Jimmy

After finishing The Secret Commonwealth, I recall my thoughts generally being ‘I don't quite understand where all of this is going, but I'm sure it'll make more sense in the final book'. Now having finished The Rose Field, more questions have been raised than answers, and I'm left in largely the same mindset, but without the benefit of any further book to come.

The first 30-40% of the book felt quite engaging for me, as it seemed like the stage was being set for a climax both at a personal level for the main characters, as well as on a more macro global level, centring around the red building in the desert which had already received so much exposition. It was fascinating to meet the gryphons and have a glimpse at how their society worked, especially in the way that it felt a bit like a call back to the armoured bears, and also to see the witches becoming involved again. Abdel Ionides was also an interesting new character for me, and I was curious what role this scholar-turned-semi-spy-or-sorcerer was going to play once things came to a head. The early revelation about the various unclosed windows was unexpected and seemed largely unforeshadowed, but I was willing to keep an open mind and see where this led, given this was such a vital element of the conclusion of the previous trilogy.

However, it became gradually apparent in the second half of the book that resolution was going to be significantly wanting. Many of the storylines and characters ended up being completely abandoned with no sense of why they were introduced at all. Even the main relationship between Lyra and Malcolm, around which so much of the book revolved, and which I thought was subtly developed in many ways (e.g. through references to his gold to her silver, and the discussions on age with the witches), turned out to be summarily dismissed with the two never truly engaging with each other on their emotions. Given my history with His Dark Materials, it's probably unsurprising that the elephant in the room for me was the full 180º flip on how the windows between worlds were treated and how quickly Lyra seemed to come to terms with the fact that her sacrifice at the end of The Amber Spyglass was unwarranted, but the more I have thought about the The Rose Field more generally, the more it feels that the final position for very few of the characters is either earned from their experiences, made sense based on preceding actions, or was emotionally compelling. The final chapter felt like the cherry on top (or on the bottom?), with the entire vibe being completely out of kilter with all the events leading up to it.

I think I had put a lot of trust in Pullman's ability to bring things together to a powerful and meaningful (even if not entirely satisfying) ending, particularly given how His Dark Materials was rounded off, so it's all the more disappointing that this is how we leave Lyra, ostensibly for good. I tossed up whether to give this a 2 star or 3 star, and ultimately went with 3 since I feel it was still overall a decent reading experience thanks to Pullman's writing style, the high points in the story as well as the fantastical elements that have helped make Lyra's world so alluring from the beginning, but ultimately the flashes in the pan and the nostalgia can only go so far in counterbalancing the plot holes, the retconning and the lack of a real conclusion to the vast majority of the setup over the course of the trilogy.

It's quite amazing to see how quickly Bernard Cornwell found his formula with the Sharpe novels. As the first of the books to be written, I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the writing quality, but I can certainly see how this book kicked off the success story of the series more generally. It's true that this particular tale felt a bit less nuanced than the ones that come before it chronologically - Sharpe essentially does no wrong, the adversaries are telegraphed and are all eminently punchable in the face, and the romance was about as deep as the Spanish allies are reliable. But the core story beats just work, and Cornwell clearly demonstrates a natural aptitude for depicting the realities for battle from the ground level with all its confusion and brutality. A solid, fun read, nothing ground-breaking but a perfect palate cleanser after something heavy.

The Dandelion Dynasty series is a quintessential case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. While I don’t think any individual book quite cracks my favourites of all time, Ken Liu has, across this quartet of tomes, crafted an extremely deeply thought-out world, replete with cultures, histories, traditions, philosophies and mythologies. Against this backdrop he has then unravelled a plot which is so intricate and expansive in scope that there was no way I could I predicted the conclusion that was reached by the end of the final book.

There are so many things which this series does well. While it undeniably draws very heavily on imperial Chinese history and various conflicts and interactions the Chinese dynasties had with northern nomadic peoples, this derivation is much more than window dressing. Liu has clearly thought through and expanded on the various aspects which he has taken inspiration from and there is a very organic feel to how they both work within the world that he has created and inform the views and actions of the characters. The stand out example of this to me (and one of the main ways this series differentiates itself in my eyes) is the manner in which language, writing and philosophy were woven into how the characters thought and acted and also had a critical impact on major plot points, which I feel I haven’t seen to such a degree since reading Tolkien. The way that the characters were built up with innate personalities based on their upbringing and background, which were then meaningfully changed and challenged by the people they interact with and the experiences they undergo, was also quite compelling to me.

The other main thing which has impressed me immensely with this series is how it deals with inter-cultural conflict - not just as a clash of two different peoples who are intent on self preservation or conquest, but as a collision of ways of life, age old customs and deep-seated morals. When two peoples are so fundamentally different, but somehow have to coexist, there are undeniably issues that arise at every level of society, from the rulers down to the lowest class, and from an individual’s personal perspective to the macro view of the state. The Dandelion Dynasty taps into all of these, and has characters grappling with questions like how certain values can mean different things in each culture, whether one can truly forgive the atrocities of the past committed by both sides, what is the greater good for both cultures, what does it mean to belong to one culture or the other, or both… I cannot think of another fantasy book or series where both the plot and characters are so tied up with the consideration of these kinds of issues of humanity and the outcomes of the decisions made in response at both personal and political levels.

This isn’t a perfect series. Across four doorstopper books, there are certainly places where pacing suffers and time jumps are sometimes confusing to follow. Some of the side characters are also fell into recognisable stereotypes. I also had a minor suspension-of-belief gripe (particularly in the last book) with the technological leaps that were being made in the time given, even though the actual inventions themselves as twists on real world devices was extremely creative. In the end though, it is no denying that this is a monumental work which ticks boxes across the board - for world building, character development, unique prose, high stakes, climactic battles, unpredictable plot… the list goes on. It belongs in the S Tier for me, and although I’m not slating for an immediate re-read, I can already see it will be just as rewarding an experience, if not more, when I get to it.

I think it’s hard to deny that The Devils is a very entertaining book from Joe Abercrombie. The question is whether the entertainment is delivered in a way that is enjoyable to every reader, and that is where it becomes quite subjective. The dark scatological humour is dialled up to the max, the violent action is generally as graphic as it is gratuitous, and the characters are equal parts colourful and caricature. The storytelling style is direct, vivid and draws the reader in, and often borders on being over-dramatic. The pacing ebbs and flows well in my opinion, but as others have noted, did have a movie-like cadence - even feeling like a video game storyline with boss battles of increasing scope and difficulty. I can see how this was immediately picked up for film adaptation, though I’m not sure I see James Cameron in this as much as something more in the style of Matthew Vaughn.

A number of other factors ended making this middling for me. The overall plot was completely predictable after the first dozen chapters or so, though there were a few twists in how it reached the end. The prose suited the tone of the story and I often found myself having a little wry chortle, though it also sometimes became a bit repetitive and overdone with some of the characters' internal and external dialogues. As for the characters themselves, while I found them both individually distinctive and engaging as an ensemble, I didn't feel like I built any strong emotional connections with any of them, and they seemed to have the same overall arc of being more than meets the eye with their vice being as much be their virtue. And I think that's a lot of what it comes down to - I certainly enjoyed reading The Devils, but this is also not a book that leaves you with lasting emotions, resounding themes or profound thoughts, and that meant it couldn't really be elevated beyond some good fun. There's definitely a place for this kind of book in my reading rotation, but it isn't calling for a reread soon.

Reading this as my classic of the year, and following on from a Brandon Sanderson work, it really strikes me just how much writing styles have changed over 150 years, and how people just do not write like this anymore.

Without a doubt, the loquacious, digression-laden yet aloof third person omniscient perspective is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. This is by no means a fast paced book, but it is the kind of book where a whole page is spent describing how an old miller eats his toast off the table and he is evocatively likened to a parabolic curve. While there is a heavy sprinkling of misogyny and dated declarative statements, these snippets and asides delivered in the author’s wry, sardonic voice gave me immense delight and elicited in physical chuckles. This may be my first Thomas Hardy book, but if this is reflective of his usual delivery, then I’m definitely up for more.

The story itself was a bit more middling for me. I had the questionable benefit of reading an edition of the book which came with an introduction and fulsome footnotes, and while these were helpful to contextualise the novel and explain some of the more obscure references, they did spoil some important plot points, and the result was that it was somewhat obvious quite early on where the characters were all going to end up (or maybe love triangles (or quadrilaterals) have become too predictable by this day and age). The character work was generally pretty convincing in my view with each of the suitors shaping into very distinct individuals in the course of the story, though I felt Bathsheba was the weakest - very rarely living up to the headstrong, independent woman she is repeatedly touted to be. The introduction also mentioned how a key theme of Hardy’s work is the power of human folly and coincidence in the course of people’s lives, and I felt this was quite deftly addressed, with moments of genuine frustration at what certain characters were doing or going through, balanced with a certain sympathy for their position.

All in all, I would certainly count Far From the Madding Crowd as a good read - not enough to fall into my favourites of classics, but indubitably a strong reminder as to why such classics deserve to continue appearing on my reading list.