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anti_formalist12's review against another edition
3.0
A sort of unorthodox story built around a fairly unorthodox main character. Plotted pretty tightly, and I'm curious to see where it goes next.
caroparr's review against another edition
4.0
An engineer betrays his country by sharing his knowledge with an enemy. But apart from the engineering, which is fascinating, this is a character-driven story about war, death, murder, love, and betrayal. Fast-paced, just enough world-building to get you going and for once my heart doesn't sink on learning it's the first in a trilogy. Thanks to The Idle Woman blog for the tip!
apetruce's review against another edition
2.0
The premise of this book left me very hopeful. An oppressive guild-centered town casts out one of its creative members for thinking (and creating) outside the box. When he's captured by a technologically backward community, it looks like he's going to be given the opportunity to give away trade secrets. Sadly, the writing is just too poor and the character development is lacking. When the author attempts to enter the brains of politicians and leaders agonizing over the dilemmas of their nation the vocabulary is at a low level and the depth of thought is boring. I was getting excited that I would get to read how the engineer sets up his work camp and build scorpions for his adoptive town to overtake his homeland, but after 300 pages I gave up.
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
winters's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
elturko64's review
3.0
Man, so conflicted on this book. I'm a big fan of K.J. Parker but this book was a struggle. The opening really threw you into the story, it was engaging and fascinating. However, the middle section of the book was the biggest slog I've ever encountered in a book. Parker could've trimmed down a hundred pages and it would've been a lot better. Still, the climax and ending were amazing. This is a book about politics, intrigue, and diplomacy. There's very little action but when it comes its swift and brutal. All the problems I had in the boring middle section of the book fell into place at the end. It was a good ending but I don't know if I'm eager to read the next book anytime soon.
bookishchick's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This whole trilogy is beautifully written and constructed. One of those plots that, when you get to the end the clever intricacy just makes you say ‘wow’. Like a huge setup that does amazing twists and turns when you start a marble rolling. Also very funny. Sand dry humour. Very very biting wit. And fast paced. ‘The best thing you could say about his face is that it’s water proof.’ Again another writer where, if you’re reading in a kindle, you just end up highlighting the whole book.
nobodyatall's review against another edition
2.0
This is a really well written and extremely readable book, but ultimately disappointing.
I've really enjoyed Mr Holt's short stories, this novel shows the same cleverness, intricate layering and detailed world building. Sadly, stretched out to 700 pages this all gets a bit bland and repetitive. The whole story rests on the infallible omnipotent genius of Ziani Vaatzes, with some support from a secondary infallible genius Valens Vadani. It's just not really believable, and the characters all remain the same as their initial portraits with no development or changes to character as a result of the events of the book. Whilst this is okay in a short story, it is too simplistic for this length of novel which ends up reading as a list of things happening.
I won't be bothering with the rest of the trilogy.
I've really enjoyed Mr Holt's short stories, this novel shows the same cleverness, intricate layering and detailed world building. Sadly, stretched out to 700 pages this all gets a bit bland and repetitive. The whole story rests on the infallible omnipotent genius of Ziani Vaatzes, with some support from a secondary infallible genius Valens Vadani. It's just not really believable, and the characters all remain the same as their initial portraits with no development or changes to character as a result of the events of the book. Whilst this is okay in a short story, it is too simplistic for this length of novel which ends up reading as a list of things happening.
I won't be bothering with the rest of the trilogy.