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cheekymeeky 's review for:
The Thousand Names
by Django Wexler
I enjoyed this book. The first 200 odd pages are very much like a military campaign, with a lot of details on army maneuvering and tactics, and so on. These sections seem very much inspired by Napoleon’s adventures in Egypt.
I love stories about armies on the move, and of battles won and lost, so I loved this section. I’ve read many non-fiction books on military campaigns, and I have to say Wexler is pretty convincing when he writes about the military.
His writing and dialogues are crisp and on point, and just like how I would imagine soldiers of that time and in that situation would talk.
One of the strongest aspects in this book is the characterization of all the people.
Janus, the Colonel who arrives to take charge of the colonial army, is the most interesting character. He’s eccentric, brilliant, and towards the end of the book shows interesting shades to his personality.
Marcus is quite unusual too. Surprisingly sensitive and realistically written, I have to say that he’s one well-written person. He does some stupid things, but his mistakes stem from his romantic nature and wish to do good.
If there is one disappointment in characterization, it is Winter. Winter is a girl fleeing from her past. She dresses up as a boy and soon does well in the army. I normally tend to dislike girls dressed as boys in books or movies. Very rarely are they convincing enough. And unfortunately, that’s the same here. It’s really hard to believe that girls can get away with it when they are in such close proximity to the men.
Another aspect of the book that made me uncomfortable is the colonial aspect of it. In this book, the Vordanai army is essentially an invader, but at the same time, we are asked to sympathize with their cause, which honestly isn’t sympathetic at all. They are in a foreign country, fighting on behalf of an inept ruler, and in search of something that does not belong to them. So, while I liked the individual characters, I could not sympathize or understand their cause at all.
I had to make a solid effort to ignore this unpleasant aspect of the book. I suspect that in the later books this take on events could change. If it doesn’t though, I will be quite disappointed.
I love stories about armies on the move, and of battles won and lost, so I loved this section. I’ve read many non-fiction books on military campaigns, and I have to say Wexler is pretty convincing when he writes about the military.
His writing and dialogues are crisp and on point, and just like how I would imagine soldiers of that time and in that situation would talk.
One of the strongest aspects in this book is the characterization of all the people.
Janus, the Colonel who arrives to take charge of the colonial army, is the most interesting character. He’s eccentric, brilliant, and towards the end of the book shows interesting shades to his personality.
Marcus is quite unusual too. Surprisingly sensitive and realistically written, I have to say that he’s one well-written person. He does some stupid things, but his mistakes stem from his romantic nature and wish to do good.
If there is one disappointment in characterization, it is Winter. Winter is a girl fleeing from her past. She dresses up as a boy and soon does well in the army. I normally tend to dislike girls dressed as boys in books or movies. Very rarely are they convincing enough. And unfortunately, that’s the same here. It’s really hard to believe that girls can get away with it when they are in such close proximity to the men.
Another aspect of the book that made me uncomfortable is the colonial aspect of it. In this book, the Vordanai army is essentially an invader, but at the same time, we are asked to sympathize with their cause, which honestly isn’t sympathetic at all. They are in a foreign country, fighting on behalf of an inept ruler, and in search of something that does not belong to them. So, while I liked the individual characters, I could not sympathize or understand their cause at all.
I had to make a solid effort to ignore this unpleasant aspect of the book. I suspect that in the later books this take on events could change. If it doesn’t though, I will be quite disappointed.