The Mimicking of Known Successes

176 pages

English language

Published March 7, 2023 by Tordotcom.

ISBN:
978-1-250-86051-4
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4 stars (10 reviews)

The Mimicking of Known Successes presents a cozy Holmesian murder mystery and sapphic romance, set on Jupiter, by Malka Older, author of the critically-acclaimed Centenal Cycle.

On a remote, gas-wreathed outpost of a human colony on Jupiter, a man goes missing. The enigmatic Investigator Mossa follows his trail to Valdegeld, home to the colony’s erudite university—and Mossa’s former girlfriend, a scholar of Earth’s pre-collapse ecosystems.

Pleiti has dedicated her research and her career to aiding the larger effort towards a possible return to Earth. When Mossa unexpectedly arrives and requests Pleiti’s assistance in her latest investigation, the two of them embark on a twisting path in which the future of life on Earth is at stake—and, perhaps, their futures, together.

2 editions

Mimicking of Known Successes

4 stars

This book was a lot of fun and definitely my favorite Malka Older book so far. Out of everything, I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the slow romance the most. The world has very retro-future 19th century vibes, complete with Jupiter's fog misting, atmoscarves, gas heating, and railcars between floating platforms. This world and the characters were so much fun.

My one quibble is that I found some details of the mystery a little weak (although this may be my own expectations for what I want out of a mystery) but I will put those spoilery details in a separate comment.

The setup of the book is that Mossa the Investigator enlists Pleiti (an old university friend, and ex) to look into the disappearence of a man from a remote platform. Pleiti is a scholar of classics, which here stands in as "studying past Earth so that future Earth and its …

Quick review

4 stars

I don't think I've ever had a book smack me over the head with the theme quite like this did, "It was right there in front of you the whole time, in the title even, how did you miss it?!" Anyway, as a story, the characters and setting, it was quite enjoyable, the mystery aspect was less well constructed as far as mysteries go, imho. Fans of The Locked Tomb would probably enjoy this quick read.

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4 stars
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4 stars
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3 stars