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3.14 AVERAGE
3.14 AVERAGE
Unbelievably slow and dull. I found it a chore to pick up every time. Eventually I gave up and read the plot summary, which just seemed to make the first 200 pages completely pointless. I had really high hopes for this book, and the blurb ticked all the boxes for the kind of stuff I like, but it wasn't to be sadly.
I liked a lot of things about this book. The descriptions and characterisation were clear and sharp, and the general tone, the feeling of anxiety and desperation, a sort of looming hopelessness came through very clearly. The characters were intensely drawn and compelling. I've never run into a better writer for showing people uncomfortable in their own skin.
The world building felt a little underplayed though. The author seemed to have done the work to make this massive alternate history, but then we spend the whole book so focused on small parts of people's lives that we don't see the scope of it. It seems like a pity not to show off such a grand creation.
It took me forever to finish because it felt like the plot wasn't moving at all for the middle two thirds or so of the book. I know it was, but the book could have easily been much shorter. I hope the next book will be more politics and less French countryside.
The world building felt a little underplayed though. The author seemed to have done the work to make this massive alternate history, but then we spend the whole book so focused on small parts of people's lives that we don't see the scope of it. It seems like a pity not to show off such a grand creation.
It took me forever to finish because it felt like the plot wasn't moving at all for the middle two thirds or so of the book. I know it was, but the book could have easily been much shorter. I hope the next book will be more politics and less French countryside.
not really sure about this, very slow to get going. At about page 150 I was ready to bail, but I hung in there and was rewarded. Even so I have the second book in the series so will eventually give it a go. But for now I need a rest from her writing
Set in a world where the Roman Empire persevered through to the modern day and now owns most of the world, built through military conquest and an (increasingly unsustainable) slave economy. Marcus, the nominated heir to the Empire goes on the run after the deaths of his parents, his only hope of safety a hidden refuge for runaway slaves. Two unusually gifted slaves, brother and sister, escape from London and flee to the European mainland. Thrown together with the fugitive heir, they flee to the refuge, but the Empire is close behind.
So what should be an adventurous tale of danger and intrigue and struggling on in the face of impossible odds in a distorted reality turns out to be something meatier and more substantial due to the author's total commitment to her characters. Everyone in Romanitas is damaged, whether it's Marcus by loss and betrayal, or Una by her enslavement, Sulien by injustice or any of the other characters wrestling with their hurts and their angers and their insecurities. They represent an emotional and psychological palimpsest of the Empire itself, a repressive, highly controlled military oligarchy full of splendours built on human suffering. More demanding than you might expect from a slipstream political thriller, but well worth it.
So what should be an adventurous tale of danger and intrigue and struggling on in the face of impossible odds in a distorted reality turns out to be something meatier and more substantial due to the author's total commitment to her characters. Everyone in Romanitas is damaged, whether it's Marcus by loss and betrayal, or Una by her enslavement, Sulien by injustice or any of the other characters wrestling with their hurts and their angers and their insecurities. They represent an emotional and psychological palimpsest of the Empire itself, a repressive, highly controlled military oligarchy full of splendours built on human suffering. More demanding than you might expect from a slipstream political thriller, but well worth it.