Transmentation | Transience DEALS
When I received the ARC, thanks to Blackstone Publishing, of Transmentation | Transcience by Darkly Lem, I was excited! I am a big fan of the science fiction genre and am always willing to explore the genre further and see where it can be pushed.
This novel does not disappoint in pushing the science fiction genre in a different direction.
Transmentation | Transcience has a multiversal setting where interdimensional travelers jump from body to body following political intrigue and posit philosophical questions about what it is to exist.
The novel has an ambitious blend of world-building and complex storytelling, which might not be for everyone, and that’s fine.
Written by Darkly Lem, which is a collective pseudonym of five different authors, Transmentation | Transcience is the first installment of The Formations Saga which is worth exploring.
Transmentation | Transience Summary
The novel starts with a bang and a mission that has gone wrong. It quickly jumps into interesting multiple universes that get you hooked from the get-go.
We follow several characters, each having their own description in the glossary of the book (that’s how many there are!), in a universe where 3 opposing factions converge on one another.
The mission at hand has gone awry and the outfall of this mission creates instability in the political storm of the prime locality Burel Hird Prime.
As we jump from universe to universe, following a diverse cast of characters, we learn about the inner workings of each of the factions, their wants and ambitions as well as a more sinister assassination plot that is being developed right under Burel Hird Prime’s noses.
Political intrigue and bureaucratic machinations blend with the main characters trying to escape the outfall of the disaster mission which started this whole storm of problems.
Transmentation | Transcience is a complex science fiction novel that definitely deserves follow-up books to better understand the universe that the five authors are building and allowing us to explore from multiple facets and multiple points of view.
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What I Liked About Transmentation | Transcience
World-building
The world-building in the novel is simply amazing. It gives just enough details to understand what is going on in the different worlds, without diving too deep into each one. Some of the worlds are complex and have completely different social structures than what we are used to. Some worlds are similar, yet have their own quirks that are interesting to discover.
The book explores many worlds that are all different from each other and gives you just enough of a taste to be intrigued and interested in each. I just wish there was more to explore and spend time in each one! I guess the future books of The Formation Saga might dive deeper into the more pertinent ones, which I am all for.
Political intrigue and inner workings
There is a fair amount of political discussions, and inner workings of the different politics depending on the world and discourse. This creates a different perspective for the reader which adds a lot of value and thought for the reader, to the book.
Each of these political inner workings is important to understand each of the main societies and offers a different worldview for the reader.
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Subscribe to our weekly newsletterCharacter’s banter
I think my favorite part of the book was the character’s banter and dialogue. Right from the get-go it starts with a fun read of a difficult situation.
“There’s a trapdoor in this car.”
“Do not go in the trapdoor”, Malcum said.
“I’m going in the trapdoor.”
The novel is filled with very well-written character dialogue that breaks up the tense situations that the protagonists are dealing with. Probably my favorite part of the book!
What I Disliked About Transmentation | Transcience
Too many characters
The characters are well-written and each of the important ones has depth, however, for the length of the novel, there were too many characters to follow, in my opinion.
There are over 55 characters! I have to give a major applause to the authors for being able to write in so many characters, even if some of them are not the main ones of the book.
It was hard for me to relate and focus on a single character because the story would jump around from universe to universe and different characters. Without having at least a main character who is really at the center of everything to stick to, I was not able to completely get immersed in the novel.
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Pacing
The pacing, in general, makes sense for the type of novel that this is; a complex sci-fi book that explores a lot of different themes and situations. However, because of the constant jumps between different storylines, I found, at times, that the pacing was a bit mixed and harder to follow than a normal book.
Execution
I would have to say that there were only some parts of the book in which I had issues with the execution aspect of the story. One of the examples (no spoilers) is the assassination. We know that it is being planned and soon to happen, but when it does happen, it is very quick and without any buildup. It happens in a few lines. I wish there was more buildup to it and more of how it happened before and after.
Takeaways
Tranmentation | Transcience might not be a novel for everyone. It is more of an experimental novel that needs more story to be fully developed, only because it has so much to offer regarding characters, different worlds, and multiverse exploration.
Regardless of that fact, the book is a novel exploration of the science fiction genre which will appeal to the lovers of deep and complex sci-fi books.
Transmentation | Transcience, at its core, is an exploration of self, what it means to be a person (sometimes in different bodies or universes), and how, what seems to be small things, can impact the larger scope of the multiple universes at hand.
Blend these complex themes with an assassination plot and you have an amazing mix that will appeal to science fiction lovers.
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In Closing
Transmentation | Transcience by Darkly Lem is one of those novels that need to be read by all fans of Jeff VanderMeer and those who love deep science fiction stories with multiple characters and locations.
The book explores several complex themes from different perspectives which is a breath of fresh air for the science fiction genre. Given the fact that a collective of five different authors contributed to the story, it allows for several points of view to be presented through different characters and ideologies.
This complex blend creates a story that keeps the reader intrigued and makes them question their own understanding of one’s self.
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The Review
Transmentation | Transience
Transmentation | Transience is a complex science fiction novel that explores multiple universes and political shifts that deserves more follow-up stories.
PROS
- World-building
- Character's dialogue
- Political intrigue
CONS
- Pacing
- Too many characters
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