Kornher-Stace, in Archivist Wasp, indicates that more can be learned when glimpsing something at the edge of your vision than by examining it head-on. That's how this book revealed itself to me. Someone mentioned it. It was on lists. I had an idea of what this book was. Then, the author talked about the importance of friendships. The author had opinions about how to tell a story. I drastically readjusted my expectations for the book.

This is my relationship with a lot of books. They're on my radar for quite a while and then I read them and enjoy them because I've spent enough time pruning my TBR topiary that it contains few duds. None of that prepared me for the actual reading experience.

The story allows the reader to follow along as the main character questions her place in the world, learns truths and builds the foundation of something new. There are some core questions about the world of this book that I'd expect to have answered. Wasp doesn't get all the answers and neither do we. I like that a reader steeped in fantasy has plenty of elements to argue about the beauty of the magic. Likewise, a reader expecting flying cars and the consequences of weaponized technology run amok has plenty for their mind to churn through.

I'm of a few minds about the bones of the world this story is built around. However, the story fleshes it out nicely. Most character decisions are a superposition of selfish and selfless. It's a hard effect to pull off and you can't just focus on any one thing that's shown or told. There's a constant clash between centuries of tradition and experience vs the moment-to-moment discovery.

I read this book to experience how Konher-Stace tells a story and how well a non-romantic relationship can carry a book. I was successful on both counts. It was a constant joy that left me wanting to read more by the author. Next, I'm reading the short story, "On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in the Northern hemispheric Star Charts, Post-Apocalypse." After I read a few other things, I'll return to [[[book:Latchkey|39211089]Latchkey]].