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jodar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The novel is a story of action and ideas more than of interpersonal relationships. Its focus is war, hot and cold, and the key thought that war pivots around banal brutality of warmongering thugs being countered and stymied by the cunning and ingenuity of the smart. War is viewed as an inevitable and universal human condition across time and space, perpetrated largely by men seeking power.
The novel feels long and drawn out. The switching between the ‘now’ of the 1990s and the past of World War 2 seemed to me a bit random. Some editorial tightening of the plot would have improved the pace.
The nerdishness of some characters and the skilful, incisive action of others may have impressed me more a couple of decades back, but reading it now I did not find myself empathising greatly with any of them.
There are some moments of pathos and triumph over adversity, but in the end – a long time coming! – it presents a depressing, dark and nasty view of our human nature. I hope sincerely that this is a distorted view that overly highlights the evil within us.
The novel feels long and drawn out. The switching between the ‘now’ of the 1990s and the past of World War 2 seemed to me a bit random. Some editorial tightening of the plot would have improved the pace.
The nerdishness of some characters and the skilful, incisive action of others may have impressed me more a couple of decades back, but reading it now I did not find myself empathising greatly with any of them.
There are some moments of pathos and triumph over adversity, but in the end – a long time coming! – it presents a depressing, dark and nasty view of our human nature. I hope sincerely that this is a distorted view that overly highlights the evil within us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Slavery, Violence, and War
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