The great thing about this book is that you can look at the cover and title and know exactly whether or not you will be charmed by it or not.
I was very charmed. I wish I knew more about the specific translation choices and the register that it's operating in; I can tell it's intentional and I think I lack some of the cultural context to make sense of it. 
Still having a great time reading it, though, and it's very silly.

Am I enjoying this series enough to read the "how the main character's parents met?" story as the eighth book? Apparently!
Neumeier wrote that this started as a little bit of a "How I met your mother?" and became a novel when she wasn't looking. You can tell, but I appreciate it.

There's an essay somewhere about the Ugaro (and the Lau, but to less degree) and tochacha - the obligation to rebuke. Because the whole point of the story is that we have to be able to say things to one another when we do something wrong, either accidentally or intentionally. We have to be able to confront or confess or we don't have a society. The whole point of the Ugaro is that life is hard and you have to be able to talk to one another about doing things right. Consistently in this story, problems develop when people in power cannot hear critique. And I feel like there has to be an answer beyond fighting each other, although, honestly, that seems to be working so far.

I can't believe I only have one book left.

Decades after the Samaria Trilogy, Sharon Shinn writes a new book and the plot is completely different, but the vibes are...familiar. Which is pretty reasonable; it's a Shinn story after all. This one didn't permanently rewrite my psyche, though, unlike Archangel. But sometimes I just want to reread Archangel for the first time. Still very much enjoyed this one.
 

This book is fundamentally "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" in terms of plot, which is both part of why it's fascinating and part of why the end feels...the way it does. There's a little bit of a...machina ex deus going on that is either a total copout of refusing to answer the Omelas choice OR it's a deep critique of the idea that the options are always either to hurt some or lose the city. There's always another choice. I want to think it's intentional.

So this is basically my definition of what epic fantasy ought to be - the characters are front and center, the worldbuilding is both extremely detailed and does not make scientific or logical sense, the real world mythological roots are not too intrusive into the story, and I don’t have to deal with too many people’s point of view. 
Oh and also there’s a real ethical dilemma at the heart of the story that is not about people being terrible, but about trying to do good against impossible odds. I really needed it. 

This book has the exact same energy as every compendium of information about either history or mythology that I devoured as a child and so, obviously, I found this delightful as well because I have not changed. 
This was great, I had so much fun reading it. 

Recovery narratives are hard to write and I always have mixed feelings when magic is an integral part of the story.
On the one hand, it feels strange to discuss coping with trauma through something unavailable to us, but even worse to leave it out of the story entirely. Of course if magic existed it should be used to help with psychological distress.
Interesting to me that this bothered me not at all in the previous book.
Anyway - I find Tano's entire story and point of view of towards the inGara to be a really interesting way for Neumeier to write about the morality of the Ugaro culture from an insider's perspective rather than an outsider trying to decide what is good and bad. I am fascinated by the role that punishment/absolution plays in her image of Ugaro culture, but also the way that both the Ugaro and the Lau are not judgted by the narrative except within the culture clash.

I keep wondering if Neumeier actually shades into the "noble savage" trope in the way that both beatings and honor function in Ugaro society, especially honor and truth, but it feels like I need to think on it more. Might also be useful to have more cultures to compare them to. What else is the next book for, after all?

Is there a list somewhere of autistic british mothers writing about their life experiences because that really does seem to be the niche that speaks to my soul.

Every single letter in the book is an absolute joy, but the one to Frau V was extraordinary. 

This is why I never do my "books of the year" lists until December 31. Because something in december always absolutely slays.

This book really dug into the culture clash aspects of the series, which I really appreciated. Interesting how much more the Lau tend to judge the Ugaro, rather than the reverse. Or perhaps judge differently; there’s a perspective on one side that feels about civilization, while on the other side, the question is about honor. There is something very interesting in terms of utility and freedom. (Or I read Davids Graeber and Wengrow earlier this year and some of it stuck).

Also I love the way this story complicated and played with the mythology of the book. 
And I do love a good medical drama. 

This was the first book in this series where I noticed how wildly different the voices were and how good Neumeier is at conveying culture linguistically. 
The first half of the book was good and interesting and there was a lot going on and then the second half happened. 
(Cue John Mulaney “that’s when it went from good to great”)
Because suddenly it was a story about rules and kindness and power and whether it is possible to ethically hold power over another and whether even good people will eventually break…
There’s also this background story about “how do different societies handle malfeasance and the people who get swept up into it?” And also “what does mercy and kindness look like?”

This series is great and I'm going to have to remember to stop after each one to review them so that they don't all just flow together.
Despite my not-always-fond-of-prequelitude, I really liked this one.