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cricklewood 's review for:
The Kingdoms
by Natasha Pulley
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Setting/Worldbuilding: 10/10
Main characters: 9/10
Side characters: 9/10
Dialogue: 9/10
Plot: 8/10
Technique: 10/10
Prose: 10/10
Romance: 8/10
Ending: 9/10
Overall enjoyment: 2/10
Total: 84/100 (4.2)
It is a rarity indeed to come across a book whose cover encapsulates the reader's experience so accurately that I would tell anyone interested in reading this to study the cover very closely before deciding if this is the book for them.
The Kingdoms opens with our protagonist, Joe, an English slave in French-colonised England, who appears at a train station with zero recollection or memories. He goes - no, floats - along the plot, trying to discover snippets of himself before losing it all again when he feels he is getting somewhere in self-discovery. He uncovers a postcard addressed to him with a message telling him to "Come home, if you remember. - M" - an utterly implausible act, given that the postcard was dated a hundred years ago. This takes him to a lighthouse in rebel-owned Scotland, only to be flung headfirst to the history-bending story that ensues.
Look, there is no question that this is a brilliant, intelligent book, with a brilliant, intelligent concept, told in brilliant, intelligent prose by a brilliant, intelligent author. It was just ... too brilliant and intelligent for me.
Natasha Pulley's prose is simple and evocative. But page turner this is not. Her writing was deceptive in its simplicity, as the actual story was extremely difficult to follow. You are constantly questioning yourself, slowing down and scanning every word to figure out whether you are struggling because this was intended, or whether this was just you. Another reviewer described the plot as "slippery", flowing past your fingers as you try to grab more of it, and I think that is an accurate description.
Why, you ask? Because from the very beginning things seem to make sense, but then they don't. Dialogues feel like disjointed snippets. The protagonist's thoughts come out of nowhere, seemingly at random, so much so that you are left wondering if this was shoddy editing, whether this was intentional, or whether you had just glossed over two or three vital paragraphs by mistake. Scenes transition in a floaty, clouded and dreamlike way, with words left unsaid and thoughts left disjointed and hanging, almost like a Japanese novel. Except you're not really expressly invited to fill in the blanks, so you are left a little bewildered. Everything feels hazy, with a weird impending feeling of dread, disquieting in the only way a work of horror can be.
Then it struck me that this was utterly intentional: we are made to feel as disoriented as the protagonist, who suffers from memory lapses and whose existence was as confused as the writing itself. That was bloody brilliant, because never have I related to a protagonist more as a result. The protagonist's memory lapses were so seamlessly woven into the "plot lapses" that it felt utterly natural. Very disquieting, very natural.
Natasha Pulley is a technical genius. The only reason the amnesiac quality of her writing worked was because her writing technique was beyond flawless. Her story beats were surgical, and her story structures were set up with scientific precision, punching through the narrational noise (or, in some places, jarring silence) and grabbing us readers before we drift away. The neatness of the novel's structure anchored the story and kept it grounded.
I don't think it is wrong to come in to this story expecting something akin to Outlander or Man in the High Castle. But I would not come in here expecting a "fantasy" in the way we traditionally think of fantasy.
This work is speculative by its very nature, but just because it dons a specfic coat does not make it a fantasy (in my opinion). In soul, this feels closer to literary fiction with a magical realism slant. So go in there expecting that and you'd be well-served.
I don't ... I may ... I ... look, I didn't enjoy this. This is a masterpiece of modern literature, beautifully written, intelligently conceived, ringing with talent. I can see why this received the accolades that it did.
But I'm much more down-to-earth in my reading tastes and I found it a bit too much for me. he way the book was set up left me with a distinct sense of seasickness and hangover throughout, and I'm not sure I enjoy that. My mind was forced to work harder than I wanted it to.
HOWEVER. I will wholeheartedly recommend this to lovers of time-bending concepts, cleverly-designed worlds, and literary fiction with flavours of magical realism. I would not recommend this to lovers of "traditional fantasy" who are looking for a quick, exciting page turner. Or people like me, with more pedestrian tastes.
But if you have read through the above and aren't sure if this one is for you, read it. If all else, this is a book worth reading.
Main characters: 9/10
Side characters: 9/10
Dialogue: 9/10
Plot: 8/10
Technique: 10/10
Prose: 10/10
Romance: 8/10
Ending: 9/10
Overall enjoyment: 2/10
Total: 84/100 (4.2)
It is a rarity indeed to come across a book whose cover encapsulates the reader's experience so accurately that I would tell anyone interested in reading this to study the cover very closely before deciding if this is the book for them.
The Kingdoms opens with our protagonist, Joe, an English slave in French-colonised England, who appears at a train station with zero recollection or memories. He goes - no, floats - along the plot, trying to discover snippets of himself before losing it all again when he feels he is getting somewhere in self-discovery. He uncovers a postcard addressed to him with a message telling him to "Come home, if you remember. - M" - an utterly implausible act, given that the postcard was dated a hundred years ago. This takes him to a lighthouse in rebel-owned Scotland, only to be flung headfirst to the history-bending story that ensues.
Look, there is no question that this is a brilliant, intelligent book, with a brilliant, intelligent concept, told in brilliant, intelligent prose by a brilliant, intelligent author. It was just ... too brilliant and intelligent for me.
Natasha Pulley's prose is simple and evocative. But page turner this is not. Her writing was deceptive in its simplicity, as the actual story was extremely difficult to follow. You are constantly questioning yourself, slowing down and scanning every word to figure out whether you are struggling because this was intended, or whether this was just you. Another reviewer described the plot as "slippery", flowing past your fingers as you try to grab more of it, and I think that is an accurate description.
Why, you ask? Because from the very beginning things seem to make sense, but then they don't. Dialogues feel like disjointed snippets. The protagonist's thoughts come out of nowhere, seemingly at random, so much so that you are left wondering if this was shoddy editing, whether this was intentional, or whether you had just glossed over two or three vital paragraphs by mistake. Scenes transition in a floaty, clouded and dreamlike way, with words left unsaid and thoughts left disjointed and hanging, almost like a Japanese novel. Except you're not really expressly invited to fill in the blanks, so you are left a little bewildered. Everything feels hazy, with a weird impending feeling of dread, disquieting in the only way a work of horror can be.
Then it struck me that this was utterly intentional: we are made to feel as disoriented as the protagonist, who suffers from memory lapses and whose existence was as confused as the writing itself. That was bloody brilliant, because never have I related to a protagonist more as a result. The protagonist's memory lapses were so seamlessly woven into the "plot lapses" that it felt utterly natural. Very disquieting, very natural.
Natasha Pulley is a technical genius. The only reason the amnesiac quality of her writing worked was because her writing technique was beyond flawless. Her story beats were surgical, and her story structures were set up with scientific precision, punching through the narrational noise (or, in some places, jarring silence) and grabbing us readers before we drift away. The neatness of the novel's structure anchored the story and kept it grounded.
I don't think it is wrong to come in to this story expecting something akin to Outlander or Man in the High Castle. But I would not come in here expecting a "fantasy" in the way we traditionally think of fantasy.
This work is speculative by its very nature, but just because it dons a specfic coat does not make it a fantasy (in my opinion). In soul, this feels closer to literary fiction with a magical realism slant. So go in there expecting that and you'd be well-served.
I don't ... I may ... I ... look, I didn't enjoy this. This is a masterpiece of modern literature, beautifully written, intelligently conceived, ringing with talent. I can see why this received the accolades that it did.
But I'm much more down-to-earth in my reading tastes and I found it a bit too much for me. he way the book was set up left me with a distinct sense of seasickness and hangover throughout, and I'm not sure I enjoy that. My mind was forced to work harder than I wanted it to.
HOWEVER. I will wholeheartedly recommend this to lovers of time-bending concepts, cleverly-designed worlds, and literary fiction with flavours of magical realism. I would not recommend this to lovers of "traditional fantasy" who are looking for a quick, exciting page turner. Or people like me, with more pedestrian tastes.
But if you have read through the above and aren't sure if this one is for you, read it. If all else, this is a book worth reading.