Reviews - Navola | The StoryGraph

285 reviews for:

Navola

Paolo Bacigalupi

3.83 AVERAGE

wilbobaggins's review

3.0

adventurous emotional funny sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

forensicgarlic's review against another edition

2.0

dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bowienerd_82's review against another edition

2.5

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kalmatos's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sws004's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

In the city-state of Navola, commerce, secrets, and promises are power, and the di Regulai family holds sway over all three. Their banking empire trumps armies and kingdoms, but its next generation sits on shaky ground. Davico, the heir to said empire, is soft-hearted, possessing little of the ruthlessness or drive to take over the family business. He's interested in the beauty of nature and the enthralling charms of the petrified dragon eye sitting on his father's desk. But the weight and greed of power care little for Davico's desires, and he finds himself inexorably drawn into his family's web of schemes, ambition, and violence.

Navola is a twisty, lush, and at times, incredibly vicious book. It's at its heart, a very character-driven one though. We spend the entire book in Davico's head (only interrupted by occasional interludes from in-universe folk tales). Bacculpi does an excellent job of painting him as a sympathetic, albeit totally naive protagonist. I'm typically annoyed with such characters, but Davico's blend of empathy and general confusion at the political wheeling and dealing helps ground the reader in a complex setting.Navola's strongest element is Davico's character development in general, with Bacculpi not taking the easy route and simply making Davico more ruthless as he matures. Instead, his growth is a combination ofgrowing political acumen and his "softer" understanding of the world. The book's theme of family legacy, and how it can shape and control is perfectly realized in Davico.

He's also surrounded by a variety of interesting side characters. His adopted sister, Cecelia goes beyond the "manic pixie dream girl" trope I feared she initially was, becoming a pretty stark look at what it takes to survive in a patriarchal society. Cazzetta, the di Regulai's personal assassin, is a twisted mentor figure who gets some of the book's most memorable lines.

"You are alone. No one loves you. You probably poisoned your own mother."

"If I poisoned my mother, I assure you that she never saw it coming"

I heard some criticisms of the pacing of Navola as slow, but I don't agree with this. I would say it's more steady throughout, with Bacigalupi layering the plot with enough intrigue and red herrings to keep me guessing where things were going. And whenNavola gets intense it really goes for it. The last third was shockingly dark, violent, and compared to what came before, cruel. Some readers may be turned off by this, but it felt like a natural conclusion to just how ruthless and uncompromising the setting is portrayed.

Navola is hands down one of the best books I've read this year. If it weren't for Kristoff's Empire of the Damned, I would say that it would take the top spot, and even then it's a tight race.