I received an eARC from Edelweiss. All opinions are my own.

Maya has died and been resurrected into countless cyborg bodies through the years of a long, dangerous career with the infamous Dirty Dozen, the most storied crew of criminals in the galaxy, at least before their untimely and gruesome demise. Decades later, she and her diverse team of broken, diminished outlaws must get back together to solve the mystery of their last, disastrous mission and to rescue a missing and much-changed comrade . . . but they're not the only ones in pursuit of the secret at the heart of the planet Dimmuborgir.

The highly evolved AI of the galaxy have their own agenda and will do whatever it takes to keep humanity from ever regaining control. As Maya and her comrades spiral closer to uncovering the AIs' vast conspiracy, this band of violent women—half-clone and half-machine—must battle their own traumas and a universe of sapient ageships who want them dead, in order to settle their affairs once and for all.

Welcome to The All-Consuming World, the debut novel of acclaimed writer Cassandra Khaw. With this explosive and introspective exploration of humans and machines, life and death, Khaw takes their rightful place next to such science fiction luminaries as Ann Leckie, Ursula Le Guin, and Kameron Hurley.

TW: suicide, graphic gun violence, body horror, death

Usually when I read the entire second half of a book in one sitting, it means it's really good and gripping. This time, it meant I was so fucking tired of slogging through it, I just skimmed the last 50% of the book to get it over with.

This book is an adult sci-fi novel with a classic "getting the gang back together for one last job" plot. The Dirty Dozen, an old band of crimianls, needs to complete a job but just about everyone needs to be thoroughly convinced to rejoin.

This is a very specific book for very specific people. Not everyone is going to be a fan of the writing style, but it will work for some people. I just wasn't one of those people. I was constantly confused about where we were, what characters were doing, how they really felt. Any interesting concepts were blocked by too many ten-dollar words that didn't need to be there.

And there are some cool concepts! Cloning, AI, abusive relationships, heavy body mods, and the idea of death and immortality, all things that would be cool to read about if I actually understood what I was reading!

I did appreciate having a queer cast ad having a queer cast whose identities have changed since the characters last met. Identity is always growing and expanding and it's nice to see that reflected in the two trans characters.

I rated this book 2 stars. If it weren't for the interesting concepts it explored, it would've been a one just for how inaccessible I found the writing style. If you like very verbose writing styles, this is the book for you.

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