Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky

I would like to thank Tor for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Tor

Published - Out Now

Price - £22 hardcover £11.99 Kindle eBook

He's found a way to end their war, but will humanity survive to see it?

Idris Telemmier has uncovered a secret that changes everything – the Architects’ greatest weakness. A shadowy Cartel scrambles to turn his discovery into a weapon against these alien destroyers of worlds. But between them and victory stands self-interest. The galaxy’s great powers would rather pursue their own agendas than stand together against this shared terror.

Human and inhuman interests wrestle to control Idris’ discovery, as the galaxy erupts into a mutually destructive and self-defeating war. The other great obstacle to striking against their alien threat is Idris himself. He knows that the Architects, despite their power, are merely tools of a higher intelligence.

Deep within unspace, where time moves differently, and reality isn’t quite what it seems, their masters are the true threat. Masters who are just becoming aware of humanity’s daring – and taking steps to exterminate this annoyance forever.

Warning – This blog will contain some spoilers for the previous two books in the series which I heartily recommend Shards of Earth and Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky

In space opera we need the final act to be memorable. Throw everyone in the fire; everything is on the line and most of all it needs to feel epic. Stretch the mind; immerse the reader and make us have all as they say the feels. When it’s the culmination of a great series then all of the above is what I’m seeking and so I’m very pleased to say Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky delivers all of this in spades with the concluding volume to their The Final Architecture series which also has a beautiful theme pulling everything together across the three excellent books.

A brief reminder where we have got to. The galaxy and all its powerful factions are rocked by the return of the truly alien and unknowable Architects – crystalline moon-sized aliens whose appearance leads to spaceships, populations, and entire worlds such as old Earth being destroyed and left as gigantic structures floating in space. They have been stopped always at an excessive cost. A rogue spacer crew of the salvage vessel The Vulture God have found themselves at the heart of the conflict and in particular the Intermediary Idris a key par in the last conflict has very reluctantly come back into the action. Finally, a mysterious alien ship that bends the laws of reality has been found and Idris has discovered that in the mysterious dimension known as Unspace the Architects themselves are being controlled by a hidden force. Now the various factions of the galaxy are facing up to having to work together to stop their worlds being destroyed but not everyone can see the greater good as the best outcome for themselves.

This is a gorgeous skilled piece of writing and for the readers of this series it’s very much a wonderful way to see these characters for one last time and most of all the way though fear what will happen to them. The initial sense that finally the galaxy is coming together is shown in a tense stand-off with an architect that delivers a deep sense of joy and hope and then the next half of this book is very much the rug being pulled from us adding in new danger as self-destruction for simple greed risks everything. It’s very interesting that the series has as its main powers each a recognisable future version of civilization that we tend to always see in space opera – isolated humans; feudal humans working hard for capitalism; genetically designed perfection and our own AI spin-offs. Each views the other with suspicion and that’s even before truly alien worlds are added to the mix.  The linking theme is in a vast universe quite a few in each of these civilisations think there still isn’t room for everyone else and naturally decide when the stakes are high to do something just for themselves. The idea of people retreating inwards rather than working together is a very 21st century theme and very much been at the heart of the series. I loved this first half for the reversals in fortune; fightbacks and also people having to decide whose side they are all on. It very much then sets up the final half which delivers the remaining characters to have to decide to fight the immense odds and make a last stand.

What I loved about this story is that each of the main characters we have followed, and each key mystery set up in the story gets explained and it all clicks together with great timing and panache. Ollie the skilled captain of the Vulture God who works in a variety of artificial machines to work around her physical disabilities gets a fascinating section of the story and her relationship with the deeply enigmatic alien (and super large clam-shaped) crime lord and more known as The Unspeakable Aklu, The Razor and Hook. Ollie’s storyline bridges both halves of the novel in a really fascinating way. I also enjoyed the way Solace has to finally decide if she will continue to always obey the orders of her Partheni commanders which is very much her inherent nature despite her friendships with the Vulture’s crew and desire to take a stand on her own. However, this is also very much Idris’ story – everything he has done from the moment he became an Intermediary has pushed him reluctantly to this place and time. He’s physically pushed to the limit (and is being repeatedly resuscitated in the process!); his desire and some would say obsession to find out what drives the Architects puts him in conflict with everyone else and yet we see he is very much prepared to put himself on the edge of everything including the universe. The latter sections of the story reveal what and why these attacks have been happening and it’s a small human versus ultimate immense powers that makes the finale mythic and also an outcome nail bitingly too close to call . I can’t mention everyone’s plots but evech main character we’ve met along the way has an arc that supports the bigger plotline. It is satisfying to see how characters have grown and alliances shifted but nothing ever quite feels easy. We know this is going to hurt and stretch the crew one final time and it really does. But that essential empowering theme comes across throughout that people have to learn to be better by working together.

I think a sign of how much I’ve enjoyed these books is that by the end I’m left wondering now that this epic tale is done what happens next. It’s a whole new tempting universe and we got to see it happen. This finale offers legal battles; starships warring in space; last minutes rushes across the galaxy; alien super weapons and people deciding to do the right thing no matter what. I savoured this book as everything I’ve invested in these past few years paid off. Tchaikovsky lands this epic tale perfectly and it was so much fun to dive into. Strongly recommended and if you too have waited for this final edition, I think you’ll be very pleased how it concludes!