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A review by hulttio
Blue and Gold by K.J. Parker
3.0
As always, Saloninus’s exploits are wonderful to read. I saw the sequel book, The Devil You Know, in the library last year and read it in one sitting; it was so delightful and compelling. This is the original story, and it does have a lot of the same magic and ambience as its sequel. You’ve got an unreliable narrator who blows things out of proportion and gives you a haphazard sequence of events that may or may not be related… and throughout it all, you get glimpses of who Saloninus really is. Or do you?
As usual, the true undercurrents of the novella don’t reveal themselves until the very end, but the long setup is worth it. Parker has a great hand for detailing the setting and landscape in a very mesmerizing way; the world he builds feels real, like you’re an old college chum of Saloninus. It’s not overdone, and the details of the worldbuilding are just enough to help you get through the story. Parker also makes great efforts to detail processes of alchemy, a lot of which flew over my head, but aren’t too important in understanding the overall plot (aside from a few lines here and there). Aside from those dense portions, it was an easy and enjoyable read.
I should reread the sequel again, now that I understand where Saloninus came from better. I’m also excited to eventually read the third book. It’s always interesting to see how an author develops a morally grey and not necessarily ‘good’ protagonist. When you take the unconventional characters and add in a dash or two of medieval style worldbuilding, you get something that is right up my alley. Oh, and there are some fantastic one-liners and quotes…
‘A wise man once said that any human being is capable of infinite achievement, so long as it’s not the work they’re supposed to be doing.’
‘I take the view that we’re the sum of everything that happens to us, good and bad. It’s an alchemist’s interpretation, of course, seeing people as a compilation of ingredients combined and acted on by processes. The implication is, if you leave out one of the ingredients, even if, particularly if, it’s unstable or noxious, you get a different result.’
‘If there’s a hell, I truly believe, it’s getting exactly what you’ve always wanted.’
‘The longer you think about truth and wisdom, the more clearly you come to understand that they’re figments of the imagination; and what does that leave?’
As usual, the true undercurrents of the novella don’t reveal themselves until the very end, but the long setup is worth it. Parker has a great hand for detailing the setting and landscape in a very mesmerizing way; the world he builds feels real, like you’re an old college chum of Saloninus. It’s not overdone, and the details of the worldbuilding are just enough to help you get through the story. Parker also makes great efforts to detail processes of alchemy, a lot of which flew over my head, but aren’t too important in understanding the overall plot (aside from a few lines here and there). Aside from those dense portions, it was an easy and enjoyable read.
I should reread the sequel again, now that I understand where Saloninus came from better. I’m also excited to eventually read the third book. It’s always interesting to see how an author develops a morally grey and not necessarily ‘good’ protagonist. When you take the unconventional characters and add in a dash or two of medieval style worldbuilding, you get something that is right up my alley. Oh, and there are some fantastic one-liners and quotes…
‘A wise man once said that any human being is capable of infinite achievement, so long as it’s not the work they’re supposed to be doing.’
‘I take the view that we’re the sum of everything that happens to us, good and bad. It’s an alchemist’s interpretation, of course, seeing people as a compilation of ingredients combined and acted on by processes. The implication is, if you leave out one of the ingredients, even if, particularly if, it’s unstable or noxious, you get a different result.’
‘If there’s a hell, I truly believe, it’s getting exactly what you’ve always wanted.’
‘The longer you think about truth and wisdom, the more clearly you come to understand that they’re figments of the imagination; and what does that leave?’