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What Members Thought
2.5 stars
This was definitely not the book for me. Though I really liked the premise, I didn't like the execution, it read like a textbook instead of a fantasy novel. I did my best to immerse myself into the story but the pace was way too slow and the footnotes kept pulling me out of it. During the first 60% of the book I considered DNFing it multiple times. The last 40% were more interesting, there were less references to the origins of words and less footnotes, so that part raised my rating fro ...more
This was definitely not the book for me. Though I really liked the premise, I didn't like the execution, it read like a textbook instead of a fantasy novel. I did my best to immerse myself into the story but the pace was way too slow and the footnotes kept pulling me out of it. During the first 60% of the book I considered DNFing it multiple times. The last 40% were more interesting, there were less references to the origins of words and less footnotes, so that part raised my rating fro ...more
Aug 21, 2024
Di Maitland
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
place-is-character,
fantasy,
magical-realism,
magic,
audiobook,
colonisation,
standalone,
historical,
revolution,
identity
I'm in awe over how much research Kuang must have had to do to achieve this fascinating exploration of language, translation, history, and empire. Could have been shorter but the end made it all worthwhile.
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This book replaces the British Industrial age with Magic. Silver has the power to make all things more effective - faster carriages, more stable bridges, efficient looms. You won’t need those pesky people to work! It’s clever.
From the outset, you can see the phenomenal amount of research that has gone into this book to enable the author to pop it into ‘history’. Replacing industrialism with Silver Magic. Therein lies my problem; reading for me is escapism and this read too much like a history b ...more
From the outset, you can see the phenomenal amount of research that has gone into this book to enable the author to pop it into ‘history’. Replacing industrialism with Silver Magic. Therein lies my problem; reading for me is escapism and this read too much like a history b ...more
A well-researched and well-written novel whose conceit lies in the power of word pairs linked by meanings known only to fluent speakers of both languages. This power has influence over the world, running ships and keeping bridges aloft. In the novel, the translators who hold such power forge it into bars of silver, and the (powerful, racist, misogynistic) British government wields the silver to grow their empire. The story is told through the eyes of a boy from Canton who is brought over to Engl
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Great writing, with excellent moments and bits of philosophy interspersed throughout. However, ultimately, I felt it was a little drawn out with an ending I didn't love.
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4.5 stars
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and the composition. Beautifully written. I loved the magical mixed in with historical fiction. I would have given this 5 stars, but the characters were just a little distant, I wanted more from them.
I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and the composition. Beautifully written. I loved the magical mixed in with historical fiction. I would have given this 5 stars, but the characters were just a little distant, I wanted more from them.
Reason read: lots of award nominations, HRSFA book club
Thoughts: I liked it initially, but I felt like it became more didactic as it went on - promoting a certain worldview over telling a story. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I signed up for.
Thoughts: I liked it initially, but I felt like it became more didactic as it went on - promoting a certain worldview over telling a story. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I signed up for.
Dec 15, 2022
Jackie
marked it as to-read
Jan 02, 2023
Jorid Sørli
marked it as to-read
Jan 03, 2023
Viv JM
marked it as to-read
Jan 18, 2023
Layton
marked it as to-read
Jun 25, 2023
Ijeoma Anyaoha
marked it as to-read
Aug 31, 2023
Teanka
marked it as to-read
Oct 07, 2023
Mary
marked it as not-interested
Jan 01, 2024
Andy
marked it as to-read
Jan 14, 2024
Scarlet
marked it as to-read
Aug 26, 2024
Anshika
marked it as to-read
Sep 18, 2024
Shane
marked it as to-read
Oct 03, 2024
Juliana
marked it as to-read
Oct 04, 2024
Dave J.
marked it as to-never-read
Jun 09, 2025
Vavita
marked it as to-read
Jul 30, 2025
Sharini
marked it as to-read
