2017 fantasy, fifth and last volume of its series. Things are finally
getting moving.
Well, that's not quite fair. Cathy has been spending this entire
series trying to get things moving and change Nether society, only for
her supposed allies to drop out or talk her out of actually doing
things. There's nothing left but direct action.
Yes, this portal fantasy with balls and dresses and magical jewellery
also deals with the ethics of propaganda of the deed. That's what you
get when you read Emma Newman.
"But…but don't you feel bad about what you've done? All those
people—lots of them victims of the Sorcerers themselves—are dead
because of you."
"It was not a decision I made lightly. But I have reconciled myself
with my actions. To create change, to disrupt a system of control,
one must carry out radical acts. One must be prepared to destroy so
that something new can be created. Those in control will never give
up the power afforded to them voluntarily. It must be taken. If that
requires the deaths of a few to give freedom to the many—and
survival of the many—then so be it. This is not a gentle act."
This is the good stuff. This is the sort of ethical question I want to
see characters facing, and finding answers that work for them rather
than someone else's orthodoxy. And these are the challenges to suit
characters like that: not "can I", that's rarely in doubt, but
"should I", and if so "how should I".
(Meanwhile there's a splendid come-down for one of the main
antagonists: nsgre jerpxvat uvf yvsr gb gel gb borl uvf cngeba'f
qrznaqf, ur qvfpbiref va snvyher naq ehva gung nyy gubfr qrznaqf
jrera'g guvatf gb uryc fnvq cngeba, gurl jrer whfg vapernfvat jnlf bs
cerffvat uvz vagb eroryyvba—orpnhfr gur cyrnfher bs pbafhzvat gur
eroryyvba bhg bs uvf fbhy vf jung gung cngeba npghnyyl jnagrq nyy
nybat.)
Good guys are flawed. Bad guys are just trying to get by. Nobody wears
a label that commits them to being either. I like Newman's
world-building (here and in the Atlas books), but the reason I keep
coming back is for the people, and the eternal question: what does it
mean to do right, to be a good person?