He decides to wipe out the Majo almost entirely. "They did it to us," he vengefully reasons. Hundreds of Majo planets wink out of existence in an instant. Kyr, who by now is becoming slightly de-radicalized, is horrified. Magnus kills himself. Kyr then kills Avi in retaliation. Yiso then tells Kyr that she can take over the Wisdom and determine a different fate for the universe. She does so, and restores the Majo, but also keeps Earth from being destroyed. Humanity survives and thrives in a new, alternate universe.

Now, at this point, the novel feels like it's over. Yet it is only half-way through! Where could it possibly go from this? The story takes a coda, looping back upon itself and creating yet another alternate universe. Kyr's intervention has inadvertently caused the entire universe to begin unraveling. To prevent this, Kyr must put things back the way they were before. She refuses. So the Wisdom, acting autonomously for the first time in it's billion-year existence, does so for her.

I could go on, but I'll avoid spoiling the entire plot. I'll simply conclude by saying that the huge, time-loopy, half-a-book-long denouement seems rather contrived. It didn't need to be this long, and it didn't need to be this convoluted. I can understand using one "deus-ex-machina" trick to wrap up a book's ending. That's what it felt like to me at the half-way mark. But Tesh uses deus-ex-machina over and over throughout the book's second half, often taking plot twists which feel unnecessary. Oh, the ends eventually wrap up more or less neatly, but by the third alternate-universe, I'd all but given up.

It's not as multi-layered as Inception, thank heaven. But it is a twisty-turney plot structure which seems to conclude neatly, and then refuses to wrap up for another 200 pages. Perhaps I should be impressed that Tesh was able to conclude the plot at all. But I'm left with the impression that this could have been wrapped up more neatly in the second half, and probably made a lot shorter. It's a masterful work, no doubt, but it's also a puzzler that relies too much on fantasy elements to bail itself out.

On the whole, I'm impressed. But I walk back my praise by just one step.

Eric

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