I recently finished "All hell breaks loose" the prequel book about Skullduggery Pleasant. A Y/A supernatural mystery series of books.
It started a bit slow but towards the end I started to it's potential. I always prefer a series that gets better and better the deeper I get into it.
I originally read the Otherland series by Tad Williams in Swedish when it was new, and I remember it made quite an impression on me.
Enough that I've now started re-reading it in English. The impression is perhaps not as strong, but I blame myself for that. 😁
I would througly recommend it to anyone who like sci-fi and especially cyberpunk.
The wajinru placed historians, those who possessed the power of connecting to and holding all the memories of past historians and wajinru, on a high pedestal. They needed historians to survive and feel connected to their ancestors. Unfortunately, they only wanted to remember the past of their ancestors temporarily and were too weak to live with those traumas daily. This caused historians like the main character, Yetu, physical, mental, and emotional pain and often put her at risk of harm when she got lost in a remembering.
Aside from the utopian feel of this underwater universe and its traditions, there were also several hints at queer relationships (between the same species and others). The absence of gender roles and heteronormative ideologies was a form of comfort for me.
I recommend this to anyone who wants to get lost in another world temporarily. It’s short and easy to read.