The Iron Garden Sutra is a science fiction I still struggle to explain. It’s about death monks on a space ship which has secrets. I fell into the world and kept falling the more I read. Keep reading this book review of The Iron Garden Sutra for my full thoughts.
Summary
Vessel Iris has devoted himself to the Starlit Order, performing funeral rites for the dead across the galaxy, guiding souls back into the Infinite Light. Despite the meaning he finds in his work and the comfort of AI companionship, his relationships with the living leave him longing for deeper connection.
The spaceship Counsel of Nicaea has been lost for more than a thousand years, its passengers reduced to dust and bone. A relic of Earth’s dying past, its sudden appearance has attracted a team of academics eager to investigate its archeological history. And Iris has been assigned to bring peace to the crew’s long departed souls.
Carpeted in moss and intertwined with vines, Nicaea is more forest than ship. Iris’s religious rituals are met with bemusement by the scientists—and outright hostility by engineer Yan Fukui.
But the plant life isn’t the only thing to have survived the past millennia. Something aboard is stalking the explorers one by one. And Iris with his Al enhancement may be their only hope for survival . .
Review
A science fiction with crew dynamics will always be my soft spot. And The Iron Garden Sutra is certainly a different take. One of our main characters is a death monk and I couldn’t get over this role. I love the idea of mixing these traditions, faiths, and the idea of death in the future. What would it mean for us in the future? The similarities and differences. And that’s just a small snippet of this expansive and detailed world of The Iron Garden Sutra. I couldn’t get over each little detail and the ship itself is a treasure trove. The entire time while reading, I could not get over the world building. It’s something I thought of hours later after finishing.
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Don’t even get me started on the way The Iron Garden Sutra beautifully transforms into a twisty plot. It strikes this balance between science fiction and thriller vibes. Do you ever read those books which just impress you with the craft alone? That’s me and this one. It’s a rare experience for me, but this is one I immediately started to recommend. While I wish we spent a little more time with the side characters, it’s hard not to get pulled into the twists and the plot! Find The Iron Garden Sutra on Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.