Am I a terrible person who simply buying books because they have a pretty cover? Because that is definitely what happened here. I regret nothing, because it was nothing short of amazing.
It was a thick novel, but I have never been a girl to back down from such a challenge (I did read "Snow and Ashes" which, in Swedish, is over 1200 pages. IN HARDBACK.) so it merely excited me. Of course the thing that excited me the most was the cover.
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| How can you say no to this? |
It is shiny, my friends. SHINY.
My copy had a very short caption about the plot, which meant I went into it with basically no background knowledge at all. (This is more than I knew when I bought it.) Without spoiling you, my dear readers, I will merely tell you the novel is about three special characters, Doctor Svenson, a physician, the sweet and marvelous Miss Tempe, a young woman who wants to know why her fiance left her and the mysterious Cardinal Chang, a hired killer.
Together, though with very different intents, they form a sort of alliance and meet all kind of strange people on their way.
I think what I loved the most about this novel was the well-worked characters. While Miss Temple could be bloody and locked in a room, she could still be excited about the return of her green footwear. This, I really felt, defined her as a character and it helped making her feel real to the reader. Before the start of the novel she was simply a sweet girl who, while with a rather unordinary childhood, was still a lady.
Cardinal Chang has horrible experiences in his past, and despite his career of murdering you cannot help but to like him. He has honor, something I guess we all look for in a man.
Doctor Svenson is interesting. At first I disliked him, not quite understanding how he could play a large part in this novel. He felt clumsy, annoying and his apparent lack of care for the prince simple bothered me. I don't know when that changed, but before I knew it, I cared if he got hurt and I was excited to read the chapters about him.
This was actually quite an interesting concept of a novel, as most of the chapters are simply about one of these characters. It definitey made it a page-turner as you couldn't wait to find out what happened to Miss Temple while you were reading about the Cardinal, and vise versa when you were at another chapter. The literature student in me wish to call this a clever literary device, and so I did.
I loved the language of the novel, for the author managed to get the voice of the characters spot on. I remember reading novels where all the characters were speaking in the same voice, with no distinction what so ever between them. I also love the scenery which I felt was wonderfully described in just the perfect way. The settings were amazing, with hotels, brothels, basements and at one point... even a Zeppelin.
I honestly cannot find a bad thing about this novel, and I would definitely recommend it so anyone who is in search of an absolutely amazing novel. I don't think I have anything more to say now. I will however return to you when I find the sequel I did not know exist.
I am currently (starting the third paragraph with an "I") reading "the Spirit Rebellion" which is the second novel in the Eli Monpress series, if you remember. I simply love these novels, but I don't think I will write a review until I finish the tree published ones. I think this will happen as soon as I finish these blasted essays I need to hand it.
Suggestions are always appreciated!
EDIT: Apparently my teacher has read both novels and liked them very much. Perhaps you didn't need to know this, but I thought I'd let you know anyway.
This novel can be bought from Amazon HERE, but I suggest supporting your independent book-store if you can!
1 comments:
you should do movie reviews also, like on the king's speech. Or on True Grit when we have seen it
I will also try to read The Glass Books, but maybe in the summer :P
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