clownface's reviews
77 reviews

The negative first:
- as a lot of others have said, the dialogue can get a little hard to follow. There are a lot of characters, and there's a LOT of dialogue, and very few "(character) said"s. However, for me, this was only an impediment to reading two or three times, and only led to actual "need to reread that page" confusion just once. Also, admittedly, a lot of the characters talk similar to each other; however, I found this to be less and less of a problem as the book went on.
- if you're sensitive to graphic violence (including sexual violence), don't pick up this book. Some other reviews here imply that the author must have only included violence as some weird fetish - that's simply not true. If you have any real reading comprehension skills, it's pretty apparent that the author very very strongly disapproves of the violence. It's only ever depicted as ugly, shameful, terrifying, and disgusting - never as something to be celebrated or jacked off to.

Okay, now the positive!
- The writing style is absolutely intoxicating. It's clearly heavily inspired by traditional African storytelling methods, with nonlinear narratives, rich descriptions, and a strong emphasis on dialogue. There were times I would reread a passage just to experience it again. It's poetically dense.
- Additionally, the story takes narrative risks I've never seen another novel do. Our main plot is resolved a solid 150 pages before the end of the book, but the story continues. It's a pretty deliberate send-up of the idea of a tidy, neat narrative. While I haven't read the sequel yet, I'm incredibly excited to - it seems like it also elaborates on the themes of narration that I enjoyed so much here.
- Tracker is one of the most fully realized characters I've ever read about. His introduction to the audience is self-confident, assured, and self-possessed - and yet, there's more to him. The way he thinks of himself is constantly being challenged by other characters, and by the end of the book, we understand that there's so much more to him as a person than he would let us believe.
- Other characters, I actually found incredibly likeable as well. Everyone is a complex, complete human being, in a way that few other fantasy novels even attempt.

And the neutral:
- While reading this book, I kept being reminded of D&D. So much of the narrative feels a lot like D&D to me. This isn't a good or a bad thing, but honestly, if you have experience with the conventions of a fantasy tabletop game, then this book will seem really similar to you in that way too.

So, final thoughts:
- It took me a really long time to get through this book - about 2 months, off and on. However, that's not because I was bored or uninterested. It's because I wanted to savor this book as long as I could.
- If you get lost, just keep reading. The narrative is nonlinear, but there is a central plot (the quest to find the boy) that occupies most of the reading time. Also, Marlon James is clearly aware that this book is gonna be way too dense for the average reader: he includes, in the narrative, multiple recaps, in the form of griot songs, stories told to others, or dialogue.
- I have so many more thoughts. It's an incredible book. The worldbuilding is luscious! Inspired by African (and African diaspora) mythology, yet not afraid to create original ideas when needed! It's so good! I guess my note, if you want to read this, and don't like not knowing things, is browse some wikipedia pages on African myths before you pick it up.

I read this in (basically) one sitting. It's fundamentally a very small story - a family's house is burned down. But Ng details every relevant piece of information up to the point, flitting from character to character rapidly without ever leaving me confused. Even minor, one-scene characters are fleshed-out, achingly real people. The perspectives showcased are diverse, provocative, and emotional. Fundamentally, this book is about communication - the gap between how two people see the same event. It's really good. 

Edit: After some reflection, I've realized that I think the ending is a teensy bit, how do you say... cringe. Still good, but just a little silly, to me.

 very competently written, interesting bit of history i didn't know about at all, and yes it DID make me cry. very human 

incredibly interesting concept! i think the sf concept here really carries the book, and the pieces of worldbuilding we get are masterfully delivered over the course of the book, while being engaging and interesting the whole time.

the romance is incredibly fast-paced, in a way that feels a little awkward if you care about that sort of thing. i don't generally like romance writing, and i found this one to be engaging and helped to build the characters and the world, so i don't mind it.

without spoilers, the ending is really fascinating, and i will think about it for quite a long time.

 absolutely fascinating stuff. weatherford has an amazing way of providing enough context and heart and love, and especially in all the cultural details that i personally enjoy in works of history, while still giving a helpful, concise-yet-full, history of the mongolian empire. i walked away from this book satisfied and informed

 AMAZING. incredibly informative, engaging, and simply well-written. i learned so much, both in the terms of "conversational small-talk fun facts" and "debate club topics", and beyond. there were so many fascinating connections between things that i wouldn't've ever thought to connect. example: filipino nurses are so common in parts of the US because herbert hoover, the Great Standardizer, sought to standardize how medicine is taught in all of the US - including the Philippines, which the US occupied at the time.

the main thesis is that the US had a stint as a true imperial power, but as technology advanced, owning colonies became less and less important - colonies were expensive, dangerous, uncomfortable, and made other nations see you as a bit aggressive or expansionist. if you don't *have* to harvest rubber, why should you? if you make it from scratch, you don't have to worry about controlling indonesia or the congo! extending that idea, why is it important to conquer territory to win a war, when you can simply fly over enemy forces and bomb their capital directly? some terrifying, but incredibly thought-provoking, stuff.

a half-inch nut slots into a half-inch screw, as it were. 

I morally disagree with the author on several points (like including the real legal name of TB victims, and openly demonstrating a complete lack of compassion for them). Additionally, the story is just... poorly written. The first four chapters have absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the book. It is not important that vampires were inspired by TB, that's just a fun fact that Krishnan felt she had to include in her book because she had already researched it, I suppose. Also, the title is just wrong - it does not describe, in any way, how "tuberculosis shaped history" - it describes, primarily, the modern forms of tuberculosis and how they impact daily life in India. That's a different book than what I thought I was getting.