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chalkletters's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
As a January treat, I decided to relax my rules around trying to keep this blog from being overwhelmed by fantasy fiction reviews and allow myself a reread. I distinctly remember finishing Devices and Desires for the first time, in my bedroom on Diana Street, and racing to the bookshop on Wellfield Road to see if they had the next instalment. As so often happens, reading at 35 is a vastly different experience from reading at 22, but no less enjoyable.
K J Parker’s plot is complicated, intricate and gripping. In just the first book of three, there are several plot events that completely overturn the reader’s expectations, and yet make perfect sense in context. There’s a lot of betrayal going on, some surprising, some not, which keeps the level of excitement and intrigue very high. Many of the characters in Devices and Desires manage to be both fiendishly clever and overwhelmingly stupid. Clever in that they are great tactical thinkers, able to plot several moves ahead and achieve their aims. Stupid in that the men all fall irrevocably in love to the extent that it dictates all of their decisions.
The women, unfortunately, get very little agency. It hardly seems to matter whether they love the men in return — for the most part, the men don’t ask. In fact, for all their professed devotion, they rarely hold a conversation with the women in their lives and certainly don’t ask, or even privately consider, what Veatriz or Ariessa or Mortisa actually want. It doesn’t help that only one character in the book appears to have siblings. Everyone else is detached from a wider family influence and seems only to have their (deceased) predecessors, one friend and one love interest. Somehow, though, the characters are able to escape feeling like chess pieces. Duke Valens and Miel Ducas, in particular, have solid backstories and conflicted motivations; they’re warm, not lifeless or cold-blooded.
K J Parker’s prose is very technical; a touch too much so, at times. It makes sense for the characters — and for the series title (The Engineer Trilogy) — but it isn’t the most riveting reading. Fortunately, he strikes the balance pretty well and the technical details never slow down the reading for too long. Instead of an elaborate magic system, Devices and Desires is built on, as the series titles suggests, engineering, which arguably makes it more science fiction than fantasy, despite the presence of bows, arrows and castles. K J Parker certainly seems like the opposite of someone like Robin Hobb — but maybe that’s more to do with male vs female perspective than science vs magic.
I enjoyed rereading Devices and Desires — so much so that I’m thinking about moving on immediately to Evil for Evil.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Animal death, and War
Minor: Ableism
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