Sooraj Srinivasan
I loved City of Last Chances. It scratched an itch for me that I didn't know I had - where a revolution happens not due to any particular group of people or a cause or anything singular. Just one chance dice game, that sets up and intensifies the existing tensions within the city. It was unique and it was bold and it was funny at parts and I loved it for just that.
I love House of Open Wounds for completely different reasons. There are certainly gems of something I have always wanted for other books but nothing completely unique. Reading through House of Open Wounds reminded me of some of my favourite parts in the Malazan series with the irreverent (lol) bickering native to the corps. The ending as well tied together together the threads set up through out the book beautifully reminiscent of the Malazan books again.
What sets this book apart from its predecessor is the characters. City of Last Chances while having a decent size of characters did not make me endear to any one of them. House of Open Wounds brings together a motley group of freaks who all bounce off of each other in interesting and fun ways. The world as well opens up to more than just Ilmar and it benefits heavily from that. The Palleseen are no longer straight up villainous but just people with their flaws and motivations. I still think City of Last Chances had the better world building which allowed House of Open Wounds to leapfrog off of that into more interesting areas.
idk i loved the book.
To quote another book, “Govinda Shauri always has a plan.” The same can be said for Francis Urquhart, the longest serving British PM.
Honestly, after the first two novels, I thought ‘The Final Cut' was going to be another dull read, extolling the sins of politics without getting into it properly.
But, ‘The Final Cut' impressed me. It was what a political thriller should be: absolute power, a shaky edifice and lots of sacrifices. Lots of them.
Tom Makepeace was too principled for the book. It made for a dull read that way. However, I honestly thought Tom Makepeaces's march would destroy Francis. In a way, it kinda did. The ending was typical of Indian political thrillers, but in this context, it made for the best climax I have read.
