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A review by jonknightknighthunterbooks
1610: A Sundial in a Grave by Mary Gentle
challenging
dark
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This is a swashbuckling adventure story.
With heavy themes about the ethical responsibility to act when one has foreknowledge.
And buckets ofpersonal growth and acceptance - that starts with quite virulent hatred (transphobia?) directed both from one protagonist to another and from one protagonist to himself.
This is perhaps a little heavier than I needed from a holiday read - I'd expected the foreknowledge/ethical side (it seems to be something of theme in Gentle's work) but the hatred made the early sections hard work.
This perhaps might have had more impact were I more familiar with the 1610s (but now I will feel I am, and have a load of key people and dates wrong!).
Any of Gentle's novels I've read could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with Stephenson's Baroque cycle - she really should be better known; though this is perhaps not where I would start!
With heavy themes about the ethical responsibility to act when one has foreknowledge.
And buckets of
This is perhaps a little heavier than I needed from a holiday read - I'd expected the foreknowledge/ethical side (it seems to be something of theme in Gentle's work) but the hatred made the early sections hard work.
This perhaps might have had more impact were I more familiar with the 1610s (but now I will feel I am, and have a load of key people and dates wrong!).
Any of Gentle's novels I've read could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with Stephenson's Baroque cycle - she really should be better known; though this is perhaps not where I would start!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Homophobia, and Transphobia