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chalkletters's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Evil for Evil tries to be just as clever and complex as Devices and Desiresbut fails to sustain the attempt for the full 730 pages. This is most notable in the character of Duke Valens, who was a staggeringly able leader of his duchy, completely on top of details and second only to Ziani Vaatzes in terms of long-term planning. In Evil for Evil, Valens consistency loses track key characters, motivations and plot points. K J Parker deliberately sends him on a downwards trajectory of competence, but even within the first quarter of the book he asks questions which have been answered in previous conversations. It reads like sloppy editing, rather than intention.
During the middle of the book, there’s quite a lot of meandering around, characters needing to get to places and accomplish plot goals, but little motivation for anyone other than Ziani. Miel Ducas’ aimless drifting is justified within the text in ways that make sense, but aren’t especially entertaining to read about. Similarly, Lucao Psellus’s conversations with Ariessa don’t really accomplish all that much. The reader hopes all this will pay off in the third book, when Ziani’s complicated plot is finally revealed in full, but even so, Evil for Evil on its own doesn’t have nearly as much going for it as Devices and Desires.
Even the significant character deaths have little emotional impact, because everyone is so completely detached from one another. Couples who are supposed to be in love barely exchange more words than couples married purely for politics. Like Devices and Desires, it’s all very mechanical, and Evil for Evil has al the same problems the first book did in terms of prose and female characters. Devices and Desires was tight and compelling enough to overcome those obstacles. Evil for Evil feels like everyone is losing the plot, including real-world entities like the book’s editor and audience.
For all that, I didn’t hate reading it, it just didn’t live up to my expectations. It will be interesting to see whether book three is able to make amends.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, War, Death, Rape, Violence, and Blood
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