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ullsi's review
2.0
2,5.
In times like these, when it sometimes (or often) feels like the world is about to end, I liked reading stories about the Empire being rebuilt again and again and again, or of cities changing beyond recognition but still keeping elements of the past in them. However, I wasn’t always a fan of the meandering style of narration, and some of the stories didn’t really catch my interest.
In times like these, when it sometimes (or often) feels like the world is about to end, I liked reading stories about the Empire being rebuilt again and again and again, or of cities changing beyond recognition but still keeping elements of the past in them. However, I wasn’t always a fan of the meandering style of narration, and some of the stories didn’t really catch my interest.
timbo001's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thehardcoverhabit's review against another edition
5.0
Kalpa Imperial is a collection of short stories, all set in the same imaginary empire but none overlapping or even referencing each other (though I may have missed some nuance). Normally I’m not a fan of short stories, but these don’t suffer from tonal shifts in the way that other collections of short stories might; instead, they explore similar themes of power, ambition, and human struggle against the backdrop of an empire that never ends. The style brings to mind Scheherazade meets Borges, and those who enjoy that Argentine master’s work will likely enjoy Kalpa Imperial as well.
The stories are categorized as fantasy, but neither magic nor gods make an appearance. Instead, the stories bring to mind the fables and legends underlying the great empires of our world, from Homer’s Iliad to the founding myth of Rome. But I think any fantasy fan would very much enjoy Kalpa Imperial, and I’d encourage you to give it a shot.
The stories are categorized as fantasy, but neither magic nor gods make an appearance. Instead, the stories bring to mind the fables and legends underlying the great empires of our world, from Homer’s Iliad to the founding myth of Rome. But I think any fantasy fan would very much enjoy Kalpa Imperial, and I’d encourage you to give it a shot.
lindy_b's review
2.0
I understand what would motivate someone to write a book like this, and I understand the themes and the type of commentary Gorodischer is developing, and I even understand why Le Guin chose to translate it, but honestly I was so bored the whole time.
andrewthegriffin's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
motifenjoyer's review
mysterious
4.0
"Long is the history of the Empire, very long, so long that a whole life dedicated to study and research isn’t enough to know it wholly. There are names, events, years, centuries that remain dark, that are recorded in some folio of some archive waiting for some memory to rescue them or some storyteller bring them back to life, in a tent like this, for people like you, who’ll go back home thinking about what you heard and look at your children with pride and a little sadness... The history of the Empire is strewn with surprises, contradictions, abysses, deaths, resurrections."
misty_kb's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Misogyny and Racism
mireiaaaaaa3's review against another edition
4.0
Una de les coses més meravelloses que he llegit en molt de temps, encara que ho he hagut de fer a poc a poc perquè en alguns moments se'm feia un pèl dens.
ostrava's review
3.0
A fairly obscure and relatively unknown work of fantasy (because apparently I can’t be bothered to read more classics first). As is the case with other books that may spring to mind while reading Kalpa Imperial (the Silmarillion for instance), the stories found here are often about time and its influence.
It’s got some interesting touches of anti-imperialism and a Buddhist conception of death that I found well-fitting with the tone and content of the stories, at times reminding me of Le Guin’s work (who, apparently, served as a translator for some of these tales). But I can’t help but feel as if there was, in a parallel dimension of sorts, a better version of this anthology. More polished, more emotional… just more.
Generally, it felt like a really long Borges story fragmented into multiple unrelated narratives (minus the puzzling symbolism and capacity for synthesis that is). And it… I don’t know, never quite gets that far either?
It should have been more compelling. But it’s not entirely bad either, would at least recommend checking it out.
It’s got some interesting touches of anti-imperialism and a Buddhist conception of death that I found well-fitting with the tone and content of the stories, at times reminding me of Le Guin’s work (who, apparently, served as a translator for some of these tales). But I can’t help but feel as if there was, in a parallel dimension of sorts, a better version of this anthology. More polished, more emotional… just more.
Generally, it felt like a really long Borges story fragmented into multiple unrelated narratives (minus the puzzling symbolism and capacity for synthesis that is). And it… I don’t know, never quite gets that far either?
It should have been more compelling. But it’s not entirely bad either, would at least recommend checking it out.