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Summary: Social Ideas Intertwined in a Complex Story
Review: The idea of reading an epistolary novel is daunting enough, let alone writing one, but the authors have captured the spirit of the form with style in this book.Set in Victorian England at the close of 1849, the story begins with a letter from James Cobham to his cousin Richard, two months after James' presumed death by drowning. James has no recollection of what has transpired in the intervening two months, but his letters eventually reveal a need for secrecy and subterfuge. Meanwhile, Kitty, James' stepsister and Richard's lover, is in correspondence with another, more distant cousin, Susan Voight, who is determined to track down the events leading up to James' drowning. When she finds him very much alive, she enlists herself in his cause. Using letters and journal from James, Kitty, Susan and Richard, as well as "articles" from the London Times, the authors create a taut and gripping plot packed with intrigue, secret societies, gun running, social movements, murder and more. With its rich, complicated plot and complex characters, this is a book to try to savor, but don't be surprised if you can't put it down.
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Summary: I loved the story and the characters.
Review: The novel is a correspondence between several people, mostly the hero and heroine. It is such an unusual way to tell a story. At first I couldn't imagine the entire novel being that way. Then about page 100 was completely enthralled. Steven Brust is a favorite of mine and now I want to read all of Emma Bull
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Summary: An OK Historical billed as great fantasy
Review: The only reason I can think of for having this book described as fantasy is that the publishers think so little of the genre that they believe billing a tolerable historical as the greatest fantasy book of the year will serve to both raise the status of this book and of fantasy books in general. As a fan of both historical and fantasy books, I'm not impressed. The most disappointing part of this book is that all of the reviews were untrue. Without the expectations I would not have been so hard on the book. There is no magic - only hints of alternative explanations for events. It is not an epic since there are only four main characters and most of the events take place in a couple of cities over the course of two months. The characters are well drawn but their is little tension or drama since most of the story is told - not shown. Events are often told more then once through different characters eyes and much of the suspence is drained by having the climatic moment told in one sentence and then having to spend pages reading about the events that led up to it. The only exciting parts were told through the thankfully long journal entries of one of the characters, Susan, at which time the book read like a great novel and you could forget the annoyance of all of those letters. This book would probably have been a great read if the story had been told entirely or mostly through the journal of Susan whose writting make up the lions portion of the book anyways, with a few key letters to her from some of the other characters. Instead the authors choose to stick to their gimmick - letters, which clearly wasn't working, and ruin good material. Personally, I don't fall in to the camp that says great books should be hard to get into, slow going, and frustrating. Suffice it to say, if their is a sequel planned - and I smelled it at the end of the book - I won't be reading it, if it is told through letters.
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Summary: read it! read it! read it!
Review: There are some books that stay with you long after you read the last page and gradually sink into your subconscious to become part of your life. This is one of them. Read it! I guarantee that you will never look at things the same way again--you will always think, "What would Susan have thought?" or, "That man reminds me of Richard." or, "My writing style is similar to Kitty's." I laughed and cried and stayed up all night with this one. It is terrific.
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Summary: WOW, I'm impressed.
Review: This book is the best historical novel I've read in years. The fantasy element is really subtle but powerful when it does appear--the hair actually rose on the back of my neck when I read the climactic "hunt" scene! It takes a little while to get into, thanks to the German philosophy it begins with, but builds to spine-tingling suspense. Well worth the effort of reading. Now I need to find more books by Emma Bull--I already knew Steven Brust is a great author.
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Summary: Inconsistent drawn-out drivel!
Review: This has got to be the most torturous bok I've ever read. It's presented as a collection of letters and journal entries from 1849, instead of as prose, and apparently the authors realized this wasn't working at around page 200, and gave one of the letter-writers a perfect memory, and the ability to hand-write letters that must have been 300 pages long, all written in one evening. Ridiculous, absurd. The characters are inconsistent, and the only excuse is the repeated references to Hegel, which is to indicate that there is no objective reality, only various different points of view. As the book is a collection of letters instead of prose, this is certainly true, but the reader is left wondering what really happened. Actually the reader would be better off avoiding this dull drawn-out drivel entirely. Every scene is drawn out, the characters babble endlessly in their letters, as if it takes no effort at all scrawl 300 pages with a pen. Brust is much, much better than this; I have to assume Bull has poisoned him. And don't believe the reviews: there is no magic here.
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Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is one of my favorite books. It is truly a book of letters, between the two main female characters, and detailing a distinctly un-traditional set of adventures that even find Frederich Engels as a minor character! This is also someitmes a very touching and erotic love story between two very complex, adult characters. One other reivew that I read said that it is unfortunate that the story ends with the heroine finding happiness in moterhhood and retreat into a secluded life. I think I would concur that this seems an unusual ending for Susan, who is one of the strongest and most unconventional female characters I had enjoyed in quite a while. I highly recommend this!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This is one of my favorite books. It is truly a book of letters, between the two main female characters, and detailing a distinctly un-traditional set of adventures that even find Frederich Engels as a minor character! This is also someitmes a very touching and erotic love story between two very complex, adult characters. One other reivew that I read said that it is unfortunate that the story ends with the heroine finding happiness in moterhhood and retreat into a secluded life. I think I would concur that this seems an unusual ending for Susan, who is one of the strongest and most unconventional female characters I had enjoyed in quite a while. I highly recommend this!
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Summary: A Brilliant Piece of Fiction
Review: This is one of the best books I've read in quite some time, and I highly recommend it - but perhaps not to everyone. It definitly requires patience to read a epistolary novel, particularly one written in the style of the 19th century. It also requires a certain amount of knowledge of mid-19th century European history and philosophy. The philosophical element in particular could be a hurdle for some. There are references to Hegel throughout the book, and without at least some rudimentary knowledge of Hegel these would make little sense to most readers. The many negative reviews this book has received suggest that these are problems for some readers. If you can get past these potential problems, however, you will find a brilliant piece of literature. The plot is very complex, the characters are all interesting, and the style is fascinating. The epistolary style forces the reader to read between the lines much more than in a normal narritive, since you have to realize that there are some things that the writer may not be saying, or may be saying that are not completely honest. Brust and Bull pull this off extremely well, and are further able to create distinct writing styles for each of the four main characters. I would also mention that one should not expect the usual from Brust and Bull. This is a very different book from their other works, especially in style. Also, note that this is NOT a fantasy novel.
Rating:
Summary: Unusual, dense, and worth it.
Review: This is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Despite the backgrounds of both authors, Freedom and Necessity is not really fantasy, except maybe for a bit of alternate history (ie a fictional main character, in the book, is a major part of the Chartist movement) and some occultism. Demands several readings; you'll pick up something new each time, although I'm still not sure the occult subplot doesn't have a few loose ends. Complex characterization. Bull and Brust must have done huge amounts of research into history and philosophy, not to mention staying awake through most of Hegel. Well worth the time and focus required to finish the book.
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