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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked the Tang-inspired world in this. The scenery was always immersive and sounded lovely. There were certain characters I was initially interested in. And then they all just kind of... didn't matter. The main character, unfortunately, I found boring from the start. He is a standard everyman who is in favor of good things and against bad things, but never to such a degree that he expresses any passion one way or another. The one character trait he does seem to have is relentless horniness, but he's relentlessly horny in a kind of genteel and inoffensive way, so that's not even interesting.
I don't know; it's hard for me to rate this because I did enjoy reading it. But by the end, I was very frustrated. When ostensible villains in the capital started being introduced, I was intrigued. I figured they'd develop into interesting, multifaceted characters, but they just kind of were as they seemed to be at first glance. We get told a lot of things about them before we meet them, and then once we do, we find out that, yeah, what we were told upfront is pretty much all there is to them. Then a bunch of stuff happens that our main characters have nothing to do with, and none of the things that could have mattered to Shen Tai and possibly made him interesting develop much at all. Then we get a lot of poetic descriptions about the fates of characters I guess we were supposed to care about.
I probably would have been more interested in the same story told from the point of view of Wen Zhou, Wen Jian, or Roshan. Even the prince, Shinzu. At least then I would feel like I read a story that mattered to the person it was about.
But that said, I REALLY liked the setting, and the prose is pretty good throughout (if sometimes overwrought, particularly in moments that are meant to be emotional but haven't really earned the emotions they're trying to invoke). I'd probably just be happy reading about daily life in Xinan and how households and businesses are run. Or about ghosts in Kuala Nor.
I don't know; it's hard for me to rate this because I did enjoy reading it. But by the end, I was very frustrated. When ostensible villains in the capital started being introduced, I was intrigued. I figured they'd develop into interesting, multifaceted characters, but they just kind of were as they seemed to be at first glance. We get told a lot of things about them before we meet them, and then once we do, we find out that, yeah, what we were told upfront is pretty much all there is to them. Then a bunch of stuff happens that our main characters have nothing to do with, and none of the things that could have mattered to Shen Tai and possibly made him interesting develop much at all. Then we get a lot of poetic descriptions about the fates of characters I guess we were supposed to care about.
I probably would have been more interested in the same story told from the point of view of Wen Zhou, Wen Jian, or Roshan. Even the prince, Shinzu. At least then I would feel like I read a story that mattered to the person it was about.
But that said, I REALLY liked the setting, and the prose is pretty good throughout (if sometimes overwrought, particularly in moments that are meant to be emotional but haven't really earned the emotions they're trying to invoke). I'd probably just be happy reading about daily life in Xinan and how households and businesses are run. Or about ghosts in Kuala Nor.
Ποίηση και "μαγεία" σε ένα ακόμη δείγμα υψηλής ποιότητας γραφής από τον αγαπημένο Kay. Αυτή τη φορά εμπνεέται από το Kitai (Κίνα) και με επιδέξιες βελονιές κεντάει μια όμορφη ιστορία με χρυσή και πορφυρή κλωστή αποωανατολικής αισθητικής και νοοτροπίας.
Οι χαρακτήρες είναι ζωντανοί και με βάθος, η ιστορία όμορφη σε παίρνει και σε βυθίζει μέσα στο ρου των εξιστορουμένων γεγονότων και τα πάθη των πρωταγωνιστών για να σε ανασύρει γοητευμένο στο τέλος. Μπορεί να μη φτάνει τα ύψη του Tigana (που όταν το διαβάζεις πρώτη φορά σε χτυπάει "από το πουθενά" και σε αφήνει "συναισθηματικά κλινήρη", αλλά είναι ένα όμορφο και ώριμο έργο, που -σε πείσμα του έλληνα εκδότη πουτην έγραψε στα πλαδαρά αρχίδια του την αγνόησε- έχει και συνέχεια.
Ένας άνδρας που πενθεί τον πατέρα του, θάβει επί δύο συναποτά έτη στο πεδίο της μάχης τους νεκρούς μιας μεγάλης σύρραξης, όταν έρχεται η απρόσμενη και ολωσδιόλου απροσδόκητη ανταμοιβή του: 250 πολύτιμα άλογα από τα καλύτερα του κόσμου. Η επιστροφή του στην πρωτεύουσα, σε χαμένες αγάπες (όχι τόσο κλισέ όσο ακούγεται) και στις μηχανορραφίας μιας αυλής που έχει αναγάγει την πολιτική σε "χαρά της τυερψιχόρης" κρύβει πόνο, εκπλήξεις και αίμα. Κι αυτή είναι μόνο η αρχή...
Οι χαρακτήρες είναι ζωντανοί και με βάθος, η ιστορία όμορφη σε παίρνει και σε βυθίζει μέσα στο ρου των εξιστορουμένων γεγονότων και τα πάθη των πρωταγωνιστών για να σε ανασύρει γοητευμένο στο τέλος. Μπορεί να μη φτάνει τα ύψη του Tigana (που όταν το διαβάζεις πρώτη φορά σε χτυπάει "από το πουθενά" και σε αφήνει "συναισθηματικά κλινήρη", αλλά είναι ένα όμορφο και ώριμο έργο, που -σε πείσμα του έλληνα εκδότη που
Ένας άνδρας που πενθεί τον πατέρα του, θάβει επί δύο συναποτά έτη στο πεδίο της μάχης τους νεκρούς μιας μεγάλης σύρραξης, όταν έρχεται η απρόσμενη και ολωσδιόλου απροσδόκητη ανταμοιβή του: 250 πολύτιμα άλογα από τα καλύτερα του κόσμου. Η επιστροφή του στην πρωτεύουσα, σε χαμένες αγάπες (όχι τόσο κλισέ όσο ακούγεται) και στις μηχανορραφίας μιας αυλής που έχει αναγάγει την πολιτική σε "χαρά της τυερψιχόρης" κρύβει πόνο, εκπλήξεις και αίμα. Κι αυτή είναι μόνο η αρχή...
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
tense
fast-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
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Definitely my least favourite GGK book so far, which makes me a little sad since Historical China is my favourite setting from all of his books.
This book lacked in pretty much everything.
The characters were just okay, the narrative was well set up but after that it never gained significant thrust to keep me engaged, the whole book moved at a turtle-like pace, even the prose felt a little lacking comparing from say ABLA, a book I recently read.
And the book just didn't relay me that unique sense of place GGK imbues his books with.
It never felt like I was immersed in ancient China.
Is a not so good GGK better than the 99% derivative fast food Fantasy out there?
For sure. But I'm also sure that GGK can do a lot better than this.
This book lacked in pretty much everything.
The characters were just okay, the narrative was well set up but after that it never gained significant thrust to keep me engaged, the whole book moved at a turtle-like pace, even the prose felt a little lacking comparing from say ABLA, a book I recently read.
And the book just didn't relay me that unique sense of place GGK imbues his books with.
It never felt like I was immersed in ancient China.
Is a not so good GGK better than the 99% derivative fast food Fantasy out there?
For sure. But I'm also sure that GGK can do a lot better than this.
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Kay gets to expand his fictional medieval world into China this time around, and it's a neat fictional exploration of the Tang dynasty, with some neat hints of Sardia as well.