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books_are_nice_and_enjoyable's Reviews (257)
I had expected some sort of twist at the end and I had multiple ideas along the way as to how Sanderson might have chosen to end this, but I had not even considered Sanderson's choice. A clever little book.
Not really long/detailed enough to really have much of an emotional impact, but given the format this is a fine book.
The book is well written, but it was at times a tough book to read - there are a lot of bad outcomes included in this book, a lot of dead patients.
"Pottery is an archaeologist's dream"
...
The book is not just about pottery. There's also stuff about coins, 2000 year old graffiti, roof tiles, barbarian invasions and civil wars, military treaties, tax policies, slavery, ice cap studies, plagues, ...
And it includes some very important insights that may also deserve consideration today, e.g. related to topics such as the risks associated with increasing societal complexity and migration patterns and their consequences.
I read the book some years ago and I decided I wanted to reread it because it's just a brilliant book. It's still brilliant.
...
The book is not just about pottery. There's also stuff about coins, 2000 year old graffiti, roof tiles, barbarian invasions and civil wars, military treaties, tax policies, slavery, ice cap studies, plagues, ...
And it includes some very important insights that may also deserve consideration today, e.g. related to topics such as the risks associated with increasing societal complexity and migration patterns and their consequences.
I read the book some years ago and I decided I wanted to reread it because it's just a brilliant book. It's still brilliant.
A quote from the postscript:
"It's not something we see enough in fantasy - people with jobs that are suited to the specific style of worldbuilding done in the story. For years, I've wanted to write a book focusing on the everyday duties of people who had a job in a fantasy world. A job that - to them - was normal, but which would seeem strange to us as readers."
This aspect, in combination with the romantic dimension he also touches upon in the postscript, makes this book work. It's slow to get started and it's somewhat dark and oppressive given the setting, but it needs to be in order for that particular story to be told.
It's a very fine book.
"It's not something we see enough in fantasy - people with jobs that are suited to the specific style of worldbuilding done in the story. For years, I've wanted to write a book focusing on the everyday duties of people who had a job in a fantasy world. A job that - to them - was normal, but which would seeem strange to us as readers."
This aspect, in combination with the romantic dimension he also touches upon in the postscript, makes this book work. It's slow to get started and it's somewhat dark and oppressive given the setting, but it needs to be in order for that particular story to be told.
It's a very fine book.
