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Post-Self #3
Nevi'im
"Do you know how old I am, Dr. Brahe? I am 222 years old, a fork of an individual who is...who would be 259 years old. I am no longer the True Name of 2124. Even remembering her feels like remembering an old friend..."
The cracks are showing.
Someone picked up on the broadcast from the Dreamer Module and as the powers that be rush to organize a meeting between races, Dr. Tycho Brahe is caught up in a whirlwind of activity. And as always, when the drama goes down, there is Codrin Bălan to witness it.
When faced with eternity in a new kind of digital world, however, old traumas come to roost, and those who were once powerful are brought to their knees.
Growth is colliding with memory, and the cracks are showing.
The cracks are showing.
Someone picked up on the broadcast from the Dreamer Module and as the powers that be rush to organize a meeting between races, Dr. Tycho Brahe is caught up in a whirlwind of activity. And as always, when the drama goes down, there is Codrin Bălan to witness it.
When faced with eternity in a new kind of digital world, however, old traumas come to roost, and those who were once powerful are brought to their knees.
Growth is colliding with memory, and the cracks are showing.
408 pages, Paperback
Published July 21, 2022
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Madison Scott-Clary
17 books62 followersMadison Rye Progress, also writing under the name Madison Scott-Clary, is an author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry living in the Pacific Northwest. Her interests lie in the realms of furry fiction and non-fiction, collaborative fiction, and hypertextual writing. She is a member of the Furry Writers' Guild, and editor for several projects, fiction and non-fiction. She holds an MFA from Cornell College where she studied the lyric essay and teaching creative writing in fandom- and subculture-specific spaces.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 2, 2022
*I received an advanced reading copy*
Nevi’im is the third entry in Madison’s Post-Self series of books and delivers on the promise at the end of the second book at first contact with an alien species. As such, Tycho Brahe becomes one of the main characters of the book and we get chapters from his perspective in relation to Odists, the new project that True Name has pulled him into, and just get to see more of what makes him unique. The person who when asked for permission from aliens to establish first contact answered yes without hardly a hesitation. Tycho is a favorite of mine because of his outsider perspective. Codrin and Ioan have been around the Odists long enough that em are used to their various different shenanigans, so it was nice to have a character that could stop and question what was going on. In addition to that, I appreciate that Tycho is so earnest. He feels like a natural foil to True Name in that regard. True Name would like you to think she is earnest, but with every move calculated to the nth degree, that illusion can waver quickly.
Speaking of True Name, she also has a larger role in this book. As alien contact has the potential to destabilize her carefully constructed system stability, she is forced to put together a new massive project in negotiations with these aliens. It’s interesting to see how True Name’s character acts in this book. She was built as a large and imposing political force in Toledot and while she continues to be that, there’s cracks that start to show. A lot has happened in the twenty years between Toledot and Nevi’im and seeing her confront an obstacle that is big enough to push her to her limits was an incredibly good payoff.
Especially once you factor in May Then My Name’s hostility to True Name. I didn’t feel like it was out of character for her to have some form of deep resentment for True Name after the publication of the system’s History. True Name manipulated an entire society and had a direct effect on Ioan’s involvement in uploading to the System. I would have been more surprised if she didn’t hate True Name. After everything she had done, it was cathartic to have a character who is incredibly empathetic put her paw down and say that what she did wasn’t OK. The ends couldn’t justify the means forever for May Then My Name and that resonated with me.
I’ve realized I’ve been talking about the characters this whole time, but that’s the thing. These characters are so well realized, so fleshed out, that I can’t help but to gush about how their interactions with each other inform the central plot of the book. Madison’s usual style is in full force here and she makes excellent use of the more science fiction focused aspects of the book. The alien species they make contact with are dubbed the Artemisians and each of them have their own eccentricities that inform how they interact with the main cast. I was wondering how Madison was going to address culture shock when the Artemisians showed up on Castor since beings that also live in a simulated computer environment would naturally have a lot in common. The use of time skew, a way for an instance to experience time at a different interval than others, provides a good way to incorporate that disconnect. In the same way that forking is second nature to users on Castor, time skew is a natural part of the Artemisian’s daily lives.
This provides another obstacle for True Name and her cocladists that have joined the party for the talks with the Artemisian’s. They had to essentially relive being unbound by time, like what had happened with Michelle when she was lost, in order to be a part of the discussion. This causes a lot of friction and further emphasizes that True Name can be vulnerable. She often doesn’t allow herself to be, but she still experiences emotions just like everyone else. Her speech about knowing her old self, but not knowing how to be them anymore hit me hard. True Name, at some corner of herself, wishes she could still be that old skunk she once was but has forgotten how to. I feel like we’ve all had experiences that have changed us, oftentimes for the worse, and wish we could go back to how we were before the trauma had changed us. That coupled with what she had to endure with time skew had me feeling bad for her and what she was being put through. And after the revelations that were brought to light in Toledot, that’s an accomplishment in itself.
Speaking of trauma, a larger theme of this book also seems to be working through difficult emotions through the processes of therapy. Sarah Genet is a new character that is introduced who functions not only as one of the emissaries for Castor, but also as a therapist for multiple characters. There’s a persistent threat of the Ode clade breaking down and setting up therapy sessions is one of the techniques that Ioan and May Then My Name use to try and stem that rising tide. There’s also something to be said about the characters getting therapy now, 200 years on. You could certainly make the argument that they should have collectively gotten their tails in gear and done this a hell of a lot sooner. But how often do we put off things that are difficult and yet necessary to better our mental health? Therapy is a lot of work and it takes a lot out of you, so I think it is better to view this development as a “better late than never”.
A criticism I have is that I’m starting to see a pattern in the splitting up of perspectives into two main plots that run in parallel to each other. In both Qoheleth and Toledot, the story shifts back and forth between present and past stories. This happens slightly with the time delay in Nevi’im but initially I wasn’t sure if splitting the groups of emissaries from both Castor and Artemis into two distinct groups was because of some other reason or just to preserve this style of flipping between two different perspectives. I will say that it is explained later towards the end and considering this sounds like it may be wrapping up the series, it may not even be something to consider.
My final thoughts are that if you loved the first two books, you will absolutely love this one. There’s a lot more science fiction in this one, but the element of mystery that is common to this series is still alive and well. There’s so much I want to talk about but avoided because of spoilers and I want to make sure that others get the opportunity to experience those twists for themselves. The book is worth the last chapter on its own so I would recommend picking it up!
Nevi’im is the third entry in Madison’s Post-Self series of books and delivers on the promise at the end of the second book at first contact with an alien species. As such, Tycho Brahe becomes one of the main characters of the book and we get chapters from his perspective in relation to Odists, the new project that True Name has pulled him into, and just get to see more of what makes him unique. The person who when asked for permission from aliens to establish first contact answered yes without hardly a hesitation. Tycho is a favorite of mine because of his outsider perspective. Codrin and Ioan have been around the Odists long enough that em are used to their various different shenanigans, so it was nice to have a character that could stop and question what was going on. In addition to that, I appreciate that Tycho is so earnest. He feels like a natural foil to True Name in that regard. True Name would like you to think she is earnest, but with every move calculated to the nth degree, that illusion can waver quickly.
Speaking of True Name, she also has a larger role in this book. As alien contact has the potential to destabilize her carefully constructed system stability, she is forced to put together a new massive project in negotiations with these aliens. It’s interesting to see how True Name’s character acts in this book. She was built as a large and imposing political force in Toledot and while she continues to be that, there’s cracks that start to show. A lot has happened in the twenty years between Toledot and Nevi’im and seeing her confront an obstacle that is big enough to push her to her limits was an incredibly good payoff.
Especially once you factor in May Then My Name’s hostility to True Name. I didn’t feel like it was out of character for her to have some form of deep resentment for True Name after the publication of the system’s History. True Name manipulated an entire society and had a direct effect on Ioan’s involvement in uploading to the System. I would have been more surprised if she didn’t hate True Name. After everything she had done, it was cathartic to have a character who is incredibly empathetic put her paw down and say that what she did wasn’t OK. The ends couldn’t justify the means forever for May Then My Name and that resonated with me.
I’ve realized I’ve been talking about the characters this whole time, but that’s the thing. These characters are so well realized, so fleshed out, that I can’t help but to gush about how their interactions with each other inform the central plot of the book. Madison’s usual style is in full force here and she makes excellent use of the more science fiction focused aspects of the book. The alien species they make contact with are dubbed the Artemisians and each of them have their own eccentricities that inform how they interact with the main cast. I was wondering how Madison was going to address culture shock when the Artemisians showed up on Castor since beings that also live in a simulated computer environment would naturally have a lot in common. The use of time skew, a way for an instance to experience time at a different interval than others, provides a good way to incorporate that disconnect. In the same way that forking is second nature to users on Castor, time skew is a natural part of the Artemisian’s daily lives.
This provides another obstacle for True Name and her cocladists that have joined the party for the talks with the Artemisian’s. They had to essentially relive being unbound by time, like what had happened with Michelle when she was lost, in order to be a part of the discussion. This causes a lot of friction and further emphasizes that True Name can be vulnerable. She often doesn’t allow herself to be, but she still experiences emotions just like everyone else. Her speech about knowing her old self, but not knowing how to be them anymore hit me hard. True Name, at some corner of herself, wishes she could still be that old skunk she once was but has forgotten how to. I feel like we’ve all had experiences that have changed us, oftentimes for the worse, and wish we could go back to how we were before the trauma had changed us. That coupled with what she had to endure with time skew had me feeling bad for her and what she was being put through. And after the revelations that were brought to light in Toledot, that’s an accomplishment in itself.
Speaking of trauma, a larger theme of this book also seems to be working through difficult emotions through the processes of therapy. Sarah Genet is a new character that is introduced who functions not only as one of the emissaries for Castor, but also as a therapist for multiple characters. There’s a persistent threat of the Ode clade breaking down and setting up therapy sessions is one of the techniques that Ioan and May Then My Name use to try and stem that rising tide. There’s also something to be said about the characters getting therapy now, 200 years on. You could certainly make the argument that they should have collectively gotten their tails in gear and done this a hell of a lot sooner. But how often do we put off things that are difficult and yet necessary to better our mental health? Therapy is a lot of work and it takes a lot out of you, so I think it is better to view this development as a “better late than never”.
A criticism I have is that I’m starting to see a pattern in the splitting up of perspectives into two main plots that run in parallel to each other. In both Qoheleth and Toledot, the story shifts back and forth between present and past stories. This happens slightly with the time delay in Nevi’im but initially I wasn’t sure if splitting the groups of emissaries from both Castor and Artemis into two distinct groups was because of some other reason or just to preserve this style of flipping between two different perspectives. I will say that it is explained later towards the end and considering this sounds like it may be wrapping up the series, it may not even be something to consider.
My final thoughts are that if you loved the first two books, you will absolutely love this one. There’s a lot more science fiction in this one, but the element of mystery that is common to this series is still alive and well. There’s so much I want to talk about but avoided because of spoilers and I want to make sure that others get the opportunity to experience those twists for themselves. The book is worth the last chapter on its own so I would recommend picking it up!
May 4, 2022
Disclaimer: I received an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
If you loved the first two Post-Self books, you're going to love Nevi'im.
Nevi'im continues to showcase Scott-Clary's talent for creating large, diverse casts that explore interesting questions of what it means to be alive. Individual members of clades—a collection of selfs that have forked from a single individual— feel distinct when they are supposed to, especially as each character individuated. Yet I see the familiarity in them too. To be able to write characters who diverged in adulthood and had experiences that shaped them each in different ways is no small feat, and I cannot think of another author who has accomplished it.
If you're looking for tense, clipped dialogue directing a fast-paced, high-stakes plot, you won't find it here. But the pace of the book never left me bored: instead, it gave me the time to understand the world and the characters, and I invested in them completely. I think this is one of the advantages of the several different viewpoints and styles. Letters, some public, some clade-exclusive, and some individual-exclusive form chapters, revealing private thoughts and conflicts that inform the action and dialogue.
Finally, the aliens themselves are fascinating, and probe new ways of being alive. Seeing the forking clades alongside the time-skewing Artemisians—especially with Tycho Brahe, who has a bit of an outsider perspective to both—really drew me into the book, and helped me ask—and answer—questions that I never even knew I needed to ask.
I cannot recommend the Post-Self series enough.
If you loved the first two Post-Self books, you're going to love Nevi'im.
Nevi'im continues to showcase Scott-Clary's talent for creating large, diverse casts that explore interesting questions of what it means to be alive. Individual members of clades—a collection of selfs that have forked from a single individual— feel distinct when they are supposed to, especially as each character individuated. Yet I see the familiarity in them too. To be able to write characters who diverged in adulthood and had experiences that shaped them each in different ways is no small feat, and I cannot think of another author who has accomplished it.
If you're looking for tense, clipped dialogue directing a fast-paced, high-stakes plot, you won't find it here. But the pace of the book never left me bored: instead, it gave me the time to understand the world and the characters, and I invested in them completely. I think this is one of the advantages of the several different viewpoints and styles. Letters, some public, some clade-exclusive, and some individual-exclusive form chapters, revealing private thoughts and conflicts that inform the action and dialogue.
Finally, the aliens themselves are fascinating, and probe new ways of being alive. Seeing the forking clades alongside the time-skewing Artemisians—especially with Tycho Brahe, who has a bit of an outsider perspective to both—really drew me into the book, and helped me ask—and answer—questions that I never even knew I needed to ask.
I cannot recommend the Post-Self series enough.
March 24, 2024
This book will sit with me for a while.
I'm bad at writing reviews, but by the end I found myself crying and feeling gutted in a way that I don't often feel by books.
There's a beautiful to Madison's prose that sometime feels hypnotic to me, pulling me in deeper and deeper until I've read 150 pages in a sitting and finished the book and hours have gone by and I don't know what happened.
My only complaint, not even a critique per se, but the dramatis personae having such complicated names and locations and instances can be hard to keep track of. I sometimes found myself wishing for family trees as such to help myself keep track of who's who.
I'm bad at writing reviews, but by the end I found myself crying and feeling gutted in a way that I don't often feel by books.
There's a beautiful to Madison's prose that sometime feels hypnotic to me, pulling me in deeper and deeper until I've read 150 pages in a sitting and finished the book and hours have gone by and I don't know what happened.
My only complaint, not even a critique per se, but the dramatis personae having such complicated names and locations and instances can be hard to keep track of. I sometimes found myself wishing for family trees as such to help myself keep track of who's who.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews