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Went full Game of Thrones in last several chapters as Spanish duke it out over who gets to control Peru. Lines like "A Pisarro doesn't forget his wounds," insurrections with heads on pikes, giant battles of Spanish with the Incas watching & cheering as their invaders kill each other. Spain sent people to confirm Pisarro governor of Peru, but by the time they arrive, he and most of his family are dead. Super intense!

The Incans put their own capital under siege for half a year, burning it down around the invaders and destroying any relief troops sent to break the siege--totally badass. Rooting for the Incans but of course know any victory can only be temporary. Also tensions among Spanish (Pisarro & Almagro) mounting because there's no honour among thieves. Though mostly very dry & slow going, it's occasionally pretty exciting.

Very brutal recent chapters. Prescott condemns the Spanish conquest. You get the sense he's a bit "white man's burden" (it was written in 1840 after all), yet still recognizes evil even if it comes from white Christians, & takes time to emphasize the hospitality of Incan culture. Though he editorialized extra drama by writing dialogue/emotion for the figures involved, he doesn't linger too much. Still very dramatic!

After beautifully describing incredible Incan city, Prescott will drop a line like 'this would all be destroyed in 10 years.' Starkly reminding you of what's coming. There's this divine mission cast over the whole thing--Pissarro's journey was started with a big Catholic ritual; Crusades referenced. Incan Civil War well told, stage set with context. Surprisingly exciting despite dry tone. Excited/dreading next parts!

Long, prose-poetic openings to chapters, ruminating on things like the search for knowledge, advantages of technological societies, etc. Part 2 becomes narrative with Spain's colonization. Pisarro's misadventures in South America pretty engaging to read as hostile conditions, disease, starvation described. Battles with indigenous people written dramatically, dialogue made up for key figures. It's picking up for sure!

Yikes. Super cheesy, farfetched, silly ending that feels more suited to the hackiest pulp novels from the 80s. Symbolism so hokey and over-explained that the emotional core of the book feels like a parody. Would have been a fun finale in a dimestore pulp novel, but here, with the novel expecting you to take it so seriously, it just falls flat. Not an abysmal book; not a stand-out either. Just kinda meh.

Getting worse. Eye-rolling writing. Also seems to be victim-blaming Jay & downplaying the abuse he suffered as 'tough love' or something, while the rest of his family enabled his treatment & gaslights him about it. At first I thought this was a realistic depiction of how abuse victims beat themselves up even if away from their abuser until I realized the book expects us to take this apologist rhetoric seriously.

Chapter intercutting gives you a sense of ticking clock; each indicating oxygen levels. But I still feel like I'm being given whiplash going from present to past so rapidly, and the increasing internal dialogue w/ the whale & Jay's dad. I need time to linger in the situation. Still eager to see where things go, & engaged in the emotional core of the story as well as metaphorical aspects. Hoping for great climax.

Liking it! Strained father-son relationship already tugging at heart strings. Jay and his alienation from masculinity feels real; relatable. Very evocative, writing style that interchanges nouns/verbs creatively. However, sometimes overdone/bordering on pretentious; scene that should be fast-paced is a bit bloated due to this. Intercutting a bit too much between past/present. But when Kraus gets it right, it works.

Disappointing lack of detail in Incan religion chapter. Prescott spends much of it comparing w/ Christianity. Chauvinism extends to qualifying all praise with a caveat. Admires their lack of poverty but laments lack of freedom of social movement or sense of patriotism. Still learning lots! Incans had hunting regulations to protect native species; would cycle workers out to not overwork them. Spanish coming up next ):

Lots of condescension towards Incans; even when Prescott admires them, he comments how they're almost civilized. Phrenology referenced unironically. Very much a history of its time. Still, though dry, very interesting--even the dated parts are now an insight into the English Imperial mindset of the 1800s. Love learning about Incan organization w/communication, roads, censuses. Even had welfare! Keen on reading more!

Decent, but nothing to write home about. Pacing oddly rushed, characters sketchy except Doruk. Trope-heavy. Limited by one-off graphic novel format--needs more length to breathe. Stakes never feel high because we don't explore the empire's evil deeds much. Seems like aimed at 10-12 range but has swearing so they likely wanted YA audience? Still worth a casual read. Bonus page tutorial was great insight into process.

Whiplash of modernization! Suddenly it's the 1970s. The section from Salmon on makes Alaska seem less magical, more mundane, as it's connected to technology, roads, etc. With less to explore, the stakes seem smaller. Even WW2 section, where I learned a lot, didn't have the epic feel of the earlier chapters when survival in the north was so precarious. Still enjoying! Got used to hammy dialogue after a while :)

Feels very back-loaded--the hugest chapters are all at the end. Still readable, but a major marathon! Interlocking characters more complex as more carry through multiple chapters than before, & meet descendants of past characters. Still thinking about how books like this are conceived/organized, & how Michener will be able to wring a natural, unified 'ending' to this or if it'll just feel like a series of novellas.

Characters continuing across chapters now, & descendants of previous characters crop up. Book going back to the dispossession of First Nations, this time around fishing rights. I know something about this already & know it's gonna go back to being a bleak Bury-My-Heart-style tragedy, after the adventure chapters about gold. Hope to see some spine; book has too many bystander 'good guys.' Realistic, but frustrating!

Chapters on gold rush excellent, seemed like their own self contained novel. Great conveyance of distance & scale, beautiful passages of landscape descriptions (Tolkien-esque). The hunt for gold exciting, the village life turbulent; a lot to keep you reading. Unfortunately Michener uses racial slur term for geography in narrative, & dated dialogue/characterization also increasingly noticeable. Still pressing ahead :)

Part about Inuits not being able to do anything to a murderer because they don't have a jail or formal legal system is weird. First nations had communal justice & ways of punishing people, so they should have been able to handle it. Not sure if Michener is writing this section from a colonizer's perspective (he shifts between theirs and the first nation worldview) or if he's just unaware of community-based justice.

This chapter not as engaging as others; still decent. So interesting how people didn't care about Alaska swapping from Russian to American, and how little they'd explored it before just assuming it was worthless. Brutality against indigenous people has faded into background a bit but still ever present. Michener uses dated terms (Indian, shaman, tribe, Eskimo etc) but empathy lies primarily with them.

Always manages to keep both the epic of adventure in discovery as well as the horrors of colonialism in view at all times, by pivoting between perspectives, leaving you both impressed by the scale of the ambition & devastated by the brutality, wondering how, if possible, an equitable European arrival to the Americas could have gone. Having a bit of trouble readjusting each time we jump ahead, but still enjoying!

The brutality continues, but it's never salacious or overly descriptive. Written like a blow-by-blow in a news report. The summary style has led to characterization issues. I don't buy Sofia's conversion, or Trofim letting Innokenti get away with his brutality so long. Simple revising would have given better justification. Despite that, I'm a 4th into it and it hasn't dragged much at all, so still enjoying it!

Brutal, punishing chapter which felt like an entire novel on its own. Michener, though bordering on 'noble savage' tropes at times, is very empathetic to indigenous characters & the brutal dehumanizations of colonialism. His characters are somewhat simple but fleshed out enough to make you latch on. Able to play with suspense & tragedy while still giving you a lot of info. Inspires sense of awe at nature. Great.

Some really good shining moments but White has zero ability to maintain momentum. He deliberately avoids writing about key moments, instead settling on tedious scenes, meandering, etc. Feels way overlong. When it gets good, it can't be maintained. Characters go from flawed & interesting to irritating. Tonal whiplash makes me wonder who this was written for. Had a lot of potential but this is nearly a one star for me.

Very accessible writing style, a tad bit '80s manly pulp,' with straightforward, basic prose. Feel like I'm learning a lot but am also invested in characters used to illuminate this history. Michener covers society's highest & lowest castes as characters, & I can separate fact from fiction pretty intuitively. So far each chapter is a separate story. Really enjoying it & curious to see how he develops this formula.

Series of parable-like stories about early indigenous arrivals in Alaska, culminating with the Aleutian people who named it. Good way of teaching reader about Alaska's terrain and different regions. Wonder whether Michener was imposing Eurocentric worldview on indigenous, though; at one point one insists the animals were put there for them to use--a Christian notion not usually found in indigenous culture. Still good

Interesting start! Was expecting the opening chapters on tectonic plates forming Alaska millions of years ago, the arrival of mastodons/mammoths, etc, to be boring, but I'm getting along pretty well. 40 pages in, and we get our first humans & dialogue. Pretty bold way to start a novel, but I'm eager to see how Michener develops things from here! Giving me a bit of wanderlust reading this!

Book 3 is still going, by far the longest of the parts. Overall still the best part of OaFK so far, but poor middle section, which seems to be the case with all parts. White very meandering. Also, although the women are a good source of drama, they're super over-emotional. Pretty misogynistic portrayal. But at least they have personalities whereas most of the men don't, except for Lancelot who is still my favourite.

Slow reveal style minimizes potential holes in logic because you're not sure what will be explained coming up. Things getting progressively creepy & unsettling as more is revealed--genuinely getting chills! Story may allude to the wandering of God's favoured nation in the Bible. Weak characterization/prose made up for by the suspense of the premise--many chapters end with another shocking revelation. Good exposition!

Nearly stopped reading during book 2--irritating characters, tedious attempts at humour, no forward momentum. End of book 2 FINALLY had some major plot developments, & book 3 has been the best of the book so far. Cautiously pushing forward. May even put on book 2 audio while working to see if maybe I missed something? Writing is good but needs an editor & better prioritizing--I have similar feelings towards LOTR!

Though characters are very flat & the writing utilitarian, the premise keeps me really interested. Especially since plot is revealed gradually, giving an air of mystery to why the city must always be moved, who the tooks are, why the guild system is shrouded in secrecy, etc. This piecemeal style might frustrate some readers especially since Helward is an uncurious character, but I like it. Hoping for great pay off.

Eerie! Gradual setup leaves you asking questions. Having only a select few be aware of how their dystopian society is set up allows for natural exposition as main character learns the truth early on. very flat 'witness' type protagonist so far--Malchuskin is more interesting. Book seems to critique modern society's need to perpetually consume/expand lest it break down, resulting in a perpetual under-class.