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psocopteraNecessity, Jo Walton, third and final book in the trilogy that started with The Just City, where Athena sets up Plato's Republic with people from throughout history who wished they could live in it. These books are *so interesting*. Some of Walton's moves here landed more solidly for me than others (more under the cut) but in general, worthy conclusion, some of the ways Walton goes big surprised and delighted me. I like that every generation has its own particular problems and preoccupations and yet there are common threads/overarching themes too.
You might like it if: Nancy Kress's Beggars trilogy; if you've ever read philosophy for fun; possibly James Morrow although his only book I remember anything about is City of Truth although I must have read Towing Jehovah back in the day?? anyways, maybe not Morrow.
So, the thing is, the big climax in this book seemed primarily metaphysical (what is the nature of God/the soul, what is the purpose of life) and it worked fine *in the fictional context of these books*, but it was a lot less powerful to me than the ethical and political questions that dominated earlier parts of the trilogy, because, to me at least, the whole business of gods and magic is a fantasy. Sometimes a very moving fantasy! I can't tell you how many times I've read Curse of Chalion, or certain bits of the Kushiel trilogy (the religious bits, I mean; I've also reread some of the sex a great deal but that's not the point here), I like a good mystical revelation and divine purpose, yay. But... I don't think the real world is actually like that. Whereas the stuff about how we should live, what kinds of lives we should try to live, how we should organize society - that stuff is *real*. Excellence is a real virtue we can talk about whether/how to pursue. Transcendence... ehhhhh.
While I'm behind this spoiler cut I would also like to say that Walton gets massive fangirl points for writing OCs who get to marry Socrates, and the FAQ for the City of Workers is so amazingly appropriate and the perfect ending. (And I did also like the reincarnation business - I mean, *in this fictional universe*, that's a beautiful ending.)
You might like it if: Nancy Kress's Beggars trilogy; if you've ever read philosophy for fun; possibly James Morrow although his only book I remember anything about is City of Truth although I must have read Towing Jehovah back in the day?? anyways, maybe not Morrow.
So, the thing is, the big climax in this book seemed primarily metaphysical (what is the nature of God/the soul, what is the purpose of life) and it worked fine *in the fictional context of these books*, but it was a lot less powerful to me than the ethical and political questions that dominated earlier parts of the trilogy, because, to me at least, the whole business of gods and magic is a fantasy. Sometimes a very moving fantasy! I can't tell you how many times I've read Curse of Chalion, or certain bits of the Kushiel trilogy (the religious bits, I mean; I've also reread some of the sex a great deal but that's not the point here), I like a good mystical revelation and divine purpose, yay. But... I don't think the real world is actually like that. Whereas the stuff about how we should live, what kinds of lives we should try to live, how we should organize society - that stuff is *real*. Excellence is a real virtue we can talk about whether/how to pursue. Transcendence... ehhhhh.
While I'm behind this spoiler cut I would also like to say that Walton gets massive fangirl points for writing OCs who get to marry Socrates, and the FAQ for the City of Workers is so amazingly appropriate and the perfect ending. (And I did also like the reincarnation business - I mean, *in this fictional universe*, that's a beautiful ending.)
