API Heritage Month #1

Am I too stupid for this? Maybe. Did I enjoy it at all? Not particularly. While the AI plotline is relevant to the times, I found I couldn't follow it. And I love a slut, but I couldn't connect with Sunai's storyline, either.

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

The narrator of this audiobook was pretty good. I thought the prose was beautiful and poetic at times. However, there was nothing to ground me in this world. I still don't really know what was going on. The characters also fell a bit flat. They did things just because. I didn't understand the why of the book. I will try more of this author in the future because I liked the prose, but I feel like this really needed an editor to help make the novel more clear.

Interesting concept, but I didn't really care for it. I think the prose was just a little too complex and long-winded.

*The Archive Undying* by Emma Mieko Candon is a captivating and thought-provoking science fiction novel that blends rich world-building with a gripping narrative. Set in a future where technology allows people to archive memories and even immortality, the story follows a protagonist caught between personal identity and the societal implications of living forever. Candon’s writing is complex and layered, creating an immersive universe filled with philosophical questions about memory, identity, and the ethics of immortality. The plot is filled with suspense, and the characters are nuanced, making *The Archive Undying* an engrossing read for those who enjoy speculative fiction with deep, intellectual themes.

I am here today to yell about The Archive Undying by Emma Mieko Candon as part of the book tour brought to you by B2 Weird! Big thanks to Tor Dot Com Pub for the finished copy. This book was such a ride and at times I definitely did not feel smart enough to keep up. But wow did I love this adult sci-fi!

For my tour post, I’ve made a playlist inspired by the plot, characters and general vibes of The Archive Undying! You can find it on my Spotify and if I remember I’ll add a link to my stories.

Playlist:
1. Criminal Minds – Set it Off
2. I’d Be Fine – All Time Low
3. deathwish – Stand Atlantic, nothing, nowhere
4. Just One Yesterday – Fall Out Boy, Foxes
5. We Don’t Have to Dance – Andy Black
6. Ghost Story – Cheat Codes, All Time Low
7. Kamikaze – Walk the Moon
8. SELF-SABOTAGE – Waterparks
9. Memories – YUNGBLUD, WILLOW
10. It’s About Time – Young the Giant
11. Contagious – Night Riots
12. Told You So – The Band CAMINO
13. Vial – Vinyl Theatre
14. Bones – Imagine Dragons
15. Riot – Three Days Grace

In addition, I have a stack of adult sci-fi I would also recommend for fans of this book. If you’ve read any in the stack and enjoyed pick up The Archive Undying or another stack title! Bonus is that all of them are queer!

Book Stack (top to bottom): An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe by Alex White, A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark, A Pale Light in the Black by K.B. Wagers, The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love this because of the cover, it was confusing, engaging, and has unlikable characters. The world building is just not there, and I had now idea what anything was.

It seems like a lot of other reviews feel the same, so I’m sorry

DNF 34%

So, "The Archive Undying" didn't quite hit the mark for me. The plot felt all over the place, and I just couldn't get into it, you know? Ended up marking it as a Did Not Finish (DNF).

Everyone's got their own taste, so maybe this book will click with someone else. But for now, I'm moving on to something else that suits me better.

I wanted to live this book. I tried to love this book. I was unable to love this book, as I found I just wasn't interested in the plight of the characters. However, I plan on giving it another try as I think the premise is interesting.

My first thought upon finishing this book was "thank god that's over"... which isn't a good sign.
I liked the writing style, but I don't remember a single thing that happened in this book. The plot felt directionless. It's really unfortunate since it had such great potential. I did like Sunai as a lead character, but all other characters were ultimately forgettable. Probably should have DNF'd.
1.5⭐️

I had a really difficult time following the plot in this book.

However I can see there were wonderful ideas being presented. I seriously wanted to find a way to enjoy this. I actually love unreliable narrators and being thrust into the story without the reader really knowing what is going on, and I was really hoping for payoff at some point in this story. However the longer I read, the more I realized that the plot was being rushed and I wasn't having a fun time with it anymore.

This is a shame because I really love this concept! Maybe it needed more time in the oven?

Thank you very much for this advanced readers copy.

I was intrigued by this book,, but it just didn't hold my interest all the way through. I stopped listening around 35% and just couldn't bring myself to finish the book. I'm not always put off by being thrown into the middle of a strange world with no scene setting, but it just didn't work for me in this case. I hope this book finds people who love it though!

I’m always excited to dive into a new book about disability by a disabled author and this one did not disappoint! I definitely missed a lot of the references to mecha because I’m not very familiar with that genre, but nonetheless, this was a highly entertaining. A fascinating mash up of fantasy and sci-fi!

The premise of this sounded so good but it ended up feeling more like a slog to get through. AI run large mechas that are worshiped and have many followers and priests. But when the city that the AI protects is destroyed these Ais go insane. By the end of the book I just didn’t care that much about what was happening even as it felt a bit rushed. This series isn’t for me and I will not be picking up the next one until I see how other people feel about it.

This was incredibly confusing, and I loved every minute of it. The Locked Tomb and The Broken Earth Trilogy have convinced me that I am a sucker for an incredibly confusing sci-fi novel, and The Archive Undying was no exception.

Important to Note:
- The genre is GodPunk, GODPUNK, which is just very cool if you ask me.
- You will be confused, that's okay - just roll with it.
- There is not any romance so keep this in mind going-in.
- Large robots + AI
- Multi POVs in multiple tenses
- Complex and dynamic characters.

--4.25/5

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Some books make an assumption; they drop you right in with a group of characters, a world, and a plot that feels like it's already in full tilt, and it expects you to accept that and catch up eventually. Usually the characters feed you a little bit of back story, give you some emotional grounding, and you start to piece things together bit by bit. But the characters were so inscrutable and so narratively distant, that they offered us nothing more than the dialogue and description on the page. Suddenly you realize that the plot has carried on without you and you have no idea who anyone is or what's actually happening. You don't know anyone's motivations, you don't understand the rules of the world, you don't recognize much of anything if it disappears for a few pages and then reappears. It felt like the glue between all the different things that make up a story were missing.

My review here is going to be at least partially influenced by having made the mistake of reading the reviews page shortly after I finished the book. Would this book have benefitted from a glossary? Probably yes, as there were times that I got a bit lost. However, not everything has to be spoonfed to the reader! Yes, there's a lot of narration POV jumps (frequent second person, second person plural, first person, first person plural, and the good old fashioned third person), however, the font and the way each POV speaks gives a clue as to who it is. The best way I can describe this is mech fiction that focuses on the pilots, the mechs also have power levels that approach/are themselves treated as divinity, where the fantasy vibes are given equal weight as the sci-fi vibes (and if you're getting Destiny vibes from the cover, it's because was done by Destiny 2 concept artist Sung Choi!). There's fluid identity, possession, messy ass relationships, people coping poorly with the aftermath of trauma, and some absolutely gorgeous descriptions. Yes, it's Ms. Candon's first non-spec work (she wrote Star Wars: Ronin and has a story in the new From A Certain Point of View) novel, and it feels like there is a LOT going on, but I was able to follow the story, and I would LOVE to see more of Sunai and Veydani if Ms. Candon chooses to continue it. And if you're having trouble following what's going on, don't worry, I'll post a spoiler comment nested that explains it real thoroughly for you. Pick this up. It's deeply unlike anything out there, and I can't wait to see more from her. The narrator does a solid job here, and helps a little bit with making sense of things!

I ended up not really connecting with this book the 2 times I tried picking it up. The narrator was really good and the book sounds good so maybe I just wasn't in the mood. Maybe I'll try again in the future and I'll update my review if I do.

This book was a DNF for me. I found it confusing (and I typically love complex fantasy/sci-fi narratives), and never really grasped onto a plot. Seriously, what is this book even about?

DNF at 48%

This book was jarring and unfocused, and I found the narration to be incredibly annoying - the main character was insufferable. In half the book I didn't find anything to care about.

I made a mistake in trying this book. Someone whose recommendations I trust so much loved this book, so I decided to give it a try. This was the equivalent of a freshman signing up for a 300 level course. I do not read sci fi in any capacity, and this book expects you to be able to take the world building and run with it. I had to DNF it after two attempts purely because I could not understand what was going on with the AIs.

If you're interested in this book and you have experience with some intense sci fi, give this book a shot. If you're a beginner like me, maybe come back for this one after a few easier reads. I am giving three stars because I honestly have no negatives to say other than it was just too difficult for me to comprehend.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this audio ARC!