Just Finished Reading: The Liberation by Ian Tregillis (FP: 2016) [433pp] 

It was over in an instant. As she watched from the battlements the exhausted defenders saw what they must have imagined to be a miracle. Berenice knew better. The crystal device she had worked so hard to procure and use had instead been used for a higher purpose. The mechanical Daniel, previously known as Jax, had achieved his goal – he had freed his metal brethren from the slavery imposed upon them by the Brass Throne but at a terrible cost. At the moment the lightening flash covered the battlefield everything seemed to have been caught in place as in a photograph. Then, a heartbeat later, the reality of the situation bit – and bit hard. Some of the machines recovered from their momentary pause and continued their attack on the last bastion of New France. At great cost in blood and effort they were subdued or destroyed. Others turned on their Dutch oppressors either killing them immediately or causing them to flee and then left the battlefield themselves. A much smaller group turned to help any humans they could, protecting them as much as possible from other mechanicals. They were now in uncharted territory. In moments the French forces had transitioned from being on the very edge of extinction to having hope, not only of survival but of a return to Old France and ultimate victory. If only, Berenice mused, it was that easy. The mechanicals were now free to do as they wished, no longer forced to obey their human masters. One in particular, known to many simply as Queen Mab, had her own plans and her own path of revenge against those who had created and enslaved her kind for centuries. First, she would take that revenge on the Dutch empire across the sea. Then it would be time for the rest of humanity to tremble at the tick-tock sound of approaching machines knowing that the end was very near – if they were the lucky ones. 

This was a very good end to an excellent trilogy. I was so pleased when the character I had grown to love in the previous novel, Berenice Charlotte de Mornay-Perigord, former vicomtesse de Laval, returned front and centre in this one - although I didn't remember her being such a potty-mouth in previous novels! She was joined by her nemesis and opposite number from the previous novel, Anastasia Bell who I liked almost as much – despite being the ‘baddie’ here. Both were very capable, very intelligent, very able and rather flawed individuals who had a lot of learning (and pain) to go through in a little over 400 pages. I did find myself almost as immersed in their strange world – where the Dutch had created almost unstoppable robots in the 18th century and thereby (largely) taken over the world – as in the previous book which was a delight. As with the previous novels I couldn’t fault the world building in any respect (the only ‘fault’ I found with the narrative being Anastasia’s ability to get out of several dangerous situations by essentially using ‘magic’ despite it being used sparingly and, in the end, ineffectively). I think what impressed me most – over and above being a highly entertaining alt-history combat SF thriller – were things either unstated or understated. After the battle of ‘Marseilles in the West’ on the St Lawrence river, Berenice was introduced to the concept of unintended consequences – in SPADES – as well as the realisation that she had deliberately tortured a sentient creature without realising it or caring overmuch. Anastasia Bell had her own revelations – when along with other ‘clockmakers’ with open enough minds – she realised that their mechanical servants were not malfunctioned but had been sentient from the moment of their creation and whose Free Will had been in chains ever since. No wonder they were angry when freed! Layered throughout the novel were two dangers - the explicit danger of what happens when technology turns against us as well as the implicit danger of what happens when technology doesn’t and we increasingly delegate function after function to machines. Without giving too much away, the fact that the moment the mechanicals stopped serving their Dutch masters they lost the ability to feed themselves, communicate with each other beyond the range of their voices or to protect themselves at all says a great deal about our possible future. 

This was one of the best trilogies I can remember reading in years if not longer. I read the first book ‘The Mechanical’ in 2015 not long after it came out, the second book, ‘The Rising’, about this time last year and now, finally, the last book completing another series (yeah!). Definitely more coming from this author. Long may he continue producing books/series of this quality. Highly recommended.