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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
This is a very well-written, epic historical fiction novel. There's a love scene, long heart-wrenching relationships of every kind, court intrigue, espionage, religious commentary, and geopolitics. The history is exceptional and carefully researched.
The structure is off-putting because it shifts focus. Each of the books within it is quite different, and the decades-long writing process shows in this. I would have preferred each book to have had an explicitly different main character. Ash is nominally the main character, but is only central to the first few. He is also overly generic, presumably to have him shift between many roles. I regret that the more interesting character of Anjuli is present for so little of the novel, and apparently forgotten for the last 200 pages.
The theme is surprising:
I'm impressed at the sensitivity and cultural understanding shown for the nearly impossible task of depicting situations in which nobody is truly virtuous or right.
There's a lot more war than peace, let alone love, in the novel. The battle scenes are electrifying and that solitary love scene is bodice-ripper steamy. The depictions of endless travel across the region are beautiful.
Having read several other novels by Kaye, I'm certain that she knows Ash is immature and jerk most of the time (which, given the situation and the fact that he's a teenager with no role models most of the time...is pretty realistic). Although from those other novels, she does like slightly cruel and borderline misogynist leading men. She is also quite clearly anti-colonialist as well as equally opposed to religious bigotry from anyone. In general, believe that most of the things various modern readers might find offensive in the novel are shown that way intentionally to provoke disgust, and that Kaye was a woman well ahead of her time in calling out these excesses. Several of her other books have clearly feminist and modern viewpoints, even close to half a century after their publication. So, I find this to have aged very well.
The structure is off-putting because it shifts focus. Each of the books within it is quite different, and the decades-long writing process shows in this. I would have preferred each book to have had an explicitly different main character. Ash is nominally the main character, but is only central to the first few. He is also overly generic, presumably to have him shift between many roles. I regret that the more interesting character of Anjuli is present for so little of the novel, and apparently forgotten for the last 200 pages.
The theme is surprising:
Spoiler
it is better to live nobly and bravely by your own culture's stupidly xenophobic ideas than to strive for true fairness and understanding. Ash becomes increasingly obnoxious. In contrast, the British, Muslims, and Hindus are often shown to to have horrifying ideas, but be noble, self-sacrificing, and brave in following them. (The Sikhs are portrayed solely as noble soldiers.)I'm impressed at the sensitivity and cultural understanding shown for the nearly impossible task of depicting situations in which nobody is truly virtuous or right.
There's a lot more war than peace, let alone love, in the novel. The battle scenes are electrifying and that solitary love scene is bodice-ripper steamy. The depictions of endless travel across the region are beautiful.
Having read several other novels by Kaye, I'm certain that she knows Ash is immature and jerk most of the time (which, given the situation and the fact that he's a teenager with no role models most of the time...is pretty realistic). Although from those other novels, she does like slightly cruel and borderline misogynist leading men. She is also quite clearly anti-colonialist as well as equally opposed to religious bigotry from anyone. In general, believe that most of the things various modern readers might find offensive in the novel are shown that way intentionally to provoke disgust, and that Kaye was a woman well ahead of her time in calling out these excesses. Several of her other books have clearly feminist and modern viewpoints, even close to half a century after their publication. So, I find this to have aged very well.
On the whole a great story that truly sparks the imagination. On the down side, at least for me, the book suffers from a lack of merciless editing. There are great parts that are a real page turner but these are interspersed by long and and incredibly boring sections where I found myself scanning and turning pages in order to arrive at the next good part. All-in-all this 1000 page novel is actually about 400 of really good reading.
This is a big novel, part romantic fantasy and part a gritty history of invasion and war. It has to be big, to combine the two. Historically, it’s fascinating and very real. Romantically, it’s pleasurable and escapist, with dashing heroes and rescued princesses. It never gets overly sentimental, and the writing is both precise and dynamic. The close description of a suttee chilled me to the bone.
What holds the history and the fantasy together is a detailed understanding of India and Afghanistan, and of Britain’s relationships with these two countries in the late 19th century. The relationships between many religions, practiced by people living at close quarters with each other, is an ongoing theme of this novel. It’s really about the intersections between cultures. The geography of this novel is amazing too, beautifully and lovingly described.
What holds the history and the fantasy together is a detailed understanding of India and Afghanistan, and of Britain’s relationships with these two countries in the late 19th century. The relationships between many religions, practiced by people living at close quarters with each other, is an ongoing theme of this novel. It’s really about the intersections between cultures. The geography of this novel is amazing too, beautifully and lovingly described.
Fun insights into living as an Indian during the Raj, the position of the British. Way too long spent on the battle in Afghanistan. We get it in the first couple of pages, but it goes on and on. First 2/3 of the book are the best.
When this book is good, it is *so* good. On the edge of your seat, unputdownable good. The middle of this book literally raised my hair!
But it's a long one. I skimmed the last quarter because the author just seems to give up. She switches subjects from India to Afghanistan, from suttee to a massacre in a British Mission. The tone of the book changes for the worse and I was bored of the detailed descriptions of the location. I understand that Kaye is drawing on the experiences of her grandfather, to whom the events happened, but I think she found it a bit more interesting than I did.
But it's a long one. I skimmed the last quarter because the author just seems to give up. She switches subjects from India to Afghanistan, from suttee to a massacre in a British Mission. The tone of the book changes for the worse and I was bored of the detailed descriptions of the location. I understand that Kaye is drawing on the experiences of her grandfather, to whom the events happened, but I think she found it a bit more interesting than I did.
An amazing saga of an Indian boy raised by an English father, the conflicts and perspective this brings to his life in Britain-controlled India.
Okay this book is 49 hours on audio and when I got to the end thought "What? That's IT?" It felt a little abrupt. You would think at that point I'd be like "WRAP IT UP, KAYE" but I was left wanting more. In a good way.
I remember liking this a lot...but I can't remember any details about it. I recall I was working at Waldensbooks that summer and this was one of my favorites of my reading list. Jade Moon was another winner in that stack.
adventurous
emotional
adventurous
emotional
informative
tense
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I loved this. It's written by someone who knew and loved India, and the wealth of detail comes across throughout the book. The prickly leading character, Ash, a maverick Indian Army officer in Victorian times, is intriguing, the character development is good, and the story of the romance, the intrigue, the perils and deaths are all excellently handled. I just wish she had written more novels. I've read this one several times now and it's still capable of being an absorbing and enjoyable read.