Entirely by coincidence, I ended up reading two books with opposite approaches one after another. Both books entertain a lot of big philosophy — the evolution of civilizations over time, what people owe to one another, what actually is evil anyway. Beauty is ultimately fatalist in outlook; I enjoyed the unusual takes on fairy tales, the beautiful writing, and the evocative settings, but found the lack of character agency unsettling. Ancillary Justice is firmly in the camp that one person can make a big difference.
R Jean Stevenson 