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My Beautiful Life
also appears in the collection Under My Skin
Over the past two decades, K.J. Parker has established himself as one of the most original voices in contemporary fantasy. Through works ranging in scale from multi-volume epics (The Engineer Trilogy) to standalone novels (The Company) to a vivid assortment of stories and novellas, he has earned his reputation as an imaginative, consistently absorbing storyteller. His novella My Beautiful Life can only enhance that reputation.
As the ironic title indicates, Parker’s latest tells the story of an individual life that takes extraordinary turns. As the story begins, the nameless, dying narrator takes us back to his childhood home in a remote corner of the ubiquitous Empire. The second of three sons, he lives there with his mother in a state of unrelieved poverty. Life eventually becomes so dire that the mother — who can only find work as a prostitute — is forced to sell one of her children. The oldest son, Nico, volunteers to be sold in order to protect his family, and that decision sets in motion everything that follows. Nico’s journey takes him, in time, to the heart of the Empire and the very center of power. Over time, he acquires considerable power of his own and uses it to bring his younger brothers into the circle of his influence, changing their lives forever. Under Nico’s guidance, the middle brother — our nameless narrator — achieves a destiny that will alter not only his own life, but the life of the Empire itself.
Written with wit, economy, and considerable style, My Beautiful Life is at once a profoundly gripping narrative and a rueful meditation on the workings of fate. Equally suitable both for long-time fans and for newcomers to Parker’s fictional universe, it is an essential — and hugely enjoyable — addition to a distinguished body of work.
Cover illustration by Vincent Chong
Over the past two decades, K.J. Parker has established himself as one of the most original voices in contemporary fantasy. Through works ranging in scale from multi-volume epics (The Engineer Trilogy) to standalone novels (The Company) to a vivid assortment of stories and novellas, he has earned his reputation as an imaginative, consistently absorbing storyteller. His novella My Beautiful Life can only enhance that reputation.
As the ironic title indicates, Parker’s latest tells the story of an individual life that takes extraordinary turns. As the story begins, the nameless, dying narrator takes us back to his childhood home in a remote corner of the ubiquitous Empire. The second of three sons, he lives there with his mother in a state of unrelieved poverty. Life eventually becomes so dire that the mother — who can only find work as a prostitute — is forced to sell one of her children. The oldest son, Nico, volunteers to be sold in order to protect his family, and that decision sets in motion everything that follows. Nico’s journey takes him, in time, to the heart of the Empire and the very center of power. Over time, he acquires considerable power of his own and uses it to bring his younger brothers into the circle of his influence, changing their lives forever. Under Nico’s guidance, the middle brother — our nameless narrator — achieves a destiny that will alter not only his own life, but the life of the Empire itself.
Written with wit, economy, and considerable style, My Beautiful Life is at once a profoundly gripping narrative and a rueful meditation on the workings of fate. Equally suitable both for long-time fans and for newcomers to Parker’s fictional universe, it is an essential — and hugely enjoyable — addition to a distinguished body of work.
Cover illustration by Vincent Chong
106 pages, Hardcover
First published November 30, 2019
5 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Parker
132 books1,703 followersK.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
July 7, 2022
4.5 ⭐
Another fast-moving novella that is better in the first half than the back half which is what holds it from 5⭐.
Full review to come.
Another fast-moving novella that is better in the first half than the back half which is what holds it from 5⭐.
Full review to come.
October 3, 2019
Novella set in the author's standard pseudo-Byzantine world with the Robur as the barbarians here not the Aram Vei etc; the synopsis gives a good idea about the subject and there are some historical parallels to actual Byzantine history; a first-person narration, wry, less cynical than usual and with the expected twists from the author, though for once nothing really surprised me here. While Purple and Black is still the best in the novellas of this type, this one is entertaining and I read it in one standing as it's another one of the author's that cannot be put down until the end.
As a small preview, this is how the narration starts:
"I’ve done some truly appalling things in my life. I’m bitterly ashamed of them now. Saying I did them all for the best—and saying, those things weren’t my idea, other people made me do them, is just as bad; admitting that I’m a spineless coward as well as morally bankrupt. I’m a mess, and no good nohow.
I can say all that and get away with it; you can’t. Don’t even think about it. If you were to repeat what I’ve just told you word for word, let alone paraphrase it or add a few rhetorical flourishes of your own, they’d have you up for high treason and stretch your neck."
As a small preview, this is how the narration starts:
"I’ve done some truly appalling things in my life. I’m bitterly ashamed of them now. Saying I did them all for the best—and saying, those things weren’t my idea, other people made me do them, is just as bad; admitting that I’m a spineless coward as well as morally bankrupt. I’m a mess, and no good nohow.
I can say all that and get away with it; you can’t. Don’t even think about it. If you were to repeat what I’ve just told you word for word, let alone paraphrase it or add a few rhetorical flourishes of your own, they’d have you up for high treason and stretch your neck."
December 24, 2019
Parker's novellas are the best treat for me. Plus Subterranean editions are just gorgeous!
October 13, 2020
I didn't like this one as much as I'd hoped to. Mind, it's still pretty good, but, as someone else here commented, it seemed a bit.... off. Still, it's short, moves right along, and has moments. Read some of the other 3-star reviews before you buy a copy, is my advice.
The copy in front of me is the Subterranean Press hb edition, and it's a beautiful book. Wonderful cover art, nicely bound, elegantly designed... What a pity that the contents weren't quite up to the package! But others liked it more, and you may too. At worst, you will be out 2 or 3 hours of (still) pretty good reading. So, if you've never read any of Parker's stuff, don't start here! Here's a short I liked a lot, "The Thought That Counts": http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.co...
And here's the World Fantasy Award-winning novella "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong" (2012):
https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
Both much better samples of Parker at his best, I think.
The copy in front of me is the Subterranean Press hb edition, and it's a beautiful book. Wonderful cover art, nicely bound, elegantly designed... What a pity that the contents weren't quite up to the package! But others liked it more, and you may too. At worst, you will be out 2 or 3 hours of (still) pretty good reading. So, if you've never read any of Parker's stuff, don't start here! Here's a short I liked a lot, "The Thought That Counts": http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.co...
And here's the World Fantasy Award-winning novella "A Small Price to Pay for Birdsong" (2012):
https://subterraneanpress.com/magazin...
Both much better samples of Parker at his best, I think.
October 30, 2019
ARC received from the publisher (Subterranean Press) on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I've always been interested in reverse stories, where the ending (in this case, the death of the narrator) is known from the start, and then they slowly work its way towards it. Where the question is not what happens as much as how it happens. And I have enjoyed what I read of K.J. Parker so far.
If this book had a theme, it would be "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." It's narrated by a dying man, who tells us about his rise from relatively simple beginnings - his mother was a village whore - to great heights, ending with his inevitable downfall. He committed atrocities and caused many deaths and admits as much - yet at the same time, it all has an air of "I didn't quite know what I was doing, I just went along with what I've been told." He comes off as, well, rather simple. Or to put it less charitably, a bumbling idiot. And likely unreliable.
It's also funny that his downfall only happens after he's had enough and stopped blindly following orders. Though even if he didn't, I doubt it would have made much difference. This is K.J. Parker, after all.
The rambling, conversational, first-person style doesn't help. Initially, I loved it, but the further I went, the more annoyed I got. Combined with the speed at which he blazes through the story, it creates a distancing affect from the actual events of the book as well. And I don't like distance. It's a common problem with novellas - they rarely feel like quite enough.
Worldbuilding-wise, it's set in his standard empire, worshippers of the Invincible Sun. Magic is so minimal to be non-existent - the miracles can easily be handwaved away as simple coincidences, if one so wishes. And there were too many of those. It borrows quite a bit from actual history and historical events as well - at one point, blatantly enough to throw me out of the story.
It might be your style. It might be that the things that bothered me are a non-issue to you. But overall, it just felt off to me.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Execution: 3/5
Recommended to: K.J. Parker fans, those who like it when the outcome is known from the start, those looking for extremely cynical books
Not recommended to: history buffs, those who don't like novellas for condensing the story too much, those who don't like a plot that relies on coincidences
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
I've always been interested in reverse stories, where the ending (in this case, the death of the narrator) is known from the start, and then they slowly work its way towards it. Where the question is not what happens as much as how it happens. And I have enjoyed what I read of K.J. Parker so far.
I’ve done some truly appalling things in my life. I’m bitterly ashamed of them now. Saying I did them all for the best—and saying, those things weren’t my idea, other people made me do them, is just as bad; admitting that I’m a spineless coward as well as morally bankrupt. I’m a mess, and no good nohow.But despite the catchy opening, I was not...quite satisfied with what I got.
If this book had a theme, it would be "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." It's narrated by a dying man, who tells us about his rise from relatively simple beginnings - his mother was a village whore - to great heights, ending with his inevitable downfall. He committed atrocities and caused many deaths and admits as much - yet at the same time, it all has an air of "I didn't quite know what I was doing, I just went along with what I've been told." He comes off as, well, rather simple. Or to put it less charitably, a bumbling idiot. And likely unreliable.
It's also funny that his downfall only happens after he's had enough and stopped blindly following orders. Though even if he didn't, I doubt it would have made much difference. This is K.J. Parker, after all.
The rambling, conversational, first-person style doesn't help. Initially, I loved it, but the further I went, the more annoyed I got. Combined with the speed at which he blazes through the story, it creates a distancing affect from the actual events of the book as well. And I don't like distance. It's a common problem with novellas - they rarely feel like quite enough.
Worldbuilding-wise, it's set in his standard empire, worshippers of the Invincible Sun. Magic is so minimal to be non-existent - the miracles can easily be handwaved away as simple coincidences, if one so wishes. And there were too many of those. It borrows quite a bit from actual history and historical events as well - at one point, blatantly enough to throw me out of the story.
It might be your style. It might be that the things that bothered me are a non-issue to you. But overall, it just felt off to me.
Enjoyment: 3/5
Execution: 3/5
Recommended to: K.J. Parker fans, those who like it when the outcome is known from the start, those looking for extremely cynical books
Not recommended to: history buffs, those who don't like novellas for condensing the story too much, those who don't like a plot that relies on coincidences
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
February 25, 2020
Another excellent novella from Parker. I tend to think of them as "voice" novellas, where the draw is basically the narrator. These are absolutely my favorite type of story from Parker and no one else is doing anything similar that I am aware of. Almost all of his work under the K.J. Parker pseudonym takes place in the same world, but other recognizing the setting and occasionally names of usually historical to them figures the characters may reference there's no ongoing plot sequence or need to read them in any particular order.
There's not really any detail I can give about this particular one that wouldn't be spoilery. A lot of the pleasure in these is the gradual reveal as the narrator talks around things or drops hints. It feels much more like getting to know a person in real life than the way characterization is more typically handled in genre fiction.
There's not really any detail I can give about this particular one that wouldn't be spoilery. A lot of the pleasure in these is the gradual reveal as the narrator talks around things or drops hints. It feels much more like getting to know a person in real life than the way characterization is more typically handled in genre fiction.
November 26, 2019
This review and others can be read on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks. Thank you to Subterranean Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
My Beautiful Life plays with structure and characters in a way that seems to be slightly divorced from its intended audience. When taken as a writing study, it’s actually quite interesting - how might an author bring about a story wherein the end is revealed at the beginning? Unfortunately, writing studies typically aren’t being published en masse. They’re just studies, meant to hone writing skills. Although this novella nails the tone and characters it seeks to portray, it was very difficult to connect with the story as a reader.
The writing has a rambling, conversational style, which initially appealed to me greatly. As the book continued, however, it began to wear out its welcome. This was compounded by how quickly Parker moved from event to event, as it created a sense of distance between the narrator and the reader. Although I do feel that this was wholly intentional and quite well executed from a narrative perspective, it’s not an effect that appealed to me personally as a reader.
The nameless main character is introduced as a monarch dictating his life story to his scribe. Immediately, he’s characterized as arrogant, brutal, and a bit vain. He frequently breaks the fourth wall with side commentary to the scribe, who dutifully records it all. He tells the reader that he’s an awful human being, that he’s done horrible things to secure his position - which is undeniably true. His roots, however, are quite humble. He tells us the story of growing up with his two brothers, Nico and Edax, along with his mother. His mother was a sex worker, and the brothers’ precise parentage is unclear.
As their mother ages, prostitution becomes a much less viable method of putting food on the table. Thus, it’s decided that one of the boys must be sold as a slave. Their mother fobs off the responsibility of deciding just who is sold onto the boys themselves; Nico, being the oldest, steps up to the place and agrees to be the one sold at market to protect his two younger brothers. If this wasn’t sufficiently depressing, however, Nico had heard that eunuchs sell for higher prices at market. Therefore, he heads off away from home… and slices off his penis, due to a rather unfortunate misunderstanding as to which part of the anatomy is meant to be snipped in order to accomplish a castration. This more or less works out for him, ironically; two slavers take pity on his and purchase him to work in the castle.
For much of the book, Nico is the brains of the operation. Our nameless narrator largely comes off as something of an idiot; he tends to just go along with the decisions of others. Nico’s success is what catapults the narrator into power as well. It’s a little frustrating to watch - it’s much less interesting to follow someone who is merely reactive to those around him vs someone who is an active agent in his future, particularly in a book like there wherein the central conceit lies in seeing how the main character rises from rags to riches.
The setting is fairly standard low fantasy, with a religion based around the Invincible Sun as a deity. Magic is minimal and possibly nonexistent, depending on how many coincidences you're willing to swallow. Largely, the world serves as a backdrop to the characters and narration, which are the highlights of the novella. In order to avoid overwhelming the reader or veering off course, it was necessary that at least part of the book would end up being slightly sidelined. However, there was one aspect of the castle which caught my fancy: The Stables.
The Stables are a wing of the castle with a horrifically convoluted layout. I loved the bits describing how both Nico and the main character are forced to navigate them, counting steps and attempting to memorize the twists and turns of the passageways. Nico, naturally, manages a full map of the place and uses it to has advantage as he manipulates all those around him. The narrator, of course, doesn’t manage anything nearly so elegant.
The narrator’s downfall was, of course, to be expected - this is KJ Parker, and Parker generally does make sure that his characters get what they deserve in the end. I did find it somewhat ironic that it’s only when the main character decides that he’s had enough of going with the flow and attempts to become an active player on the board that his debt finally comes due. It was a suitable ending to the novella, and felt satisfying as a reader even if the book as a whole wasn’t quite my cup of tea.
If you enjoyed this review, please consider reading others like it on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks.
My Beautiful Life plays with structure and characters in a way that seems to be slightly divorced from its intended audience. When taken as a writing study, it’s actually quite interesting - how might an author bring about a story wherein the end is revealed at the beginning? Unfortunately, writing studies typically aren’t being published en masse. They’re just studies, meant to hone writing skills. Although this novella nails the tone and characters it seeks to portray, it was very difficult to connect with the story as a reader.
The writing has a rambling, conversational style, which initially appealed to me greatly. As the book continued, however, it began to wear out its welcome. This was compounded by how quickly Parker moved from event to event, as it created a sense of distance between the narrator and the reader. Although I do feel that this was wholly intentional and quite well executed from a narrative perspective, it’s not an effect that appealed to me personally as a reader.
The nameless main character is introduced as a monarch dictating his life story to his scribe. Immediately, he’s characterized as arrogant, brutal, and a bit vain. He frequently breaks the fourth wall with side commentary to the scribe, who dutifully records it all. He tells the reader that he’s an awful human being, that he’s done horrible things to secure his position - which is undeniably true. His roots, however, are quite humble. He tells us the story of growing up with his two brothers, Nico and Edax, along with his mother. His mother was a sex worker, and the brothers’ precise parentage is unclear.
As their mother ages, prostitution becomes a much less viable method of putting food on the table. Thus, it’s decided that one of the boys must be sold as a slave. Their mother fobs off the responsibility of deciding just who is sold onto the boys themselves; Nico, being the oldest, steps up to the place and agrees to be the one sold at market to protect his two younger brothers. If this wasn’t sufficiently depressing, however, Nico had heard that eunuchs sell for higher prices at market. Therefore, he heads off away from home… and slices off his penis, due to a rather unfortunate misunderstanding as to which part of the anatomy is meant to be snipped in order to accomplish a castration. This more or less works out for him, ironically; two slavers take pity on his and purchase him to work in the castle.
"Years later, I asked a famous doctor and he said that Nico should’ve died, it was a miracle he survived - and then he paused because miracle usually means the Invincible Sun intervening to some good purpose, and this was Nico we were talking about. It was extraordinary, the doctor went on, that Nico had survived at all, after losing a ridiculous amount of blood, not to mention the risk of infection, and lockjaw from the rusty knife. And then walking twelve miles up the mountain to kalenda, it was - and then words failed him. Monstrous, I suggested. And he thought about it for a moment, and nodded. Monstrous, he said, quite."
For much of the book, Nico is the brains of the operation. Our nameless narrator largely comes off as something of an idiot; he tends to just go along with the decisions of others. Nico’s success is what catapults the narrator into power as well. It’s a little frustrating to watch - it’s much less interesting to follow someone who is merely reactive to those around him vs someone who is an active agent in his future, particularly in a book like there wherein the central conceit lies in seeing how the main character rises from rags to riches.
"When I told Nico I'd do it, he laughed. Of course you will, he told me, you're a good boy, and it's the only way we can be absolutely safe. I'm not doing it for you, I told him. Don't talk stupid, he said, of course you are. He didn't believe me. I don't know why."
The setting is fairly standard low fantasy, with a religion based around the Invincible Sun as a deity. Magic is minimal and possibly nonexistent, depending on how many coincidences you're willing to swallow. Largely, the world serves as a backdrop to the characters and narration, which are the highlights of the novella. In order to avoid overwhelming the reader or veering off course, it was necessary that at least part of the book would end up being slightly sidelined. However, there was one aspect of the castle which caught my fancy: The Stables.
The Stables are a wing of the castle with a horrifically convoluted layout. I loved the bits describing how both Nico and the main character are forced to navigate them, counting steps and attempting to memorize the twists and turns of the passageways. Nico, naturally, manages a full map of the place and uses it to has advantage as he manipulates all those around him. The narrator, of course, doesn’t manage anything nearly so elegant.
"One day, when I got off work, some clerk came up to me and told me my brother wanted to see me in his office. So off we went, up a mountain of stairs and down again, along corridors, down tunnels, up towers, until I had absolutely no idea where I was, though my feet told me I must have walked at least two miles. And then he suddenly stopped, in front of a plain dark oak door looking exactly the same as the thousand-odd plain dark oak doors we’d walked past; no name or number on it, goes without saying. In there, the clerk told me."
The narrator’s downfall was, of course, to be expected - this is KJ Parker, and Parker generally does make sure that his characters get what they deserve in the end. I did find it somewhat ironic that it’s only when the main character decides that he’s had enough of going with the flow and attempts to become an active player on the board that his debt finally comes due. It was a suitable ending to the novella, and felt satisfying as a reader even if the book as a whole wasn’t quite my cup of tea.
If you enjoyed this review, please consider reading others like it on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks.
October 16, 2020
Another interesting tale by a favourite author, a 100-ish page novella. The story format is intended to be a memoir dictated by an unnamed emperor as he dies at the end of a rather interesting ironically labelled ‘beautiful’ life.
It truly is a rags to riches journey of an extreme variety, and touches on a theme I’ve seen elsewhere in Parker’s stories - a well meaning person who we’d probably like as an individual but who’s just had to do some criminally bad things to survive, both in his earlier poorer life and also as events take him to positions of considerable power. He really has the best of intentions, he’s devout, he even finds real love (rare in Parker books!), but people get hurt or killed as a result of his progress.
It’s set in Parker’s commonly used pseudo-Byzantium empire together with all the Orthodox religious trimmings, the state bureaucracy and aristocratic military command, etc. which regular Parker readers will recognise.
A Subterranean Press publication so you’ve got a choice between the fancy, well produced, hardback or a cheaper ebook (my selection).
I enjoyed the generally sad story as much as any other Parker I’ve read though 4* rather than 5 because it was so brief, contrasting with the enjoyably meandering, deeper, storylines of his full length novels or series. Also the ‘dictated memoir’ format meant no real conversations which I enjoy in some of the author’s other works. Still a gem of a read though.
It truly is a rags to riches journey of an extreme variety, and touches on a theme I’ve seen elsewhere in Parker’s stories - a well meaning person who we’d probably like as an individual but who’s just had to do some criminally bad things to survive, both in his earlier poorer life and also as events take him to positions of considerable power. He really has the best of intentions, he’s devout, he even finds real love (rare in Parker books!), but people get hurt or killed as a result of his progress.
It’s set in Parker’s commonly used pseudo-Byzantium empire together with all the Orthodox religious trimmings, the state bureaucracy and aristocratic military command, etc. which regular Parker readers will recognise.
A Subterranean Press publication so you’ve got a choice between the fancy, well produced, hardback or a cheaper ebook (my selection).
I enjoyed the generally sad story as much as any other Parker I’ve read though 4* rather than 5 because it was so brief, contrasting with the enjoyably meandering, deeper, storylines of his full length novels or series. Also the ‘dictated memoir’ format meant no real conversations which I enjoy in some of the author’s other works. Still a gem of a read though.
July 14, 2022
SOOOO GOOD! Parker is incredibly talented at developing characters in such a short amount of time. This book is slightly over 100 pages yet I feel like I know these characters as well as any 600+ page novel. Loved the themes in this one too!
Will do a review, at some point, on my channel.
Will do a review, at some point, on my channel.
December 18, 2019
Dark, cynical, humorous.
Another great addition to Parker's short fiction and a must-read for his fans.
ARC through NetGalley
Another great addition to Parker's short fiction and a must-read for his fans.
ARC through NetGalley
October 12, 2019
A interestingly short, sweet, and cynical portrait of an emperor who was just trying to do the right thing. It's a short novella, but gets into some deep waters around faith, destiny, morality, family, the power of institutions, and what influence and political power really looks like. This is the first K.J. Parker I've read, and this novella does make me want to read more.
*i was given a ARC of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review *
*i was given a ARC of this book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review *
November 2, 2024
Still as brilliant as I remember. 5⭐️
January 25, 2020
In this quick read a nameless narrator recounts his childhood, and the circumstances that led to his present "beautiful" life. Parker is excellent at these sorts of stories, and this is no different. We're told the ending at the beginning and then the rest of the story moves us toward that end. It's a tricky thing to keep things compelling when we know what's coming, and Parker manages it well.
September 8, 2020
Oh so good as a typical of his novellas. I do wish he’d return to writing trilogies some day though!
February 13, 2023
The Emperor narrates his life as he's dying and tells us he is not a good man.
As always, K.J. Parker writes a tale that sucks you in and makes you pay attention and think. There's no skimming with this author - he'll have an important little bit tucked within a paragraph or casually mention something that will absolutely matter later. I loved the speed at which this story flew by - it covers the life of an emperor in 106 pages and at no point did I think that I wished there was more detail. Is the emperor a bad man? Or a good man hobbled by ignorance? Or just a man who is trying his best? With Parker, it's probably all of these since his characters are always layered and complex.
I've now read ten books/novellas by KJ Parker and would rank them from most enjoyed as: The Devil You Know, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, Prosper's Demon, Blue and Gold, Inside Man, The Last Witness, My Beautiful Life, Mightier than the Sword, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, The Big Score.
As always, K.J. Parker writes a tale that sucks you in and makes you pay attention and think. There's no skimming with this author - he'll have an important little bit tucked within a paragraph or casually mention something that will absolutely matter later. I loved the speed at which this story flew by - it covers the life of an emperor in 106 pages and at no point did I think that I wished there was more detail. Is the emperor a bad man? Or a good man hobbled by ignorance? Or just a man who is trying his best? With Parker, it's probably all of these since his characters are always layered and complex.
I've now read ten books/novellas by KJ Parker and would rank them from most enjoyed as: The Devil You Know, Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, Prosper's Demon, Blue and Gold, Inside Man, The Last Witness, My Beautiful Life, Mightier than the Sword, How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, The Big Score.
March 28, 2020
What I like about Parker's books are the meticulous plots he creates, and how he weaves those plots about you in this innocuous way that never quite impresses you with how serious it is. He does this through characters who are self-effacing, or are holding their cards close to their chests, or seem simple minded. Here, Parker uses the latter kind of character to give the impression that he doesn't know what's going on.
I like the setup and the plot of My Beautiful Life, but it lacked that "Oh." moment that I like best about Parker's works. It's not a bad book, and it's certainly a Parker book (he really has his own genre), but neither is it his best effort. Purple and Gold is still the high water mark for his fiction.
I like the setup and the plot of My Beautiful Life, but it lacked that "Oh." moment that I like best about Parker's works. It's not a bad book, and it's certainly a Parker book (he really has his own genre), but neither is it his best effort. Purple and Gold is still the high water mark for his fiction.
May 26, 2023
An illiterate, dying thief describes how he and his brothers robbed, blackmailed, and murdered their way to the emperorship, and then fixed the Empire's economy and eliminated its rampant corruption.
Parker sure does like his rogues. This iteration of the bemused scoundrel isn't an inherently bad guy, he's just someone with no prospects aside from thievery due to circumstances outside his control. Unlike Saloninus, he's complete uneducated, but the rascally core is there.
Also present is a common KJP theme of rank amateurs defeating vastly superior military forces with a clever tactic or strategy. This comes up so often that I have to wonder why Parker characters bother going to military academy since that's the one surefire path to destruction.
Parker sure does like his rogues. This iteration of the bemused scoundrel isn't an inherently bad guy, he's just someone with no prospects aside from thievery due to circumstances outside his control. Unlike Saloninus, he's complete uneducated, but the rascally core is there.
Also present is a common KJP theme of rank amateurs defeating vastly superior military forces with a clever tactic or strategy. This comes up so often that I have to wonder why Parker characters bother going to military academy since that's the one surefire path to destruction.
June 15, 2021
4.5/5, actually, but there's granularity for you.
July 7, 2024
Vintage Parker again. Sharp, clever, brutal, poignant, cynical, and humbling.
Recommended.
Recommended.
January 4, 2022
Sardonic and depressing. I still enjoy Parker's writing but this wasn't one of my favorites of his.
October 2, 2022
Phenomenal! It's always impressive how much Parker can accomplish in so few pages.
5.0 stars
5.0 stars
November 30, 2019
Full disclosure: I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
A dying emperor dictates his memoirs/confession to a servant, describing his unlikely rise from his impoverished origins to emperor. He credits his meteoric rise to several miraculous escapes and his elder brother Nico’s ambition and cunning, which allowed Nico to rise through the ranks of the imperial bureaucracy and engineer opportunities for the narrator.
This new novella is set within the same pseudo-Byzantine world as many of Parker’s short stories and novellas. While this is a standalone, fans will of course pick up on recurring bits of world building from other stories, such as the Invincible Sun. It’s very much in the same vein as the other stories, to the point that I actually had to check to make sure I hadn’t read it before. (I hadn’t, but I was confused because this isn’t the first Parker story to have a major character named Nico.) This is not to say that it’s unoriginal, just that Parker’s writing has a certain recognizable style and this is a good example of it.
One note on the novella’s unusual storytelling style: the protagonist has very little agency throughout the story, something he emphasizes when discussing divine intervention and destiny. This is doubly surprising when you consider that the entire story is the protagonist’s narration of his life story, which would ordinarily place him at the forefront of all action. I think this style works well in this story due to Parker’s skill as a writer, but it’s possible that some readers may find it a little less compelling.
I’m a fan of Parker’s wry wit and the escapades of his scheming rogues. This didn’t disappoint. If you haven’t read Parker before, this is a good place to start because you don’t need any background before jumping in. If you’ve read Parker before, then you know exactly what you’re getting here.
A dying emperor dictates his memoirs/confession to a servant, describing his unlikely rise from his impoverished origins to emperor. He credits his meteoric rise to several miraculous escapes and his elder brother Nico’s ambition and cunning, which allowed Nico to rise through the ranks of the imperial bureaucracy and engineer opportunities for the narrator.
This new novella is set within the same pseudo-Byzantine world as many of Parker’s short stories and novellas. While this is a standalone, fans will of course pick up on recurring bits of world building from other stories, such as the Invincible Sun. It’s very much in the same vein as the other stories, to the point that I actually had to check to make sure I hadn’t read it before. (I hadn’t, but I was confused because this isn’t the first Parker story to have a major character named Nico.) This is not to say that it’s unoriginal, just that Parker’s writing has a certain recognizable style and this is a good example of it.
One note on the novella’s unusual storytelling style: the protagonist has very little agency throughout the story, something he emphasizes when discussing divine intervention and destiny. This is doubly surprising when you consider that the entire story is the protagonist’s narration of his life story, which would ordinarily place him at the forefront of all action. I think this style works well in this story due to Parker’s skill as a writer, but it’s possible that some readers may find it a little less compelling.
I’m a fan of Parker’s wry wit and the escapades of his scheming rogues. This didn’t disappoint. If you haven’t read Parker before, this is a good place to start because you don’t need any background before jumping in. If you’ve read Parker before, then you know exactly what you’re getting here.
January 8, 2020
This is another of K.J. Parker's cynical, snarky, back-stabbing, sneaky Machiavellian medieval fantasies. They are great fun.
I did not find this one as fun as most of them. It's high on the cynicism and brutality, but not snarky enough. I think the problem is that the viewpoint character this time is the somewhat naive brother, and not the smart scheming one. Being in the head of a scheming, clever-boots character is more engaging.
For fans of Parker this is a satisfying read. For newbies, I would suggest “The Devil You Know” or “Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City” to start.
I did not find this one as fun as most of them. It's high on the cynicism and brutality, but not snarky enough. I think the problem is that the viewpoint character this time is the somewhat naive brother, and not the smart scheming one. Being in the head of a scheming, clever-boots character is more engaging.
For fans of Parker this is a satisfying read. For newbies, I would suggest “The Devil You Know” or “Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City” to start.
June 27, 2021
Another short character study loosely based on several Byzantine emperors. A fun, but too short read.
August 2, 2021
I am a big fan of the novella and I think Parker is a master of this literary form. The perfect novella combines the punch of a short story with the sophistication of a novel and Parker does this perfectly (mostly).
So why have I rated this at only four stars? There are two reasons. Firstly Parker is very fond of situational irony but in this novella he overdoes it a bit at the expense of the plot. You could argue that we have an unreliable narrator and what we are told may bear little relation to what actually happened (in the fictional history, if that isn't getting a bit too meta) but even so I found myself thinking "yeah, right" too often.
The other reason is that Parker is also very fond of realpolitik, especially as a foil to the more traditional epic fantasies, but he is close to exhausting this seam and I felt he was reusing ideas he had already used in earlier works.
It is still an excellent novella, and well worth four stars. I strongly recommend you read it whether you are a novellahead or not. It's just that if, like me, you have read every novella that Parker has written then you're not going to find anything new and surprising in this one.
So why have I rated this at only four stars? There are two reasons. Firstly Parker is very fond of situational irony but in this novella he overdoes it a bit at the expense of the plot. You could argue that we have an unreliable narrator and what we are told may bear little relation to what actually happened (in the fictional history, if that isn't getting a bit too meta) but even so I found myself thinking "yeah, right" too often.
The other reason is that Parker is also very fond of realpolitik, especially as a foil to the more traditional epic fantasies, but he is close to exhausting this seam and I felt he was reusing ideas he had already used in earlier works.
It is still an excellent novella, and well worth four stars. I strongly recommend you read it whether you are a novellahead or not. It's just that if, like me, you have read every novella that Parker has written then you're not going to find anything new and surprising in this one.
November 1, 2019
This is rare for me. I only have a handful of authors I can trust to give me a good story regardless of what they are writing about. It's a small list with names like Asimov, Ellis, Wagner and Herbert amongst it's ranks. I add K.J. Parker aka Tom Holt to the list now. I've read a few of his works now with each one being easier to read. I enjoy his work so much I can't put the book down once I've started it. This is rare for me. Most writers annoy me to a varying degree. Some I fight through, others a just tolerate to finish the book. With this writer i trust him to deliver a story I will enjoy, this book is no different.
The story of someone who came from nothing and eventually did something is nothing new. How we get through that in this story is entertaining. That's why this book is so good. The whole thing is very straightforward from start to finish. Keep that in mind and the story is a breeze that is worth reading.
I read this book via NetGalley. I thank them for this book.
#MyBeautifulLife #NetGalley
The story of someone who came from nothing and eventually did something is nothing new. How we get through that in this story is entertaining. That's why this book is so good. The whole thing is very straightforward from start to finish. Keep that in mind and the story is a breeze that is worth reading.
I read this book via NetGalley. I thank them for this book.
#MyBeautifulLife #NetGalley
December 9, 2020
How to go from homeless wastrel to emperor in four easy steps!
I obtained this novella as a part of Subterranean Press' all too infrequent grab bags. It is always fun to get a gorgeous stack of books by authors I hadn't read or considered before. My Beautiful Life was a hidden gem for me; a fun, fast, yet thought-provoking read.
A dying emperor dictates his amazing--and perhaps divinely-guided--life story to a monk. His breezy, sardonic and practical viewpoint toward life makes for an engrossing read. The unnamed emperor's outsider view of government makes this novella almost a parable if not an allegory.
I am looking forward to reading Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City next.
Highly recommended.
I obtained this novella as a part of Subterranean Press' all too infrequent grab bags. It is always fun to get a gorgeous stack of books by authors I hadn't read or considered before. My Beautiful Life was a hidden gem for me; a fun, fast, yet thought-provoking read.
A dying emperor dictates his amazing--and perhaps divinely-guided--life story to a monk. His breezy, sardonic and practical viewpoint toward life makes for an engrossing read. The unnamed emperor's outsider view of government makes this novella almost a parable if not an allegory.
I am looking forward to reading Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City next.
Highly recommended.
December 23, 2019
Just a disclaimer, I devour whatever KJ writes because I'm a sucker for his dry humor, intensive geopolitical/historical nuances to his world, and at times beautiful prose.
Where he's usually weakest for me is character. Many of the characters here follow his archetypes (foreign polymath/assistant, clueless brothers, tongue-in-cheek mc, and others) so it's not exactly new ground he's treading.
But anyone who's read Polybius or Herodotus will know such histories follow certain patterns.
Because that's what this is. A history. Treat it as a primary source in the world of the Glorious Sun =]
Where he's usually weakest for me is character. Many of the characters here follow his archetypes (foreign polymath/assistant, clueless brothers, tongue-in-cheek mc, and others) so it's not exactly new ground he's treading.
But anyone who's read Polybius or Herodotus will know such histories follow certain patterns.
Because that's what this is. A history. Treat it as a primary source in the world of the Glorious Sun =]
December 26, 2019
I've yet to read anything by KJ Parker I do not like (haven't read "Two of Swords" yet, but everything else).
This is a very linear story with very few 'speaking roles' (just the unnamed narrator, his brother Nico and a lady with the wonderful Byzanthian name Carbonopsia); the other eight named characters have less than half a page combined.
As always, KJP sprinkles in geographical references - some well known (Scheria), some not (the Cans Juifrez* mountain pass) - and names of previous emperors. Yet, we still have no map and/or timeline.
* I'm pretty sure there is a joke in that name ...
This is a very linear story with very few 'speaking roles' (just the unnamed narrator, his brother Nico and a lady with the wonderful Byzanthian name Carbonopsia); the other eight named characters have less than half a page combined.
As always, KJP sprinkles in geographical references - some well known (Scheria), some not (the Cans Juifrez* mountain pass) - and names of previous emperors. Yet, we still have no map and/or timeline.
* I'm pretty sure there is a joke in that name ...
October 3, 2019
My Beautiful Life by K.J. Parker- A new novella from K.J. Parker is always welcome. This one takes place in his fabricated Medieval/Byzantine world and involves a tale of three brothers. Told in first-person from the un-named sibling, the story details the rise from poverty to extreme wealth and power of the narrator, whose life is a topsy-turvy of pitfalls and miraculous rescues. Parker weaves his tale in a rambling narrative that jumps back and forth with plenty of entertaining asides that we've come to expect. A very enjoyable addition to his canon.
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