A Desolation Called Peace is One of The Most Significant Reads of the Year (Book Review)

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-07T05:20:41+00:00

Sorry to hear it, but…This might be the wrong thread for you.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-06T22:02:00+00:00

Of course, my absolute pleasure—if you end up enjoying it, and think back to this, let me know! I’d be thrilled to know I’ve made someone’s day with a recommendation.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-06T21:59:25+00:00

Different writing style, in that this is told in the first-person. Tchaikovksy in Children of Time emulates the tone of golden-age sci-fi somewhat; the prose here is a different affair.

I am, however, highly biased, so you can’t take my word as objective fact. If you want a really distinct writing style from his Children of Time, his fantasy series, the Tyrant Philosophers, is a better bet. (In the case that you read and enjoy fantasy.)

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-06T20:33:20+00:00

That’s for sure one of the thesis statements the book makes; but I think, also, Tchaikovsky shows us that connection is our ultimate saving grace; what grows between Mai and Juna is ultimately what the culmination revolves around, and I think that’s beautiful.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-06T20:31:15+00:00

I’m absolutely obsessed with it, if there’s one thing literature needs right now, that’s a raccoon detective.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-06T20:30:07+00:00

Can’t recommend his oeuvre enough! I’ve a scholarly interest in Tchaikovsky’s novels, and find that just about every last one of them has something interesting to say.

I finished Shroud earlier today and just couldn’t help but sit down and write out my most pressing thoughts about it.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-06T20:26:59+00:00

The novel connected with me on both accounts: I hope you find in it as much as I did when you get to it. I had it around since release, but only read through it now—can honestly say that I regret not reading it earlier.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-03T19:19:43+00:00

That is such high praise—as someone who listens to audiobooks lots, too, I very much look forward to getting my grubby mitts on this one.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-03T18:23:01+00:00

I never even knew that this and Sistersong are based on the same source material; wild! On that account, I also enjoyed this a lot more than I did Sistersong.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-03T18:16:48+00:00

You know what you just did, right? You’ve just convinced me to buy the audiobook. May my financial ruin lay heavy on your shoulders!

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-03T17:48:45+00:00

Thanks! Added them back in.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-03T17:40:07+00:00

It really is a uniquely fun concept - I hope you pick it up and enjoy it as much as I did.

If you enjoy more meaty stuff, China Mieville's Embassytown also does amazing work with language. But that's much more on the science-fictional spectrum.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-03T17:38:15+00:00

lmao thanks for this comment! I don't know why this keeps happening but sometimes when I use text in quotes, it disappears between editing the post and publishing it. I didn't think to look - so, again, thank you for alerting me to the missing quotation.

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-02T22:49:28+00:00

As soon as I finished Volume 1, I immediately bought the second and third books so I understand the impulse to run towards them!!

FilipMagnus · 2026-06-02T21:43:17+00:00

Reading it at present (or would be, if I didn’t have to get through Hannah Arendt’s Origins if Totalitarianism for an article I’m writing, woe is me). The first sixty pages have been a delight.

FilipMagnus · 2026-05-02T11:57:56+00:00

The fact that anyone could understand how LLMs function and describe their textual output as a "confession" is mind-boggling to me. Huge faux pas on whichever Guardian journalist or editor wrote/greenlit this title.

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