Reviews

Broken House by Tom LaFarge

george_salis's review against another edition

While reading the first part of La Farge’s The Enchantment series, I noticed some parallels with his Crimson Bear trilogy: unique character names, an emphasis on slow-burning political intrigue, and an overall attention to detail (especially when it comes to architecture, but also meals, flora and fauna, and more). Though connected by an omphalos of sorts, this series diverges from his zoological world by being set in a more North African landscape, fictional for sure, but born from his time spent in Morocco. As La Farge explains in an interview, “And there I was, living in a place where so many realities seemed drawn from strange imaginings. I had to mold my mind into new shapes to mimic the minds around me.” And mold he did, creating a world that’s not completely alien but also more than a few steps in a foreign direction. If you’re something of a traveler, then you can definitely ground yourself in La Farge’s extravagant and gorgeous and governmentally-cross-grained ground, the vivid country of his dedicated imagination.