Engines of Reason, by Adrian Tchaikovsky, is an eagerly anticipated sequel to Elder Race, my absolute favorite novella. In some ways, I was a little sad that Tchaikovsky decided to write Engines of Reason. I fundamentally believe that Elder Race is so perfect that it can’t be improved on, but Tchaikovsky has proven me wrong more than once when I held similar beliefs. Can he do it again?
If you want a deeper reminder/dive into the first book, I suggest checking out the review here. However, to summarize, the main selling point of Elder Race for me was Tchaikovsky’s use of perspective shifts to highlight different cultural understandings of technology. It really captured lightning in a bottle in a way other novellas haven’t come close. Engines of Reason fails to recreate this magic, eschewing the perspective shifts that fueled my fanaticism for the first entry in the series. The cat is out of the bag; there is no way to recreate the magical conditions that made the first novella so unbelievably strong. And that is ok. Engines of Reason is a fascinating expansion of Elder that brings a ton of interesting insight into the unique societal circumstances set up from the first book. While it feels much less like a unique, fully contained experience, the exploration of themes in the plot is excellent–going deeper and wider than its predecessor managed to achieve.
Engines of Reason picks up years later, as our protagonist Nyr has left his tower of science and become a more present part of the world he is observing. Engines is an evolution of the end state of Elder Race and examines how Nyr breaking his oath of neutrality and distance has fundamentally changed the direction of the culture he is observing. Nyr once saw himself as a detached immortal observer and has come to realize that there were problems with that distance; but knowing that you need to get closer and knowing how close to get are entirely separate things. Added to his personal internal struggle, a new techno-sorcerer has come to power in the outer lands. Itself an event not that unusual, Nyr sets out to put the upstart down and strip advanced technology from the hands of those who would use it to tip the balance of this developing new world. What is different is Nyr’s discovery that this upstart’s mastery of the world’s technology rivals his own.
Without giving too much away, Engines of Reason is a book about parallel evolution, symbiotic corruption, and how you can’t change something without being changed in return. It is a story about how systems are always more complicated than they seem and nothing is ever really in isolation, no matter how much you try to separate it from its surroundings. It is a story about “the stories we tell ourselves, and that is what makes us human” – according to the first line of the book. But what does that mean?
It means the novella is a compact microtreatise on the importance of storytelling. It examines who gets to tell stories because of those who hold power in a structured society. It explores who gets cast as heroes or villains. Finally, it looks at how narratives shape culture and power, and how those narratives are shaped by them in turn, in an endless cycle. As always, it is frankly astounding how much worldbuilding that Tchaikovsky can pack into such a small amount of space. In many ways, Engines expands and evolves the story into something new and bigger. Tchaikovsky’s expansion of the world-building, character depth, and plotting opens the door to a much larger story that is a thrill to engage with.
Engines of Reason is delightful, serving as a well-written expansion of one of my favorite stories of all time. It is a piece that knows how to add new dimensions to a conversation that already feels complete, a rare skill to have. My one criticism of the novella is that the ending feels like a bridge, setting up a sequel. Normally that wouldn’t be a huge deal, but I really prefer my shorts to be self-contained. Regardless, if you read Elder Race, you should read Engines of Reason as well. You won’t regret diving into its mysteries.
Rating: Engines of Reason – 9.0/10
-Andrew
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
