User Profile

The narrator is a North Vietnamese mole in the South Vietnamese army who later becomes a refugee in the United States

Sympathetic to the bravery of his adversaries that he has infiltrated; neither fully comfortable as a Vietnamese or European through his father; committed to his communist ideologies but privately preferring the relative comforts of California... he struggles to understand where he fits in, and what he believes

Nguyen is quite open about the ugly undersides of everyone involved in the "American War", as it was called in Viet Nam. There is a lot of heavy sarcasm on these pages, but don't be misled that this is a "funny" book

There's really no way to add spoilers to this one - the description blurb tells you most of what actually happens in the story.

But it doesn't explain the near-perfect build up of confusion from the two main characters as they try to make sense of what is happening around them, the outdoorsmanship they display that isn't full of author mistakes, and the timed blending of back story about how they became the best friends we see now as they navigate their crisis together

There are so many things I liked about the writing, aside from the story itself.

The main character, Lila, is realistic in the decisions and issues she faces and how she handles them.

The characters are believable and well-developed.

The story is about Indians living in India - but it doesn't let the "exotic location" take over. No purple prose or irrelevant detail. The story stays sharp and focused.

All of this pulls a long-ish novel (448pp) along at a steady pace and never lets you grow bored with the story.

An amazing first novel!

Think Leonard Elmore novels, or "The Mexican"

Fast-paced, believable, interesting characters, good twists.

Great rainy day read

The blurb above really tells most of what the story is about - a young man given his first command, and coming of age by learning to deal with disaster

Anyone who likes Conrad will enjoy this.

As a side note - this story avoids any of the "that's how they thought back then" issues that some of his other books contain.

Based on Roman-era times & empire building, a long, "family saga" style story (except it really focuses on one main character)

Interesting in that it focused not so much on the military but rather the way money makes the world go round, and oversees the rise and fall of nations

I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the story and the twists. I thought it could have been edited down a little bit; I was starting to wonder in the middle if I should finish, but was well rewarded for doing so.

I'm not sure I found his sister's deep-hatred completely believable, and wonder if it was a part that could have been left out and not change the story too deeply, but perhaps I nitpick

Without spoiling, I would mention that this is 512 pages long...and then just sort of stops and doesn't really give you a feel for what the "big problem" is that you'll want to see battled against in the next volume. So a little dissatisfaction with that.

I did enjoy the way the author played with the timeline, the different voices used, and the pairing of characters that kept me from being confused about who was who

The world-building was great - it supplied just enough "weird land" to be unusual, but really it was focused on the different groups of people and how they viewed and interacted with one another.

If this is your favorite genre and you don't mind feeling the need to finish the series, you'll enjoy.

I love when authors find unique and clever ways to tell ancient history, and this one does wonderfully!

The message isn't subtle, but still makes you reflect, and the choice of plays adds a deeper level of understanding to it all.

Depressing in its own way, but leaves you with hope that people can rise above the petty and hateful.

Because there isn't one.

But if you enjoy relaxing with poetical language, thinking about our planet and the power and beauty of it, you'll enjoy.

A harsh - but deserved - look at today's American prison system, through the lens of a near-future "light" sci-fi setting

Adjei-Brenyah did an excellent job of bringing the characters to life and turning them into people fighting a rigged system that doesn't view them that way