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A review by gorgonine
The Thousand Names by Django Wexler
4.0
Plot:
Military intervention in faux-Arabia, with an added dose of magical archeology. Or is it grave robbing? I can't tell.
Thoughts:
1. So uhm. I really do like military stories. But this book helped me draw clear demarcations between the type of military fiction I actually adore and the one where I’m mostly just along for the ride.
2. And here’s the embarrassing bit- I like certain military stories (The Way of Kings, Monstrous Regiment) for the same reason I like sports stories. It’s all about the ensemble. Of people coming together and relying on teamwork and sweat and innovation to overcome impossible odds. That’s the kind of thing that completely bypasses the logic parts of my brain and goes directly to the hippocampus where I have a lot of irrationally strong Feelings.
3. The parts narrated by Winter is exactly that- Winter escaped an Orphanage from Hell and snuck herself into the army where she discovers that she has an affinity for not letting the men under her command be mistreated and/or die. Her narrative is one of how large-scale conflicts affects the footsoldiers, and her character motivation is keeping as many of said footsoldiers alive for as long as possible. I can get behind that. I have no choice but to get behind that, because my brain has latches on to such plots like a clingy octopus and I have no way of pulling myself free.
4. The Janus bits, on the other hand… uh. Hmm.
5. The parts where Janus methodically uses a bunch of newly recruited soldiers and a lot of tricks (tactics, semantics) to conquer the desert rebels is very cerebral. It’s political (which I like), involved finding hidden magic (good) and it’s theoretically interesting, but I don’t have an emotional attachment to it. I think part of it stems from how I can’t get over the fact that Janus’ maneuvering affects Winter’s footsoldiers. And all of the other footsoldiers. When the two stories are in juxtaposition, feeling strongly about one seems to require being emotionally removed from the other, at least for me.
6. Not to digress into a rendition of “War? What is it god for?” but… look. Janus? A politically ambitious little bitch too smart for his own good. I like him, I really do. I love my little bitches. But the fact remains that at the end of the day he’s interfering in the affairs of another nation to put a drunken, spoiled sot on the throne, while also killing thousands of people in the process. Now this is offset a little by the rebels being murderous religious fanatics who are pretty terrible to the people they are usurping(is it just me or does this whole situation sound eerily familiar?), but that’s a band-aid, not proper wound dressing.
7. This could have been fine, you know. If we stuck around in quasi-Arabia for another book or so, to explore the political consequences of military intervention. However, we then get back to the political minefields of the country doing the intervention which… hmm. As excited as I am to see Janus work in a mileu where he does a little less collateral damage, the abrupt shift was a bit disorienting and more akin to a new book altogether (new setting, new conflict) than a sequel. I’ll get back to it eventually, but I need to let this one fade a little so I can give it a fair chance.
Verdict: It’s a good story! But I am a touchy, touchy little bitch and I have Issues with the perceived themes.
Military intervention in faux-Arabia, with an added dose of magical archeology. Or is it grave robbing? I can't tell.
Thoughts:
1. So uhm. I really do like military stories. But this book helped me draw clear demarcations between the type of military fiction I actually adore and the one where I’m mostly just along for the ride.
2. And here’s the embarrassing bit- I like certain military stories (The Way of Kings, Monstrous Regiment) for the same reason I like sports stories. It’s all about the ensemble. Of people coming together and relying on teamwork and sweat and innovation to overcome impossible odds. That’s the kind of thing that completely bypasses the logic parts of my brain and goes directly to the hippocampus where I have a lot of irrationally strong Feelings.
3. The parts narrated by Winter is exactly that- Winter escaped an Orphanage from Hell and snuck herself into the army where she discovers that she has an affinity for not letting the men under her command be mistreated and/or die. Her narrative is one of how large-scale conflicts affects the footsoldiers, and her character motivation is keeping as many of said footsoldiers alive for as long as possible. I can get behind that. I have no choice but to get behind that, because my brain has latches on to such plots like a clingy octopus and I have no way of pulling myself free.
4. The Janus bits, on the other hand… uh. Hmm.
5. The parts where Janus methodically uses a bunch of newly recruited soldiers and a lot of tricks (tactics, semantics) to conquer the desert rebels is very cerebral. It’s political (which I like), involved finding hidden magic (good) and it’s theoretically interesting, but I don’t have an emotional attachment to it. I think part of it stems from how I can’t get over the fact that Janus’ maneuvering affects Winter’s footsoldiers. And all of the other footsoldiers. When the two stories are in juxtaposition, feeling strongly about one seems to require being emotionally removed from the other, at least for me.
6. Not to digress into a rendition of “War? What is it god for?” but… look. Janus? A politically ambitious little bitch too smart for his own good. I like him, I really do. I love my little bitches. But the fact remains that at the end of the day he’s interfering in the affairs of another nation to put a drunken, spoiled sot on the throne, while also killing thousands of people in the process. Now this is offset a little by the rebels being murderous religious fanatics who are pretty terrible to the people they are usurping
7. This could have been fine, you know. If we stuck around in quasi-Arabia for another book or so, to explore the political consequences of military intervention. However, we then get back to the political minefields of the country doing the intervention which… hmm. As excited as I am to see Janus work in a mileu where he does a little less collateral damage, the abrupt shift was a bit disorienting and more akin to a new book altogether (new setting, new conflict) than a sequel. I’ll get back to it eventually, but I need to let this one fade a little so I can give it a fair chance.
Verdict: It’s a good story! But I am a touchy, touchy little bitch and I have Issues with the perceived themes.