An interesting novel that was more than I expected, with plenty of room to improve. From the Goodreads blurb I thought this was a run of the mill robot uprising scfi story. What I got instead was an alternate history where the Dutch rule the world on the backs of sentient robot slaves and the other notable power, France, is in exile across the Atlantic; holding on only because of military tech that lets them disable the robotic soldiers of the Dutch.Definitely an interesting premise, and Tregillis's writing mostly holds up against it. It's definitely a slow burner, despite the random bursts of visceral action. This is definitely a setup novel, which is a little disappointing because even in a trilogy I like each novel to be independently satisfying, and here there is no real payoff until the very end and absolutely no satisfying conclusion.

The 3 main POV characters are interesting enough, but Jax the robot is by far the most compelling as his plotline forms the backbone of the novel. Interesting questions on the nature of free will are explored, along with the place of religion and slavery in a society where the slaves aren't human and don't have souls. One of the other main characters, Visser, is a priest. I enjoyed the beginning and middle of his character arc, but as it progressed it felt unrealistic and a bit of a cop out. I'm interested to see what happens to him, but I don't feel like the book did enough explaining on his part.

The third character, Berenice, is a French spymaster. She's compelling enough, but mostly I found myself just wanting to read more about Jax. I don't think the series can truly flourish until these 3 main characters come together and these disparate plot lines really converge, as they started to do at the very end of the novel.

A good start to a trilogy, and I'm excited to read more, but I wish this one was a little more satisfying without the promise of future books.