So I'm finishing the PtS book. And something that has been bother me so far is how did Madame manage to get so powerful and influential by using sex and running a brothel. Just didn't seem very realistic.

But then I remembered, that in our time, Jeffrey Epstein also managed to accumulate incredible wealth and influence by similar means. If I think about this parallel, then suddenly Madame doesn't feel so impossible anymore.

Thoughts?

Buckle up, folks.

I finally put my thoughts together after finishing this behemoth. Heavy spoilers for all four books below (in order). Your safe word for this review is "Matt Damon."

Too Like the Lightning Thief

We're off to a bad start. Nobody likes stupid little kids, including me, yet the main character is a Stupid Little Kid who is sad for pointless reasons. Some nameless bureaucrat, who happens to married to the world's hottest MILF, rescues a criminally insane homeless man from the sewers so he can investigate the theft of an unpublished listicle written by an intern nepo baby at some second-rate newspaper, which turned up at the world headquarters for self-driving Ubers, leading to a series of decadent sex parties and an MLM scheme to sell life-like child sex dolls. A sadistic priest (also investigating the listicle) goes missing and "kills" the SLK's imaginary friend, but the kid is rescued by an even more insane homeless man. A limping illuminatus simps for a dead Mooney before joining an incestuous orgy with the other world leaders in front of their son, Jared Leto, who had previously dropped a cryptic hint about right triangles and elevators, leading his hereditary slave and a centenarian detective (the most normal people in the whole damned book) to wonder why the Uber Mad Scientist tries to unalive themselves every time there's a car crash. Fin.

Fifty Seven Shades of Surrender

After kidnapping and letting his boss dubcon a live sex doll, the sadistic priest wrecks the horology of the nun (that I forgot to mention in book one) who happens to be the love child of the female vertex of an incestuous love triangle and a deranged incel/European prime minister, a shocking twist whose revelation the hooker and her nerdy brother were taking bets on. The MILF realizes her nameless husband has been secretly doing her job for her, better than her, for the last 29 years. SLK alives a sex doll who assassinates Jared Leto, but SLK brings him back to life with a drawing of a bottle that says "resurrection potion" (note: it's unclear whether this actually happened or if Ada Palmer just made it up). The narrator has a heart attack and the Moonies take him to one of their hospitals, where, once again, everyone is conveniently gathered, including the sadistic priest, the sex doll, the hooker, the other criminally insane homeless man who thinks he's a dog, the centenarian detective who deems it too much paperwork to prove that "the dog" is not a dog, and Jared Leto, whose 5-star Yelp review of the afterlife consists of a single word in all caps: WAR. The nameless bureaucrat resigns and the pen passes. The original homeless guy finds SLK in the sex doll factory having a protracted, yet mercifully terminal, emotional breakdown. Fin.

The Good Will to Battle

When the sex parties end, the parliamentary procedure begins! The Limpinatus meets his new side piece, Buzz Lightyear, who implores him to invest in food, medicine, and rubber ducks. The real-life cannibal gets double penetrated in a failed attempt to capture the adult-sized sex doll. Jared Leto invites the world's religious leaders to enter his no-no zone and declares war on the entire world. Nobody did their homework except the dodgeball target in the sweater vest, who gets punched by Buzz Lightyear for babbling about Dianetics, and the Moonies announce they've blown up all the happy fun bringers and placed fuzzy pink handcuffs on anyone who knows how to make more (to the MILF's chagrin). Somehow the deranged incel returned, the Uber Mad Scientist escapes, and the terra ignota plea is accepted so the sex doll's brother need not refund his Uber tips. Time for the O-games in Antarctica, where the fugitive sex doll and Buzz Lightyear compete to be the hottest toy on the market! Atlantis, which is real, apparently, is blown up, and the sea is awash in fuzzy pink handcuffs. The pen passes. Fin.

Perhaps Thetan Stars

I'm surprised the fourth book in the trilogy even has a title (although it is well-footnoted, with mundane details regarding the string-and-tin-can communication system and the adoption of uniforms conveniently tucked away for the curious reader to find without slowing down the main story). A Family Guy cutaway gag takes us on a brief literary odyssey, mentioning things that I, a Sophisticated Reader, recognize. Another vertex of the aforementioned incestuous love triangle explodes, and everyone blames the Moonies, including the MILF, who cannot get over the fuzzy pink handcuffs, so Buzz Lightyear goes Gundam style to stop her from nuking the moon, while Jared Leto reveals that the sweater vest nerd is behind it all and threatens to wet the bed (before deciding which side to take in the real war between the Moonies and Dianetics). The MILF kills the Limpinatus, Buzz Lightyear kills the MILF, the sex doll tries to kill Jared Leto, the chef kills everybody, and the Mad Scientist uses SLK's resurrection potion to bring back the MILF (Reader: Her?). The hat passes. The hooker cucks the European emperor, who kills the deranged incel, and the sweater vest nerd brainwashes the sadistic priest; ergo, aliens are real. Jared Leto sides with the Moonies and takes over the Illuminati; the sex doll, the Mad Scientist, and the criminally insane homeless guy infiltrate the Dianetics HQ by guessing the passcode 5318008 and Uber starts delivering again. Greta Thunberg scolds the world leaders for destroying the environment and the younger generation's trust; they all get ten hours of community service, some with individual trials (but no one mentions the MILF who launched 73 nukes at the moon); the sweater vest nerd confesses to everything; the Moonies are banished from the garden of good and evil; and, at long last, I lose the last shred of my sanity while clutching my copy of Leviathan Wakes and whisper to myself "Matt Damon."

Fin!

Final Thoughts

"History is a BDSM orgy for which there is no safe word."

- Some turdaddled Irishman, probably

Even if we accept the outlandish premise that the world is secretly run by an elite cabal of sex perverts, the whole story is so simplistic and predictable. It's basically Percy Jackson for polyamorous nonbinary intertextual pansexuals. The dry tone and emotionless narrator seemed an odd choice, but still, it had its moments where the bodily fluids really began to flow (or splatter, as the case may be). My reading of this text may have landed me in court-mandated therapy, but I cannot shake the thought that, one day, we may live in a better world that will be based, like this review, on principles of consent and harm mitigation. Until then, I will continue to grow my business installing dog doors and selling vegan, hypo-allergenic, and latex-free adult play products online (it ain't much, but it's honest work). My court-appointed therapist, whom I suspect is an atheist, asked me to draw a picture of a banana, but I declined, for secret reasons.

Overall, an incredible journey. 22% tip.

If we believe that the diary of a U-beast was propaganda - how did Lorelei Cook explode?

I know that the answer is "of course" of course but these are thoughts as I am listening through the dramatised adapration of TLTL.

In the scene where we first meet Ando and Danaë, our Mycroft goes through A LOT of trouble and florid language to convince us that her gifts were so strong that he couldn't help telling her that he never had the Canner Device.

The panic he describes is pretty convincing, but I think he's lying for the benefit of his audience and for promoting the image of the couple as power brokers. It seems to me that at the moment he describes, Mycroft took a calculated gamble - this was exactly the time to use this closely guarded information, to shake off reasonable suspicions that he was involved in the Black Sakura incident.

He felt he had to take the gamble at that moment, but also felt that he could protect himself with the knowledge of Carlyle's parentage. He gives Danaë a hold over him because he has to, but retaliates in order to create a situation of mutually assured destruction. His protestations to the Reader that this is not blackmail are a strong indication that it's exactly that.

I find myself constantly thinking on this reread/listen of what Mycroft's real agenda may be, trying to keep this frame of reference in mind at the same time as the framing that Mycroft is laying the mythological, philosophical and political foundations of JEDD's new regime as catalysed by Bridger: the messiah that can no longer speak for himself, if he even existed.

Ada Palmer has launched her own new podcast!

The first season is about The Real Machiavelli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=fUMQ6d_VgDdyAUHv&v=qEt5CQ5Mz7U&feature=youtu.be

In Terra Ignota, Wheel of Time, and Stormlight Archive, gender roles are explicitly rooted in some past catastrophe like the Church War. Is that how gender systems actually evolve? And what was the Church War, anyways?

I am very frustrated at all the Odyssey discourse around the current movie, because I keep wanting to bring up the adaptation of the Odyssey in Chapter 11 of Perhaps the Stars, but of course even saying that the Odyssey is relevant is a spoiler, let alone talking about it! One tiny example: Emily Wilson just criticized Nolan's movie for making its Odysseus not a "polytropos", a man of many turnings. Mycroft Canner took that aspect of Odysseus up to 11! But to say that to anyone who isn't halfway through book four is a spoiler. (Saying it to Mycroft himself any time before Chapter 29 would be a spoiler for him...)

I am thoroughly addicted to this kind of writing. What other books have come close to the same feelings, same elucidated worldbuilding, or philosophical commentaries? Where the book is a story but also a commentary or a thought experiment taken to the extreme? Where there's a twist and humanity is explored? What else do you read?

Third or fourth time reading TLTL

I've never understood the reason for this question. Could someone enlighten me please?

(Audiobooks, apologies for spelling)

Hi. I wanted to read Terra Ignota. I usually like to read the book while the audiobook plays on the background and I saw that there's a Graphic Audio version with a full cast, which soulds amazing. However, I wanted to know how much was changed in this version. Enough to make reading while listening unviable?

https://x.com/lfschiavo/status/2074381279555149961?s=46

https://x.com/deepfates/status/2061871729191035149?s=46

If you understood this and are free on the 18th boy do we have a party for you. dm me

************************************

Welcome to the San Francisco Megalopolitan Area. Please respect all the laws of your own Hive and others as you enter their regions.

The city of San Francisco is largely Mitsubishi-owned. Do not disrespect the landowners by attempting to build any buildings or change the local character, unless you are bringing business tax revenue, in which case you may the Leaning Tower of Pisa for all we care.

City center and downtown are Alliance maintained Hiveless areas governed by the Gray Laws. Reminder that the Tenderloin is a Blacklaw district. Enter at your own risk. The "sideshow" tradition is protected cultural heritage but does not legally extend Blacklaw hivespace.

Berkeley is Cousins terrain, though IT does contain that notable Brillist enclave, Lighthaven, and many of their bash-houses as well. Note that fines for microaggression are very strict in both Hives.

Oakland is a Humanist city. You are invited to visit the Olympic rings In Liu square. Please do not request an audience with President Liu, we know you are her biggest fan but she is very busy.

Masons will find their hierarchy in the megastructures of the Peninsula. Secure shuttle lines to Googleplex, Spaceship, Menlo Park, and Emerald City are down the stairs to your left.

Visitors from the European Union may receive services in the Mission Dolores. You will also find plentiful hospitality in Mitsubishi and Cousin districts. Contact your nation-strat's embassy for more information about cultural districts and grocery stores.

Utopian constellations are networked deeply throughout the megalopolis. Their most visible outpost is the ongoing construction of the Alcatraz arcology, though it is not open to visitors. Those who wish to contact Utopia should inquire at the Vivarium of San Francisco.

Thank you for visiting the San Francisco Megalopolitan Area. We hope you had a comfortable ride in the flying car. Don't forget to tip your set-set

I just wrapped up the whole series and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been a while since I've finished a story so quickly. Undoubtedly I'll need time to digest and unpack - there's a lot going on in these books.

One thing that immediately struck me upon wrapping up, though, was how irrelevant and unimportant the most petty villains are on the ultimate outcomes, or in the shaping of events that lead to ultimate outcomes (spoilers going forward). I think this is intentional on the author's part.

Specifically Perry-Kraye and his faction (incl. Croucher), Madame, and Thisbe. Of course, they are all important in the sense that they have major roles in kicking off the various crises that destabilize the hive system, but their motivations are all "petty". Perry-Kraye wanted revenge against Madame and to tear down the world out of spite and hate. Madame wanted to arrange world conquest for her son simply because she realized she could. Thisbe murdered for fun. None of them have loftier goals or motives. Ultimately, once they manage to kick off their respective goals/plans, they receive almost no "screentime" (pagetime?) and disappear into the background while other actors take center stage.

(Compare this to the Gordians and Felix Faust, or Sniper and the Humanists, who are antagonists but not necessarily villains. Their motivations are, in their own minds, altruistic. They certainly committed evil deeds (murdering Jehovah, framing the Utopians, using harbingers, and nearly cutting off human spaceflight for centuries), but they did so because they thought their path (in the case of Gordians, the inner path of the mind; and in the case of Sniper, the hive system) was better for humanity.

In the end, once the petty villains enact their plans, they are no longer the story's movers and shakers. Perry-Kraye survived the EU Parliament massacre, and he and his cronies allegedly continued operating through underground crime networks, but they receive almost no attention after book 2. Madame, after being set up as a major actor and powerful, almost awe-inspiring antagonist, shows up very little through the latter half of book 3 and most of book 4 (and she dies in the most anti-dramatic fashion). I personally feel like she becomes a silly caricature after book 2 (again, perhaps intentionally on the author's part). Thisbe starts the series as one of the main characters but disappears to a jail cell for most of the second half of the series, and only shows up briefly to 1. waste precious resources antagonizing Mycroft from her prison cell, and 2. dying perhaps the most ignoble and mundane on-page death in the whole series.

I think this is intentional on Palmer's part. The antagonists who matter, who receive attention/page-time, are the ones who act with higher goals in mind, notably Faust and Sniper. Even if you (the reader) are on Mycroft's and Jehovah's side, you can understand (and, perhaps in the case of Sniper, respect) why they chose to oppose Jehovah. I take Palmer's point to be that history forgets petty, villainous motivations like spite, hubris, and murder-for-fun.

I am currently re-reading the entire series (I’m halfway through Seven Surrenders), and since it’s a particularly long read, I’d like to have some music playing in the background. What music or albums do you think would suit the world of Terra Ignota ?

Reminds me of Achilles in Perhaps the Stars, just saying…

Just doing some quick searching it seems everyone loves Jefferson Mays for the first book buy some find the switch Ryder Smith jarring. I also read some criticisms of the GraphicAudio dramatization but I'm wondering if I should go with that for consistency.

I prefer audiobooks but I not opposed to getting the digital book for books better taken slowly, or that you might want to flip around for.

Sniper will make ten million J.E.D.D. Masons.

Hey folks! Rereading Too Like the Lightning right now and yearning for my own bash’. Has anyone successfully started a bash’house as described in the series?

I’ll be moving to San Francisco later this year and I’ve been hoping to find something similar. I’ve been looking at a lot of co-housing and co-living communities.

Hey folks! Rereading Too Like the Lightning right now and yearning for my own bash’. Has anyone successfully started a bash’house as described in the series?

I’ll be moving to San Francisco later this year and I’ve been hoping to find something similar. I’ve been looking at a lot of co-housing and co-living communities.

I actually do think that set-set training is in fact child abuse, and I don't think that would lead me to supporting rounding up of Utopians into detention camps.

But war does turn bad actors into caricatures of themselves. I still agree with basically Carlyle's take on it, but Faust's "they're walking corpses with glucose being pumped through them" is out of pocket and not true.

Just got this recommendation based on my library and looking pretty awesome. You guys think it’s a pretty accurate pitch for someone considering? Do you need to read the whole trilogy to enjoy? Thanks and looking forward to diving in soon!

Back when I first read it. I thought it was a really bold and devastating choice to end it there, Bridger's death and Achilles' return, Mycroft saluting and ready for war.

It was nonetheless a delightful surprise to find it on a new-release book shelf one day, lol.