I loved the first book and was intrigued by the second. Unfortunately, the third one did not work for me. I found the Master Chef plot to be off topic and rather tedious. This is not to say that the book is not interesting or well written. I am sure many people will thoroughly enjoy reading it. ( )

i really liked the first two books in this series. but this one read like a first draft - lots of imagination in play, but still in need of a whole lot of editing. it had a huge cast of characters, and it was full of digressions, each of which prompted still more digressions. too many meddles make a muddle. as a result, there was no momentum, it felt rather random, and it went nowhere. reading became a chore. sadly, in spite of my previous engagement, i think i'll stop reading this series now. ( )

Everyone contends with just about everyone else in this installment, and there is a lot of cutting away from painful scenes, sometimes to scenes which will be just as painful but increasingly toward the end, to a major romp of a contest between two restaurants. Lots of betrayal and gadgets that work much better than prototypes should. I'll probably forget most everything before the next brick is baked. Or maybe not since it's dropping this June. Speaking Bones ( )

I love the expansive world Ken Liu has created in Dara. I love the complex thinking each character goes through, justifying their motivations. I love that my opinions about these characters change over time, as they grow and change, and some of my early favorites are now overshadowed in light of their more recent mistakes. There's a lot to grapple with in this book, and a lot to laugh about. I particularly loved the cooking competition; it was just hilarious! I'm trying really hard to include no spoilers in this review, but this series is just so great! Can't wait for the final book to be out in the world, too. ( )

Edit: I feel bad bc I'm the only current review here. The other 2 books are great and there is probably going to be a great payoff in book 4. This one was just disappointing after waiting so long for it

It was alright, it's been a while since i read the first two books but I remembered liking them more. I heard that Liu wrote this and the sequel as one complete book but it would be a crazy length so it was split up. It felt like that, the first half is exposition with some major plot points started. Then maybe 60% through it shifts to another plot point which was made to be tidy enough to fit in 40% while still leaving hanging threads for the next book. So even though it's long, it both felt too short since so much was left, and dragged because it took something which felt like a side-plot and made it 40% of the book

Also I read that Liu's whole idea about this 'silkpunk' style was to make the engineers the heroes. And what I remembered of the last book it worked, when they figured out electricity it felt urgent and genius and like a sense of accomplishment. For this cooking scene 40%, it felt way too easy. All these inventions -- pressure bots, automatons, lenses, *roller coasters* came together out of a hat. There was no sense of invention just that we know that these inventions are possible so why not bring them there. And the antagonist was just so unrepentantly, cartoonishly evil, it just felt silly.

I liked the gods talking to each-other I guess. Not to belabor it but it has the aspect of political dramas/game of thrones where there are a lot of named characters and complicated relationships, which I can never remember so goes over my head. And the engineer side and underdog charm wasn't here either. Solidly ok ( )