Some Desperate Glory

This was a hands-down spectacular read. It had a unique protagonist, a very propelling plot, a clever and cool world, and it was just non-stop engaging. This is definitely going to be a top read of 2024 for me.

Besides it being an exciting Space Opera-style adventure, it also did what all great sci-fi does and really forced us to reflect on ourselves and our society. To what extent are you who you choose to be, and to what extent are you the product of the world that made you? That's probably the central question explored in this, but it's also much more than that.

I heard in the Sword and Laser book club that many people found the main character hard to put up with, mostly because she is a very difficult character to like. Personally though, I love investigating villains and "bad people" because so often there's more to them than just their bad ideas or detestable attitude, and this story really explores that very idea in a powerful way.

I would actually recommend this book to anyone who's not immediately turned off by the idea of futuristic stories, including young people. It's exciting, provocative, gripping, and just an amazing story. But it also sneeks in examinations of governmental systems of military populism and the way propoganda can infect communities, from people willing to go all in, to conscientious objectors, and the surprising commonalities beneath them all. I think it speaks volumes that the author was a Greek scholar who largely modelled the society on Sparta. Somehow though, it seems to relate incredibly well to the state of governments today as well.