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madcrazymoviereviews's review against another edition
3.0
What is perhaps most extraordinary about this book is when it was published - 1916
This is a spy novel - complete with aliases, fake passports and other forgeries, costume changes and disguises, violent/heartless villains, narrow escapes, rooftop chases, an international cast of heroes banded together (each with their own unique skillset, of course), last second victory in the face of defeat... Buchan writes with an efficient, unpretentious style (with a few deadpan jokes as well), and turns a bit - though JUST a bit - introspective and poetic there at the end.
TLDR - "Mission: Impossible - World War I" is a fun, albeit fairly superficial read
This is a spy novel - complete with aliases, fake passports and other forgeries, costume changes and disguises, violent/heartless villains, narrow escapes, rooftop chases, an international cast of heroes banded together (each with their own unique skillset, of course), last second victory in the face of defeat... Buchan writes with an efficient, unpretentious style (with a few deadpan jokes as well), and turns a bit - though JUST a bit - introspective and poetic there at the end.
TLDR - "Mission: Impossible - World War I" is a fun, albeit fairly superficial read
hannacolwrites's review against another edition
5.0
A fun adventure story with a memorable hero! I loved this second installment in the Richard Hannay series and can't wait to get my hands on a copy of "Mr. Standfast". Highly recommended.
slytherclawgirl's review against another edition
3.0
Not as good as Buchan's first of his Richard Hannay novels, The 39 Steps, but still an enjoyable tale of wartime intrigue and adventure.
vesper1931's review against another edition
4.0
After sustaining an injury at the Battle of Loos (1915) Major Richard Hannay is given a mission to investigate the rumours that are circulating in Europe of an uprising in the Muslim area. He is aided in the task by John Blenkiron, Sandy (aka Ludovick Gustavus Arbuthnot) and Peter Pienaar. All the information they have are three words - Kasredin, cancer and v.I.
An enjoyable thriller, originally written in 1916
An enjoyable thriller, originally written in 1916
drjmt's review
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation
quirkycynic's review against another edition
3.0
We've all got guilty pleasures, and one of mine is for things of the "foreign intrigue" type of fiction -- spy stories set in far-flung lands in the first half of the twentieth century, usually between the world wars, and with focus on high adventure rooted in antique global politics (and with extra points for references to names of places that don't exist anymore like Constantinople or Yugoslavia). Usually I indulge this in video games, Sydney Greenstreet movies, and Eric Ambler novels, but thought I'd have to at some point dip into something by John Buchan, who is basically the inventor of this entire style.
I imagine readers of the 1910s devoured this book in the same way that Victorian readers gobbled H. Rider Haggard and the reading public of today buy Daniel Silva by the kilo. A blockbuster is a blockbuster, and it was genuinely interesting to read a book from way back in 1916 that felt so incredibly modern in style and pace; moreso probably than any other book from this era I've ever read.
So in an anthropological sense, yes, reading the clearest forerunner to the modern commercial spy thriller was a fascinating exercise, even if the book itself I wasn't super impressed by. I know, shocker -- a 25 year old in 2021 found a 105 year old book not quite to his taste. But my reaction is actually kind of split on these factors, which is what I find more interesting than if I simply liked or disliked it as a whole: I admired its sheer scale, even if I found the narrative too loose and uninteresting at times, and I admired too its steadfastness to the tone of its era, even if I disagreed on a moral level with its implicit devotion to British imperialism.
I'll for sure read The Thirty-Nine Steps at some point but probably not much else by Buchan. I like old-fashioned adventure, sure, but I'm not such a huge fan of reading superheroes as protagonists, which this author never makes any bones in pretending that his Richard Hannay isn't. And in the meantime, I dunno -- I'll play The Last Express or watch Foreign Correspondant again?
I imagine readers of the 1910s devoured this book in the same way that Victorian readers gobbled H. Rider Haggard and the reading public of today buy Daniel Silva by the kilo. A blockbuster is a blockbuster, and it was genuinely interesting to read a book from way back in 1916 that felt so incredibly modern in style and pace; moreso probably than any other book from this era I've ever read.
So in an anthropological sense, yes, reading the clearest forerunner to the modern commercial spy thriller was a fascinating exercise, even if the book itself I wasn't super impressed by. I know, shocker -- a 25 year old in 2021 found a 105 year old book not quite to his taste. But my reaction is actually kind of split on these factors, which is what I find more interesting than if I simply liked or disliked it as a whole: I admired its sheer scale, even if I found the narrative too loose and uninteresting at times, and I admired too its steadfastness to the tone of its era, even if I disagreed on a moral level with its implicit devotion to British imperialism.
I'll for sure read The Thirty-Nine Steps at some point but probably not much else by Buchan. I like old-fashioned adventure, sure, but I'm not such a huge fan of reading superheroes as protagonists, which this author never makes any bones in pretending that his Richard Hannay isn't. And in the meantime, I dunno -- I'll play The Last Express or watch Foreign Correspondant again?
carolined's review
Racist, sexist, anti-semitic, homophobic and imbued with British Imperialism that judges everything and every one by some very warped standards.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Homophobia
veniasum's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to both this and The Thirty-Nine Steps on audiobook (from librivox.org, for free, and decent readings they were, although the fact that Greenmantle switched readers often was a little distracting). Perfect listening for doing projects. Not great literature, exactly, but in the category of pure fun adventure stories, definitely five stars. The plots are far-fetched (but like the miracles, isn't that the point?), the character development is good, and description and narrative tone are consistently convincing.
Greenmantle also takes place primarily in Constantinople and other parts of Turkey where I have been, which is a particular personal pleasure.
Greenmantle also takes place primarily in Constantinople and other parts of Turkey where I have been, which is a particular personal pleasure.