I read really weird books. That goes without saying. This book is one of the weirdest I've read in a long, long time.

Think Jeff Vandermeer *Annihilation* weird.

I loved it, don't get me wrong. There were moments where I had almost no sense of what was going on, but I did enjoy reading it. I think the problem was usually in not being clear who the narrator was - there are (I think!) a couple of first-person POVs, and (just to confuse things), a few bits where the narrator is actually telling the story in the second person... and I wasn't always sure who that person was, either. I'll be interested to know whether the official copy will have different fonts to make that clearer, or whether the ambiguity is part of the narrative.

Honestly, given the story itself, I wouldn't be surprised if that confusion is part of the whole deal. There's a lot of confusion here - bodily and relationally and politically.

So there are mechas, and there used to be AIs but they've been corrupted; there's a human polity which seems to want to be in charge, but quite how or why is unclear. (At times I wondered whether I had missed the first book in the series, because there were what seemed like significant ellipses that would make sense if there was presumed knowledge I didn't have... but no, this is the first book in what might be a series.) There are humans who used to be connected in some way to the AIs, and who are either to be avoided or to followed, depending on your attitude towards the AIs. Most importantly, there's Sunai, who could not be self-destructive if he tried. He's a salvage-rat, who gets a job to go with a rig to do... something he can't remember, actually, because he was very, very drunk when he agreed to it. And when he does remember, it turns out to be yet another bad idea, but he goes along with it mostly because of Veyadi Lut, whom he likes a lot more than he thinks he should. Things go from there. Often badly, generally surprisingly, and with consequences for more than just Sunai.

This is a hefty novel - 416 pages in ebook, according to Goodreads. So as you can imagine, there's a lot that goes on; at the halfway point I thought we must have been coming up on the conclusion, and then everything went sideways *again*, and something had to be done - note I don't say "things had to be made right". It's not bereft of hope, but it's one of those stories where what you *thought* would be the best outcome isn't what happens, and where a lot of the things that seem like the very opposite of the best outcome *do* happen. And yet... I wasn't miserable at the end.

I'll be cautious who I recommend this to, and in what situation - do not read this if you want a perfectly comprehensible novel that demands nothing from you as the reader. Do read it if you want a novel take on giant mecha, the place of AIs, and an intriguing narrative structure that requires you to actually pay attention. I will be paying attention to Candon's work from now on.

Emma Mieko Candon’s novel The Archive Undying is titanic. And I don’t just mean that literally—though of course I do, coming in at nearly 500 pages—because Candon dreamed big for this one. With a unique landscape propping up a complicated plot and a diverse range of characters who feel every emotion under the sun (and then a few more that Candon invents just for fun) this book has it all. It’s a ride! Come for the promised robot gods and immortal trainwrecks but stay for the heartbreaks and the laughs.

We’ll start with the name of the genre— GodPunk? I didn’t know it was a thing and I love it. This easily takes what I love about The Locked Tomb & Gearbreakers and makes it so so good. I’m happy to read confused, I’m happy to have giant robot gods, I’m happy to be on a journey to save the world (especially with a cast of queer characters) ya know? Sunai is our classic dumbass character (who is actually brilliant and tough) and Veyadi is a brilliant, strange fella (who might be autistic, we love an autistic character here). I adored their journey and really look forward to book 2!

The Archive Undying is written with exquisite prose and the worldbuilding is unique and intriguing. However, Candon's execution of this idea didn't work for me—ultimately, The Archive Undying is very confusing and it didn't feel as if there was enough payoff via grounding in character or story to be worth the work required to unravel it.

That said, I am very interested in Candon as a writer and will be keeping an eye out for future books. There is a lot of promise in this one.

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

I wanted to love this book. I was set up to love this book by the description. In the end I enjoyed the story but was left feeling a bit unsatisfied at what I thought could have been. A very experimental in style type of SF novel that had lots of big ideas and crazy advanced tech. Those parts were really well done. There was just a slight lack of cohesiveness that caused me to get lost at times. But a very promising start and one that I believe will lead to a brand new talent arriving on the SF scene. Larger review to come on the blog in the coming weeks.

Given the blurb, I thought this would be an intriguing read, but I found myself slogging through the book and never felt connected to the world or characters. The novel was confusing, hard to grasp, and I found I didn't care much about anything that happened. From what I've read from other reviewers, I'm not alone in this frustration. I did not finish the book, for I could no longer bring myself to pick it up.

This was such an interesting ride. I saw someone describe this as a cross between Neon Eva and Gideon the Ninth, and I completely agree. I liked the themes of morality and faith, as well as the sort of sweeping complexities of love and partnership. Really interesting stuff. I loved the world and the characters, and I cannot wait for more in the world/from this author. I'm not even really sure how exactly to describe or categorize this work, but I would say if you love speculative fiction then this is going to be one to pick up!

This is why I love speculative fiction! This book is hard to describe, but it is incredible -- something like a cross between Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gideon the Ninth. It tackles the complexities of love when everyone is deeply flawed, the messy moral implications of faith, AND the importance of meaningful choice in any kind of relationship. There are so many things that this book is "about," and it handles these things brilliantly through a combination of wonderfully inventive prose and also giant robots. This is a book that's going to stick with me!

I don't really know how I feel about this book. It was interesting, gross, crazy, and wild. I think I liked it...I was definitely immersed and the writing was amazing. But I don't think I could continue this series. Not because it was bad by any means, but it's just not my cup of tea.

in this world there are AI gods that run complex city compounds and sometimes a frightening event called 'corruption', in which said AIs self-implode and take a ton of their civilians with them. during corruption the AIs will occasionally create human 'relics' by basically physically infecting a citizen with the last of their technorganic bits. sometimes this process kills the human but sometimes the relics survive, always stronger, always with a new talent or quasimagical ability inherited from their god.

Sunai, the protag, is (secretly) one such relic. he's also hilariously relatable. this is one of my favorite quotes from him: "Sunai has never witnessed any trainwreck more compelling than his own."


[I'm putting the rest of the plot synopsis under a spoiler warning, as the book is still a long ways out and I know some people prefer being surprised!]

[Sunai is one of the last remaining pieces of Iterate Fractal, the god who ran the beautiful city of Khuon Mo and who destroyed said city in his death throes. Sunai, who had a complicated relationship with Iterate Fractal even prior to his corruption, also has a complicated relationship with himself. he enjoys driving his body willfully into the ground, whether via drink, drugs or dangerous people.

and speaking of dangerous people, Sunai apparently struggles quite a lot with building healthy relationships with normal, sane folks. when he finally develops a longlasting friendship with someone who genuinely loves him he flees their city.

the book opens on him accidentally fleeing right into the arms of a stranger, and drunkenly signing himself up for a salvage job he subsequently remembers nothing of when he wakes the next morning on a moving rig. said employer is a doctor named Veyadi Lut, who is a self-identified autonomist (a fanboy of AI gods, basically) and who wears a super weird chitinous mask over the top half of his face.

since Sunai is a walking disaster gay, he of course stays on this job and launches a (literally) world altering quest with the help of an old friend, the meanest and somehow most endearing enby around, a crew of so-called salvage rats, and another old friend with a very complicated history.]


the worldbuilding in this book is labyrinthine and frequently frustrating. I ended up really enjoying it but would like to provide a catch-all to any potential readers. the plot is really fun, the characters are amazing, but there are some insanely confusing chunks of this book that you'll need patience to wade through them.

this book viscerally reminded me of Max Gladstone (specifically, 2022's Last Exit), with a little sprinkling of Tamsyn Muir (ie the beginning of Harrow the Ninth) and Hiron Ennes (of 2022's Leech).

I know to a lot of people the above three books were frustrating in very different ways lol, so just approach The Archive Undying knowing that there will be some segments that are super bizarre.

that being said, I absolutely adored Sunai and I was happy to trudge through these chunkier parts because I knew he'd be on the other side. also, I'm automatically biased toward AI characters as I love every single one I've ever read for some aspect or another.

the romance was really sweet, though far less present than I was expecting considering the book's official synopsis. there were some awesome friendships, some intriguing discussion on trauma, and a lot of laugh out loud quotes and dialogue. I've included another favorite quote to end this review, as Veyadi and Sunai's conversations were frequently hilarious.

Goddamn menace," Veyadi says, like a last warning from the universe.
"Just you wait," says Sunai, who has never been good with warnings.



representation; achillean mc, achillean love interest, nonbinary (they/them) character, sapphic characters

3.5, rounding up to a 4 bc I love giant robots
thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc 💜

I did not find the narrative for this story to be compelling. It does fit the description given, and yet I felt no attachment to the characters. I did appreciate the effort to bring diversity and inclusivity to the world.

Humanity lives in a world dominated by states controlled by enigmatic and godlike AI or as a part of the anti-AI faction known as the Harbor. Unfortunately for those residing in the AI states, a form of corruption is present on the world that can strike down the machine intelligences and cause untold devastation as the death throes of the AIs destroy lives, homes, and entire ways of life. Survivors of these fallen AI states who were somehow connected to the AI at the time of its death are called relics, sometimes possessing odd abilities that make them valuable resources for the Harbor as they can be used to control powerful robots or other remnants of the defunct AI.

This is a book that greatly rewards determination and focus. The Archive Undying has a lot of moving parts, perspective shifts, and somewhat opaque imagery that demands the attention of the reader if they want to get the most out of the story. And this is a story that is worth the attention, a rich and vibrant world of political strife and unimaginable technology and deeply conflicted characters with hidden motivations and secrets make this a great piece of science fiction.

Definitely a must read for mech-fiction fans and for patient readers of science fiction.

While Emma Candon is clearly a good writer, this book was a little too far into the experimental genre for my mindset when I was reading. I wound up putting it down just over the half-way point, so I can't claim this is a full review, but I can say this: if you're into post-apocalyptic SciFi with a heavy focus on AI and the consequences of interacting with it (both good and bad). It's not going to appeal to a wide audience, but for those that like those topics, this might be the book for you.

2 stars because DNFed

From the description to the last line, I loved everything aount The Archive Undying.

The story is set in a secondary world where humanity has (in the distant past) descended from a space station called the Cradle to live on the surface of an unnamed planet. The east Asian inspired geopolitics are both complex and easy to grasp, with city-states run by AIs that are a mix between dictators and deites serving as a buffer zone between the AI power of the Immaculate Empire and the AI-hating Harbor.

The problem with all those AI states? The world suffers from outbreaks of something called Corruption, where the AI powers are torn apart in violent, fatal ways that often kill large amounts of their citizens. Survivors of these accidents (which turn out to be more than just accidents) are called "relics," and the Harbor builds and expands its power base by strapping them to the cobbled-together remnants of the AI deities they once worshipped in the form of giant battle robots.

It's every bit as complex and delicious as it sounds!

Adding to the excellence are a cast of characters who all have lots to lose and lots of secrets--from the relic Sunai, cursed with immortality, to the angsty young adult scion of a mob boss, Jin. The book also has queer rep in spades (Sunai is gay, Jin is nonbinary and there's a whole "third gender" in the worldbuilding), which is always a plus in my book.

A must for fans of Murderbot and Ann Leckies' Ancillary Justice series, The Archive Undying will scratch that giant robot and complex AI itch in ways that often surprises but never disappoints.

What a gorgeous novel full of loveable characters and a storyline that I couldn't put down. This one is a must read!

Very interesting new voice (at least it was new for me!). Strong story and great ideas. I enjoy every page of it!

This book was a wild ride. How to even begin describing it? Firstly, I loved it, just so we're clear on that. This book was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 and I am glad to say it did not disappoint. It is about Sunai, who died 17 years ago but continues to be alive despite his best intentions. It is about Iterate Fractal, a powerful AI who controlled and was worshiped by a beautiful island nation until it died and killed them with it. It is about a land of city states ruled either by heavy handed AIs or heavy handed humans, where AIs can be called up to join an empire we never really see, and where far above orbits the Cradle, to which humanity fled and from which it returned, once upon a time.

It is a book that doesn't hand you anything, but forces you to pay attention as you read and do the math in your head to connect the dots of what is going on. I admit I was occasionally lost, but my brain absolutely enjoyed the exercise. There will never be a lengthy explanation for what is going on, for how the world came to be the way it is, but that is okay because why and how don't matter particularly to our main characters, they are just trying to deal with what is.

It is the type of book that rewards rereading, because once you know the general storyline you can pay attention to all the little details that form threading roots to bring this conglomerate structure together. I might go back and reread it right now actually.

In conclusion, I don't feel like I have the words to describe what reading this book was like. But I loved it. I loved Sunai, I loved Veyadi, I loved Jin and the Maw and I can not wait to read more about them. I hope you love them too. Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for this honest review.