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language: Japanese (English tr. Matt Treyvaud)
country: Japan
year: 1987
form: novel
genre(s): science fiction
series: Legend of the Galactic Heroes, #9
dates read: 8.12.25-13.12.25
having finished Upheaval, I am, at long last, almost done with Tanaka Yoshiki’s Legend of the Galactic Heroes series. I’m a little apprehensive now, to be honest — it’s hard to see how things could actually be wrapped up in only one more book at this point, but also I think that’s part of Tanaka’s point: history is an ongoing process.
Matt Treyvaud’s translation is still solid, though there are some occasional slips — I imagine by this point in the series Haikasoru was probably just trying to get everything out.
Upheaval is set about six months after the end of Desolation, continuing to deal with the impact of [SPOILER REDACTED]. the focus here is on the Empire and the rise of internal political divisions, partly due to the machinations of the Church of Terra, partly due to the personalities involved, and partly due to the uncertainties produced by the rapid changes in the political conditions of the galaxy.
I don’t know if in past reviews I’ve really done justice to Tanaka’s handling of characters. in the early books the whirlwind of names is a little overwhelming, but by this point in the series, with about 2,000 pages behind us, it pays off in much the same way that the whirlwind of characters in early Pern does: Tanaka can drop in Müller or Kessler or Poplin and you have a sense of who you’re dealing with and how they relate to other characters. this is particularly important for this book, because it is so much about the personalities of Reinhard, Mittermeier, and von Reuentahl and the ways they interact with those around them.
this focus on personalities is, however, still fascinatingly conveyed in a distant third person, and the historical frame is more prominent here than in I think any of the other books — commentaries on (and sometimes quotations from) future historians permeate every chapter. on one level, the historical reflections “spoil” the plot, insofar as it is clear almost immediately how the rebellion that drives the plot of this novel will turn out, but on another level the historical reflections — by being so focused on character dynamics — shift some of the weight of the narrative away from plot and towards interpersonal relationships: this is a book about epic space battles, but the meat of the book is the emotional relationship between Mittermeier and von Reuentahl.
Upheaval also deals at some length with Reinhard’s sexuality. he does get involved with a woman, but he’s also presented pretty explicitly as asexual and aromantic, or at least as basically asexual and aromantic (albeit not in those terms). I have some reservations about this plot arc (and the evasion of Reinhard’s relationships with Kircheis and Emil), but I was nonetheless pleasantly surprised to see this addressed at all.
if you like military sci-fi, big politics, and big political personalities, I continue to recommend this series.
moods: dark, tense