Lukan Gardova is a cardsharp, academy dropout, and―thanks to a duel that ended badly―the disgraced …
a «volkov family»? omfg. you did not need any fscking russian motives in a fantasy published in 2024, you've got a shitload of other clichés to pick from and still you insist?
i will never understand this fascination wirh the deeply derivative, inhumane, soaked in blood russian «culture» that most westerners can't help exhibiting again and again.
An astonishing, hotly anticipated new novel from the great literary fantasist and creator of Thursday …
Quite Heavy
5 stars
Fforde can be like Adams, Fforde can be like Orwell. Extremely powerful worldbuilding and writing in the expedition part. I was shocked and felt very strong emotions.
Quote of the book, in line with my personal history:
'No one's ever liked me before, she said, 'so you'll excuse me for
becoming suspicious.'
'Jabez liked you.'
'Jabez liked my nose.'
'I like your nose.'
'Yes, but you don't only like my nose. There's a big difference.'
The Bookworld's leading enforcement officer, Thursday Next, has been forced into semiretirement following an assassination attempt. When Thursday's former SpecOps …
The Bookworld's leading enforcement officer, Thursday Next, has been forced into semiretirement following an assassination …
Removes any questions if Fforde is a communist.
5 stars
And yet, a five star from me.
Is he naive and too fascinated by russia? Yes, but so are most westerners.
Can I certainly say that he read das kapital / communist manifesto? No. But then again, even those who did in the west don't have a lived experience of communism, so I empathise with them falling for barely grounded populism.
And even yet it's a great book! Perhaps the best in the series. It's weird at every corner, includes scrupulous worldbuilding and a ton of calculations. And while we may have the opposite ideas about marxism, we do share unapologetic and relentless sense of anticapitalism. Which, under western labels makes me an intersectional communist, I guess, but western labels can sod off!
Anyway, the book is FUN. The characters are WEIRD. Fforde is an amazing writer.
If you crave Douglas Adams, but ran out, and don't want to make …
And yet, a five star from me.
Is he naive and too fascinated by russia? Yes, but so are most westerners.
Can I certainly say that he read das kapital / communist manifesto? No. But then again, even those who did in the west don't have a lived experience of communism, so I empathise with them falling for barely grounded populism.
And even yet it's a great book! Perhaps the best in the series. It's weird at every corner, includes scrupulous worldbuilding and a ton of calculations. And while we may have the opposite ideas about marxism, we do share unapologetic and relentless sense of anticapitalism. Which, under western labels makes me an intersectional communist, I guess, but western labels can sod off!
Anyway, the book is FUN. The characters are WEIRD. Fforde is an amazing writer.
If you crave Douglas Adams, but ran out, and don't want to make a run to the book store, you can always rely on Fforde to deliver!