Finally done. Some genuinely powerful and horrifying moments and imagery get bogged down, like the Napoleon in the Russian snows, in too much explaini...moreFinally done. Some genuinely powerful and horrifying moments and imagery get bogged down, like the Napoleon in the Russian snows, in too much explaining of things better left to induction. The plot, tightly focused as it is on a first person narrator, occassionaly feels lie the middle bit of a Connie Willis book too - lots of running around and doing repetetive errands to save the world - only not funny. Well written, overall, but not my thing. (less)
So you tell the story of the monster, but then shouldn't we know the story of that random guard he brutally killed to prove an adolescent point? And m...moreSo you tell the story of the monster, but then shouldn't we know the story of that random guard he brutally killed to prove an adolescent point? And maybe his girlfriend. And her mother. And Grendel's mother, and so on until we go the world around and come back to Beowulf.
Theres a revolution in this book, but it turns out you need to care about the past for it's shattering to have any emotional or narrative impact. When...moreTheres a revolution in this book, but it turns out you need to care about the past for it's shattering to have any emotional or narrative impact. When one character accuses the protagonosts of trying to destroy her world, it means nothing, as we never got to have any real sense of her world and why it would matter to her. This is odd, given the slow, slow start and generally langurous pace, but this is all concerned with the rather tedious childhood of the protagonist and manages to never get across much real worldbuilding.
Its possible that it merely aims not to glamorize the past, but the book is explicitely about the act of the revolution itself, not the doctrinal differences between the fantasy capitalism and (failed) fantasy syndicalism of before and after. As such, it's vauge, dreamy atmospheric vibe holds up well the confused, frustrated loneliness of the arcs of it's heroes. The protagonist tries to substitute unrequited longing for a relashionship and politics for wonder, and the revolution merely goes round again. It fails to fulfill desire and the personal remains the personal. The revolution becomes a hollow shell over the skeleton of the magical, that the characters turn to again and again to provide that which reality cannot.
It's ultimately a powerful notion, that our own flawed needs and weaknesses, our need to be someone we are not, underpin the structures of oppression. Its just too long by half and could have used more of a plot.
Recommended for those more interested in reflection that action. (less)
A fantasy-murder mystery set in the Aztec empire. It was ok, but felt a bit disjointed and rushed. I would actually have appreciated an info dump here...moreA fantasy-murder mystery set in the Aztec empire. It was ok, but felt a bit disjointed and rushed. I would actually have appreciated an info dump here and there. There turned out to be a bit of historical/cultural/political background explanation as an appendix, but it was rather too late by then. Its also of the super magic saturated type of fantasy, which isn't usually my favorite type. I did like the main character though, even if he did remain a bit flat, and the setting was honestly refreshing. I'll probably read the sequel eventually. I don't particularly like a lot of magic, first person POV's or murder mysteries, and I still largely enjoyed this, so if those things are your cup of tea, definitely recommended. (less)
Jolly and really swashbuckley, with the identity switches and running about in ruined castles as so on. The Marx cameo doesn't quite make up for the l...moreJolly and really swashbuckley, with the identity switches and running about in ruined castles as so on. The Marx cameo doesn't quite make up for the lack imperial criticism though, so I thought it was a bit weaker than the first one, but maybe thats because i've never read the Prisoner of Zenda and didn't know until the appendix it was even riffing off on it. (less)
Well, that was a hot bath and a cup of tea on a rainy day of a book.
Hero - not an asshat! Heroine - not stupid! How amazing that that's remarkable. T...moreWell, that was a hot bath and a cup of tea on a rainy day of a book.
Hero - not an asshat! Heroine - not stupid! How amazing that that's remarkable. The worldbuilding is laugh-out-loud charming, the plot happens at the proper pace, there's a dastardly villain and just enough complexity to keep it from getting dull - all in all, pretty much perfect for what it sets out to be.
...that said. Yes, it's got that kind of prim political correctness about -isms that leads to easy answers that I don't think do the cause much service, in the way that literature is supposed to. Then some of the character angles it sets up could have been...weightier, or were wiggled out to easily. Let's just say the sex scenes could have been a hell of a lot more interesting if they'd been primarily from David's perspective, and (view spoiler)[Kalla's choices kind of sort themselves out very neatly by the end. (hide spoiler)]The romance, of course, is endlessly convenient, but that's ok.
Like, the book is good enough that i'm almost kind of torn - on the one hand, why am I reading about sweet romance and giant mechanical trolls and mad scientists and secret lesbian communes when theres all this great stuff all over the place that could be a darker and more intense story about vulnerability, technology, masculinity, secrecy, society, etc, whatever, and with themes and whathaveyou and everything? On the other hand, dude, giant mechanical trolls and mad scientists and secret lesbian communes!
I guess overall it pretty much manages to hit a good balance. Maybe there is a messier, more conceptual book tucked somewhere in there, but it very possible that it wouldn't be as enjoyable. I'll take what I can get. (less)
Jolly good and a return to form after the somewhat dreary sixths book. Yes, it's a travelogue, but it's a fast paced, exciting, occasionaly joyfully g...moreJolly good and a return to form after the somewhat dreary sixths book. Yes, it's a travelogue, but it's a fast paced, exciting, occasionaly joyfully gruesome travelogue, replete with catastrophes, calamities and crocodiles. Plots, schemes, desert islands, things on fire, battles and mutinies come fast and furious, and theres a few surprisingly touching moments as Novik rather brutalizes the minor cast.
A minor theme picks up issues of family, parenthood and the passage of time and grounds all the colourful running about with a sense loss and tiredness for these characters, which helps give the book some substance and raises it above a fluffy adventure story. I also particularly continue to enjoy the folding out of the alternative history, with the return of the African Empire of Tswana and the introduction of the Incas as significant political forces. There was one narrow escape that seemed a bit too convenient at one point, but otherwise a good read. Recommended for people who gave up on the series. (less)
Theres a lot of nice touches in this. Marcus is the only character who's really fleshed out significantly, but he's engaging and sympathetic. I though...moreTheres a lot of nice touches in this. Marcus is the only character who's really fleshed out significantly, but he's engaging and sympathetic. I thought it interesting too that it's a book about a young man that learns how to stop being a soldier, and I particularly liked all the little background bits of craftsmanship or healing that he takes on all the time that helped really gave him this quite coherent individual personality, rather than a kind of generic out-to-prove-myself-and-avenge-my-father YA hero. (less)
A bit too lightweight to be really enjoyable. The plot is paper thin and full of holes. None of the characters except the protagonist have any persona...moreA bit too lightweight to be really enjoyable. The plot is paper thin and full of holes. None of the characters except the protagonist have any personality at all, and she's a 19th century Russian aristocrat with improbably 21st century notions of proper identity-politics PC conduct. Even the setting doesn't have much going for it beyond mild geographic novelty - the alternative history is barely fleshed out, bits of English Victoriana show up nonsensically and the steampunk is halfhearted. Really, the only good bit is that theres lots of trains. (less)
More interesting historically than a mystery, I guess. Given Lord Peter being oft mentioned as something of a romantic hero, it's a bit of a surprise...moreMore interesting historically than a mystery, I guess. Given Lord Peter being oft mentioned as something of a romantic hero, it's a bit of a surprise that he strikes me as rather streotypically and almost flamingly gay for much of the book. Appearance of WW1 PTSD also interesting. Slightly creepy prescient bit with slight implication that a Jewish guy's murder was partially motivated by anti-semitism and by desire to dissect corpse for science.(less)
Do I need a tag for Satanism, or can I just file that safely under Christianity? *Ponders.*
So, ok, this didn't really work for me. It really should ha...moreDo I need a tag for Satanism, or can I just file that safely under Christianity? *Ponders.*
So, ok, this didn't really work for me. It really should have, it's got so much of the stuff I like - bizarre, multi layered frame story, twisty plot, farce, history, politics and an incredibly unreliable, doomed, obsessed narrator. And yet I was basically bored throughout. I don't know if it was the writing, or the need to keep track of the characters who I honestly couldn't tell apart or the way it takes on history I don't know enough about (Italian unification, for example) to see what he's trying to say there, but I struggled to finish it. The ending too was a particular letdown, since I did want to know the resolution to one central mystery and turned out as a bit of a cop-out, to my tastes. Theres was also a sudden flip into an expectation that we slightly pity the incredibly odious narrator - which i'm fine with, really, only why did it come at the very end? I think I would have enjoyed the book a lot more if the preceeding four hundred pages had been written with the same eye, instead of him just being repetitively slimy.
And, oh, yeah - everything is about the holocaust again. (less)
Loading...
