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blindse3's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
perrymadeleine4's review against another edition
4.0
very interesting but it took me a year to finish
booktrovertjen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
kateofmind's review against another edition
Not interesting enough to justify the physical pain of reading it in print (holding book, turning pages etc)
harry_leggs's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
barufisher's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
darylb's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. It did not follow Rutherfurd's usual story pattern. Although it did follow multiple people/families, it is during a much shorter time frame than his usual books. It starts with the opium wars (1839) and ends around 1900 with the Boxer rebellion. I probably wouldn't have been as disappointed but I read the synopsis on Goodreads "The story begins in 1839, at the dawn of the First Opium War, and follows Chinese history through Mao's Cultural Revolution and up to the present day" which is just not true. It ends with the last emperors and the Qing dynasty. No Mao, no Chiang Kai-Shek, no cultural revolution. It didn't take away from the book but was very disappointing on Goodreads part not Edward Rutherford's.
sofievandepitte's review
4.0
kaleidoscopic in vision, rich in detail, from the mandate of heaven to the bloody battlefield to the tranquil bamboo forest
leila_scola's review
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
duparker's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I'm not sure if it was the lack of bredth of History which is normally case with these novels, or if it was the fact that there were a lot of things left unresolved but this just didn't click. I think one of the things that normally I find attractive of these books is looking at a space through history, and knowing how much history China has it seemed weird to focus on a 60-year segment. The writing is good in the book overall is fun, but I think I'm used to better and more from the author.