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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
A great novel - the characters and the setting are intense and vivid, and the plot is often tense. This was a grand experience and, for me, sparked an interest in a part of the world and a part of history I hadn't thought about much until then. Made me want to see these places myself, although I wouldn't be lucky enough to run into these characters.
Still haven't managed to finish this book more than a month after beginning. Perhaps unfairly, a fluffy vampire romance has turned my head for many weeks now. I do intend to finish, though even before the dreamy vampire came around I was having difficulty staying involved. After Ash rescued Juli and married her secretly, my interest dropped off sharply for some reason. I guess the part about leaving Juli at home while Ash goes off to Afghanistan to spy seemed like the author was trying to tack on even more history from this part of the world (not that that's a bad thing; just feels like a different story). I really was engrossed in the story up until this point. Perhaps the rush from Juli's rescue and the exciting escape through the mountain pass left me in need of a resolution soon after, rather than stringing me along while Ash plays dress-up for the umpteenth time (not that I didn't appreciate his abilities earlier or anything). I will hopefully be proven wrong and have to eat every word I've typed here.
Update: 11-Nov-08
Here I am, eating my words already, and still haven't quite finished. The Battle of Fatehabad happened almost right after I started reading again, and was extremely well-written and exciting (though I don't hold with glamorizing war in general, I do enjoy reading battle scenes if they're well done). Waiting to see how the powder keg in Kabul will ignite. Less than 100 pages to go...
15-Nov-08
Finally finished it this morning. The powder keg blew sky high, indeed. A tragic but well-fought battle brought this book to its end. I couldn't help mourning just a bit for Wally, though he died perhaps as he would have wished. I suppose I wanted to see him grow old, fall in love, become a Field Marshal, but barring that, "it was a good death." Ash and Juli set out to find their peaceful kingdom, and I wouldn't have minded the author getting them there before the book ended. Lord knows they've earned a rest. Overall, a great adventure. Now that I've finished, I'm glad that it ended this way, and not with the 'boy rescues girl, marries girl, lives happily ever after' rather unrealistic way. Much more satisfying and profound, if that's the correct word. Will have to look up the history of Afghanistan at this time to help sort fact from extremely convincing fiction.
Update: 11-Nov-08
Here I am, eating my words already, and still haven't quite finished. The Battle of Fatehabad happened almost right after I started reading again, and was extremely well-written and exciting (though I don't hold with glamorizing war in general, I do enjoy reading battle scenes if they're well done). Waiting to see how the powder keg in Kabul will ignite. Less than 100 pages to go...
15-Nov-08
Finally finished it this morning. The powder keg blew sky high, indeed. A tragic but well-fought battle brought this book to its end. I couldn't help mourning just a bit for Wally, though he died perhaps as he would have wished. I suppose I wanted to see him grow old, fall in love, become a Field Marshal, but barring that, "it was a good death." Ash and Juli set out to find their peaceful kingdom, and I wouldn't have minded the author getting them there before the book ended. Lord knows they've earned a rest. Overall, a great adventure. Now that I've finished, I'm glad that it ended this way, and not with the 'boy rescues girl, marries girl, lives happily ever after' rather unrealistic way. Much more satisfying and profound, if that's the correct word. Will have to look up the history of Afghanistan at this time to help sort fact from extremely convincing fiction.
I brought this audio edition with a monthly credit. (I succumbed after looking at all the cool narrators. Very good so far, this book aside).
I have no problems with the narrator, Vikras Adam is very good. I'm not sure if this book works best in audio form, however. GR friends whose reviews and opinions I respect greatly love this book, and for that reason alone I will give this a try in print version. But Ash is annoying me and I find some of the description to be rather repeatitive. Will try print version.
I have no problems with the narrator, Vikras Adam is very good. I'm not sure if this book works best in audio form, however. GR friends whose reviews and opinions I respect greatly love this book, and for that reason alone I will give this a try in print version. But Ash is annoying me and I find some of the description to be rather repeatitive. Will try print version.
One of my favorites; sweeping, engrossing, I don't think anything I'd say would do it justice.
Although it is quite lengthy, I enjoyed this action-packed adventure tale. At its end it is pure historical fiction based on the facts surrounding the development and result of the second Afghan War in the late 1870’s.
Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn was born circa 1855 in a camp in the Himalayas, son of Professor Hilary Pelham-Martyn,“a well-known linguist, ethnologist, and botanist” and Isobel Ashton. She died within days of his birth and so he was nursed by Sita, the wife of Dama Ram, who had recently lost her own newborn. The Professor remained in the mountains, studying plants and reporting of the impact of the East India Company on the states of India. When Ashton was still a young boy, contact with a group of pilgrims exposed the party to cholera, which killed his father and many others in the camp. Sita fled with Ashton and soon witnessed the Sepoy rebellion taking place across the country. She feared Ashton’s Engish pedigree would be discovered and he would be killed. They traveled for years to find a safe place to settle. When Ash was about seven they lived in The Palace of the Winds in Gulkote where Ash was a companion and protector of Lalji, Yuveraj, the crown prince. He was befriended by Kairi-Bai (Anjuli) eldest daughter of the Rajah. Janoo-Bai, current wife of the Rajah and mother of the next son in line to the throne, made several attempts to do away with the crown prince which were averted by Ash. After a time she learned that it was he who had foiled her efforts and was overheard threatening his life. Eleven-year-old Ash and Siti then fled immediately leaving in the middle of the night. Sita was unwell and passed away within a short time, but before doing so, gave Ash the papers and money Ash’s father entrusted her with. He had the papers translated and so learned that his uncle was a member of the Corps of Guides. He made his way to Mardan where they were stationed and learned that his uncle had been killed recently. However, the guides saw to it that he was sent back to England for an education and military training. When he reached nineteen years of age, he returned to India as an officer in the Corps. Shortly afterwards he was AWOL for a time while searching for a member of the guides who had disappeared with weaponry and brought disgrace to his relatives among the guides. Upon his return he was commissioned with escorting two Indian princess brides to their wedding in Bhithor. Ash soon discovered that the eldest of the brides is his childhood companion Anjuli and falls madly in love with her. He is helpless to stop the current course of events and leaves Bhithor saddened, knowing that he must not see Anjuli again. ….. The last part of this novel extrapolates on the fate of the Corps of Guides at the British mission in Kabul during the second Afghan war.
Ashton Hilary Akbar Pelham-Martyn was born circa 1855 in a camp in the Himalayas, son of Professor Hilary Pelham-Martyn,“a well-known linguist, ethnologist, and botanist” and Isobel Ashton. She died within days of his birth and so he was nursed by Sita, the wife of Dama Ram, who had recently lost her own newborn. The Professor remained in the mountains, studying plants and reporting of the impact of the East India Company on the states of India. When Ashton was still a young boy, contact with a group of pilgrims exposed the party to cholera, which killed his father and many others in the camp. Sita fled with Ashton and soon witnessed the Sepoy rebellion taking place across the country. She feared Ashton’s Engish pedigree would be discovered and he would be killed. They traveled for years to find a safe place to settle. When Ash was about seven they lived in The Palace of the Winds in Gulkote where Ash was a companion and protector of Lalji, Yuveraj, the crown prince. He was befriended by Kairi-Bai (Anjuli) eldest daughter of the Rajah. Janoo-Bai, current wife of the Rajah and mother of the next son in line to the throne, made several attempts to do away with the crown prince which were averted by Ash. After a time she learned that it was he who had foiled her efforts and was overheard threatening his life. Eleven-year-old Ash and Siti then fled immediately leaving in the middle of the night. Sita was unwell and passed away within a short time, but before doing so, gave Ash the papers and money Ash’s father entrusted her with. He had the papers translated and so learned that his uncle was a member of the Corps of Guides. He made his way to Mardan where they were stationed and learned that his uncle had been killed recently. However, the guides saw to it that he was sent back to England for an education and military training. When he reached nineteen years of age, he returned to India as an officer in the Corps. Shortly afterwards he was AWOL for a time while searching for a member of the guides who had disappeared with weaponry and brought disgrace to his relatives among the guides. Upon his return he was commissioned with escorting two Indian princess brides to their wedding in Bhithor. Ash soon discovered that the eldest of the brides is his childhood companion Anjuli and falls madly in love with her. He is helpless to stop the current course of events and leaves Bhithor saddened, knowing that he must not see Anjuli again. ….. The last part of this novel extrapolates on the fate of the Corps of Guides at the British mission in Kabul during the second Afghan war.
Well, I resisted this book when it first came out . . . so many years ago, and was hyped in all good bookshops. But then a second hand edition came along this year and I succumbed. It really is a thoroughly good read, and much more than a ripping yarn, although there are elements of that, because India during the Raj had elements of ripping yarn all through it. At the end of the book, Kaye explains that almost all the main elements to her story took place somewhere or another. Her family were in "The Guides" and so the language and content have an authenticity that keeps you going through the 1000 or so pages. Is it a five star read up there with War and Peace - well no, but it is a better book than most historical novels and was not easy to part with when finally it ended.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
A patron in her eighties told me this was her favorite book and she had read it several times, so I promised I would read it. She didn’t mention it was 957 pages long! I read the dang thing in under three weeks and it was an engrossing historical fiction epic set in India and Afghanistan in the 1800s. Written in the 70s, so there are some definite whiffs of orientalism, but overall it has it’s heart in the right place. Recommended only for people who have a lot of spare time on their hands and enjoy old fashioned historical adventure fiction.
I typically don't like giving reviews to books I haven't finished, but after attempting this one on and off for 3 years and getting just under halfway through I'm gonna count it. It's disappointing because I was pretty damn positive I was gonna love this one but, alas. It's an interesting concept but it stretches believability at times. Would Indians really look at a European kid, no matter how sun tanned, and think he was indian?? I doubt it. It also doesn't seem to have narrative flow. Even almost halfway in I still feel like I'm just following subplots instead of a real story. The characters are pretty solid but feel far from great. The writing style definitely has some prosaic descriptions of landscape and emotion but not much stands out and the book just feels so damn drawn out I found it to be a slog to keep trying to read. I won't give a star rating since I didn't finish it, but the book certainly let me down.