Listen, if you haven’t already bought into The Philosopher Tyrants series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, I don’t know what you’re doing. We at QTL put both of those books as #1 for 2023 and 2024 respectively. Go out there, dig into City of Last Chances, gobble up House of Open Wounds, and set a vigil for the latest installment, The Days of Shattered Faith. If you’re an avid follower of Tchaikovsky’s work, I’m sure there’s a Jesse Pinkman inside you yelling, “he can’t keep getting away with this!” And yet, the man does not stop.
Sage-Invigillator Angilly is about to conduct an illegal duel to signify the end of the war between the Pallaseen and the Loruthi. Her favored heir, Dekamran, is poised to take the throne of Usmai and adopt more Pallaseen-friendly policies. In the nick of time, her new Cohort-Invigillator, Loret, shows up after a run-in with some pirates, ready to stand witness to this monumental event. But it isn’t long before the results of the duel cause tensions to rise between the factions of Usmai as Dekamran’s brother returns from exile in a bid to repair relations between them.
As with Open Wounds, Shattered Faith is just a slightly tighter story than its predecessor. Whereas Last Chances was a whirlwind epic dashing like a madman across a city on the brink, Shattered Faith is a pot left on the stove about to boil over. Its energy is contained until it’s not, and then it spills out, its contents too hot to start cleaning up immediately. Something that astonished me was how well the book was paced in terms of the direction it was headed in. The two brothers vying for the throne have several back-and-forths, both on and off the page, and it was hard to know who would end up on top. The stories this time around feel even more personal in the sense that the intimate relationships between the characters, their peers, and their surroundings are even more indicative of the story than in previous installments.
I would label every book in this series a tragedy, but Shattered Faith elevates despair to something poetic and introspective. Angilly, or Gil as she is known by those closest to her, is a member of Outreach. She is tasked with learning a culture and determining how to bring it within the Pallaseen Sway. As long as Usmai is independent, she is allowed certain imperfections that don’t immediately clash with the values set forth by the various schools of thought. Gil is torn between the two worlds. She is both of the Pallaseen, doing their bidding, seeing perfection as correct even if it doesn’t need to be heavy-handed. And she is also enmeshed in the world of Usmai, focused on how to best bring its people in without too much turbulence. She is sympathetic in her humanity, even though she is wrong in her approach. Where her story goes is one that I will remember for a long time, and the pleasant mixture of brutality and absurdity solidified it.
One other thing I want to point out before diving into the usual thematic explorations is just how damn good the writing in this series is.Tchaikovsky’s prose is fun and dripping with character. It is atmospheric as well, truly bringing the reader into the swampy miasma that permeates Usmai. The dialogue is sharp and wastes no time. The geography of the city feels lived in and thriving. And the battle scenes are particularly stunning in their scope and detail. I’ve often had trouble with action-based writing because of too much focus on individual actions and the need to be cool. It slows down the pacing, and I get trapped in the moment of recall instead of the heat of the battle. Shattered Faith instead captures the essence and the atmosphere of the battles. We’re caught in how characters feel and the chaotic dance of action and reaction. Events blend together, and only the more tactically minded have the ability to step back for a second before the next blow lands. And something that Tchaikovsky nails is the carnage. The battles aren’t treated as glorious, outside of the characters who revel in them. It’s the kind of shit that really raises the hair on my skin.
Shattered Faith really begins to dig into the ramifications of the Pallaseen’s rapid expansionism. Such expansion comes at a steep price, not only in material and manpower, but in cultural blending. Perfection does not survive without meticulous maintenance. Hell, just look at the Roman Empire in its later centuries. Chickens are coming home to roost, and that means Outreach has to perform bigger miracles to keep the magic consumption machines turning. The boot comes down harder, stamping on its own to remind who is in charge and for what reasons. All of the Tyrant Philosopher books have been dark in nature, but Shattered Faith really hits some highs, especially when it comes to Loret’s story. If you had any sympathies for how the Sway conducts itself, there is one specific event in this book that should wipe away any notion that their project is one worth championing. I think you could once say that this was an imperial project like any other at some point, but a line gets crossed in Shattered Faith that should dispel that illusion.
The novel also explores some really interesting investigations into the nature of how the Pallaseen project works. In previous novels, we see how they integrate the magic of their “subjects” into the war machine, twisting it to their own ends. But in Shattered Faith, the rightness of perfection always follows up. Readers are introduced to Ventures, a vanguard of the military that is an experimental frontline that employs unorthodox tactics to get the job done. At the front of it is Flint, a man who often runs around with his uniform undone and is incredibly charismatic. He knows what he is doing and will use everything at his disposal, which is where things get really interesting. I won’t spoil anything, but where it comes into play is how Ventures and Outreach become disposable tools when true “perfection” becomes the goal. These tools also become subject to the same methodologies as the cultures they are conquering, as they are seen as tainted, despite them delivering the boons that fuel the war effort. Their loyalty is questioned, and to avoid further questioning, people choose to fall in line and stop asking their own questions. And still that might not even save you.
The nooks and crannies of the Pallaseen Sway that are rummaged through in Shattered Faith leave the reader with a picture devoid of room for the human. It makes sense that this story chooses to focus on those who believe in the Pallaseen project, but suffer because of it. They have not fully committed, retaining bits of what makes them human and relatable to those around them, despite their theological differences. And because of that, they too can be crushed by their own masters. There is no room for you, or for anyone, in the Pallaseen because anyone can hinder the project just by existing and having feelings.
Rating: Days of Shattered Faith – The Gods will have their reckoning.
-Alex
