Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
I read this book quite awhile before reading Empress Orchid and I had originally thought they were by two different authors, but even with this realization I didn't really like Empress Orchid. I think that The Last Empress is much better than the first, not even thinking that it was a second book in anyway. I am definitely going to be buying The Last Empress and not the other book.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The best analogy I could come up with for this book was like taking the bar exam--write a lot, but without a lot of depth. Shallow. That's the biggest impression this book left me. The author touched on a lot of events that happened, from the point of view of the empress, but I never felt like it was any more than words to fill a page. I also didn't find any of the characters particularly likeable--was I supposed to feel sympathy/anger/anything toward the empress? Because I didn't. To me, she was only the narrator.
I realized after I had already started the book that this was a sequel, so maybe it would have been better had I read the first one before. However, if it's like this book, I'll probably be avoiding it.
I realized after I had already started the book that this was a sequel, so maybe it would have been better had I read the first one before. However, if it's like this book, I'll probably be avoiding it.
As much as I enjoyed "Empress Orchid" I just couldn't get into this novel. "Orchid" covered a lot of time but this one just was too episodic to really get me interested in the story.
This follows on from Empress Orchid, which I quite enjoyed. Not so for The Last Empress.
This felt like the reader was just being fired dates and facts and the flow of the storyline was completely lost within.
This felt like the reader was just being fired dates and facts and the flow of the storyline was completely lost within.
I got about 100 pages in before I had to quit. This book reads more like a really boring history book that barely touches the surface Of events. It jumped around so much and didn't go into anything within any depth. Made it really hard to care about the characters.
I was disappointed in the book after reading and loving Empress Orchid. I feel like I got a history lesson about China; I would have much preferred the story to continue about Orchid and her life.
I just finished reading this book for book club. I will have to say that I was not impressed. A part of me wished I had read the earlier book to learn what Orchid was like before she became Empress but the other part of me didn't care to spend any more time on this character. I am interested in Chinese history but this story did not pull me in and I did not care enough about the main character to become invested. I can't recommend this one.
emotional
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2145268.html[return][return]This is a historical novel framed as the autobiography of the Dowager Empress Tzu-hsi (normally transcribed as Cixi these days; she'd have written it Ha�y) from her consolidation of power in 1863 to her death in 1908. I knew almost nothing of Chinese history in this period (or indeed any); I had encountered Tzu-hsi previously in Flashman and the Dragon, where the hero (inevitably) conducts a love affair with her in 1860, before this book is set. I found the historical detail fascinating but, alas, some of the most dramatic incidents turn out to have been invented (or at least elaborated) by the author; I was impressed by the sense of a woman trying to prevent the disintegration of her regime against the twin threats of a series of weak emperors and external pressure from the Europeans and Americans. There are also some lovely descriptive set-pieces. Unfortunately it didn't really grab me emotionally, and towards the end got a bit rushed - I was simply confused by the account of the Boxer Rebellion. Also I had not realised that this is the sequel to Empress Orchid which describes her rise to power; I will look out for it - struggle to get to the top is generally a more interesting read than struggle to stay at the top!