Scan barcode
A review by mttsndrs
Empires of Sand by David Ball
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. I really enjoyed David Ball's later book Ironfire, but this one didn't appeal to me as much.
I liked the historical anchors in the book: Paris during the Franco-Prussian war, and the ill-fated Flatters Expedition in North Africa. These were real events, illustrated colorfully by the author.
But the story constructed around those events felt a little thin. For one thing, I didn't like the way the characters were drawn very much. They were almost cartoonish in the way they fit their role in the story. The story needed a hero, and Moussa is a nearly flawless hero. The story needed a villain, and central casting supplied Monseigneur Murat, an obese, corrupt, child-molesting priest. They rarely showed development, but when the story called for it, it happened abruptly with the characters undergoing sudden shifts in their personality. They never felt very real to me.
Also, I felt like the non-historical crises were solved too easily. In the end, the good guys prevail without being particularly clever about it, while the bad guys fumble their advantages and leave the door open for their own failure. When all the loose ends wrapped up quickly and neatly in the last 2 chapters, with everyone getting what they deserved, I felt a little unsatisfied.
I liked the historical anchors in the book: Paris during the Franco-Prussian war, and the ill-fated Flatters Expedition in North Africa. These were real events, illustrated colorfully by the author.
But the story constructed around those events felt a little thin. For one thing, I didn't like the way the characters were drawn very much. They were almost cartoonish in the way they fit their role in the story. The story needed a hero, and Moussa is a nearly flawless hero. The story needed a villain, and central casting supplied Monseigneur Murat, an obese, corrupt, child-molesting priest. They rarely showed development, but when the story called for it, it happened abruptly with the characters undergoing sudden shifts in their personality. They never felt very real to me.
Also, I felt like the non-historical crises were solved too easily. In the end, the good guys prevail without being particularly clever about it, while the bad guys fumble their advantages and leave the door open for their own failure. When all the loose ends wrapped up quickly and neatly in the last 2 chapters, with everyone getting what they deserved, I felt a little unsatisfied.