political intrigue
Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
“A smart Teek survives the storm, but a wise Teek avoids storms altogether.” It took me awhile to warm up to Black Sun and during its first half I worried that I would find myself once again in the ‘unpopular’ opinion camp. As I’d read and liked Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning I was hoping […]
MoreThe Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas — book reviews
While I understand historical context and I am quite able to appreciate classics without wanting them to reflect ‘modern’ sensibilities, I have 0 patience for books that glorify rapists. SPOILERS BELOW I don’t mind reading books about terrible people. I read Nabokov’s infamous Lolita and Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. I enjoy books by Agatha […]
MoreAn Honest Man by Ben Fergusson — book review
In Ben Fergusson’s An Honest Man our narrator Ralf revisits a particularly significant year in his life. The year is 1989 and Ralf is eighteen and lives with his family in West Berlin. Growing up in a bilingual household (his mother is English), Ralf has always felt like a bit of an outsider. In a […]
MoreWolf Hall by Hilary Mantel — book review
To simply define Wolf Hall as being a historical narrative seems unfair. The word ‘historical’ conjures a sense of events that happened a long time ago. Wolf Hall, unlike most historical fiction, struck me for the immediacy and urgency of its narrative. While the events Hilary Mantel writes have occurred nearly half a millennium ago, […]
MoreA Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay — book review
Perhaps if Guy Gavriel Kay had paid more attention to his story and his characters, rather than devoting himself to the cadence of his carefully orchestrated prose, I would have been able to enjoy reading A Brightness Long Ago more than I did…the first few chapters are compelling but what follows is a repetitive, wearisome, […]
MoreA Memory Called Empire : Book Review
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine ★★★✰✰ 3 stars Yet another example of great concept, poor execution. A Memory Called Empire is an ambitious first instalment. Sadly, the interesting topics and discussions approached by the novel were diminished by an unclear world-building and by a monotone storyline. “Three Seagrass gave Mahit a look […]
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