A review by hekate24
The Tiger Queens by Stephanie Marie Thornton
2.0
This fulfills the "a book that takes place in Asia" category of the Read Harder Challenge. One of the continuously interest aspects of doing this challenge is how much thought I put into each category. I frequently read books set in Asia (fiction and non-fiction), but I'm using this one to fulfill this part of the challenge. Why? Because the Mongol empire, at the height of its power, was the largest ever Asian empire. It's common for some westerners to view Asia as some kind of cultural monolith, but studying the Mongol empire in any sort of depth reveals how false that is. A staggering number of cultures and cities and countries were conquered by Genghis Khan, with some wiped out entirely. If nothing else, I appreciate that this book made an effort to show that (particularly in the Fatima section.)
On to the book itself... As you can probably tell by my rating, I'm a bit ambivalent. This is a historical time period I feel passionate about, but I'm not one of those people who freaks out about creative liberties in fiction. If anything, this book has an abundance of accuracy. I read [b:The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire|6648001|The Secret History of the Mongol Queens How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire|Jack Weatherford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320410503s/6648001.jpg|6842538] a few years back, and it was such a vivid non-fiction book that I recognized many of its anecdotes and research reflected in this novel.
Half the time, The Tiger Queens is as vibrant as the historical events it depicts, the other half of the time the characters feel like beautifully carved game pieces being moved around by History. It's worth noting that this book is a series of four novellas, each narrated by a different woman. I disagree that there isn't enough time to tell each story, though. I've read many short stories that seem to contain entire universes. But this book doesn't quite reach that level, and I'm still trying to figure out why.
Though I do have some ideas. First, the characters are often in the habit of telling you outright that they are sad or happy or fearful. When the characters are engaged in some sort of action- divining the future, burying a beloved friend, giving birth for the first time- the author is so good at conveying how their state of mind. There's no need to punctuate it by stating the emotions that they feel. In this book it ends up introducing a note of artificiality that happens at such frequent intervals that it's hard to lose yourself in the story. Second, like [b:The Lowland|17262100|The Lowland|Jhumpa Lahiri|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1366930267s/17262100.jpg|23858897], the prose often leaps through entire months or years. This isn't a problem if nothing much is happening, but it occurs during important character-building moments for at least two of the novellas..
There were also a lot of Chekov's guns that didn't go off. This is less of a problem than the other two points, but there were so many moments when I thought the author was being clever, but then it went nowhere.
This review sounds so harsh. Maybe it is. There's a lot in this book that's good. When the author is confident (ie; not outright telling us how character's feel) the prose really sings. It's truly beautiful, painting a vivid picture of changing life in the steppes over a course of many decades. All the POV characters sound different from one another, and their friendship and support of one another are genuinely touching. Although I didn't love this book, I think I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to read historical fiction that tackles different subjects than the usual.
On to the book itself... As you can probably tell by my rating, I'm a bit ambivalent. This is a historical time period I feel passionate about, but I'm not one of those people who freaks out about creative liberties in fiction. If anything, this book has an abundance of accuracy. I read [b:The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire|6648001|The Secret History of the Mongol Queens How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire|Jack Weatherford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1320410503s/6648001.jpg|6842538] a few years back, and it was such a vivid non-fiction book that I recognized many of its anecdotes and research reflected in this novel.
Half the time, The Tiger Queens is as vibrant as the historical events it depicts, the other half of the time the characters feel like beautifully carved game pieces being moved around by History. It's worth noting that this book is a series of four novellas, each narrated by a different woman. I disagree that there isn't enough time to tell each story, though. I've read many short stories that seem to contain entire universes. But this book doesn't quite reach that level, and I'm still trying to figure out why.
Though I do have some ideas. First, the characters are often in the habit of telling you outright that they are sad or happy or fearful. When the characters are engaged in some sort of action- divining the future, burying a beloved friend, giving birth for the first time- the author is so good at conveying how their state of mind. There's no need to punctuate it by stating the emotions that they feel. In this book it ends up introducing a note of artificiality that happens at such frequent intervals that it's hard to lose yourself in the story. Second, like [b:The Lowland|17262100|The Lowland|Jhumpa Lahiri|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1366930267s/17262100.jpg|23858897], the prose often leaps through entire months or years. This isn't a problem if nothing much is happening, but it occurs during important character-building moments for at least two of the novellas.
Spoiler
In Alaqai's story, for example, it jumps over the years in which she rules in the stead of her invalid husband, with the help of her step-family. This is so frustrating because this is when so many of the character development is probably happening! Alaqai will later plead for her city to be treated with mercy, but if we don't actually see her pouring her blood, sweat, and tears into this city, then her incredible act of mercy rings hollow. This is one of my favorite moments in the entire history of the Mongol empire, and yet I was a bit bored by it here. The same thing happened with the Fatima novella. It skipped over her portion of time adjusting to the Mongol way of life, essentially speeding through it with a montage about the intense weather. Again, this is a huge problem. The way the story is set up, Fatima needs to grow attached to this family in spite of herself. And later on, the women will want to avenge her because she becomes a dear friend to all of them. And yet we don't see any of this bonding process, really. Again, the Toregene and Fatima relationship is deeply fascinating to me, but it was hard to feel anything for them because we saw so little of the growth of their relationship. What was there was beautiful, too, so it would have been nice to have so much moreThere were also a lot of Chekov's guns that didn't go off. This is less of a problem than the other two points, but there were so many moments when I thought the author was being clever, but then it went nowhere.
Spoiler
Case in point, the book makes a big point of showing Alaqai realizing that Toregene has a very tragic past due to the culture of vengeance on the steppes. And yet this plays no role in her decision to show mercy to the city that rebelled against her. Even worse is how the book handles the rape of the Oirat girls. In Weatherford's book, it is one of the most horrifying incidents I've ever heard about. This novel wrings a few moments of pathos out of it, but Fatima should have reacted a bit more to it given her background. Ogodei makes a big show of only wanting willing women in his bed, and condones his wife having an affair, and yet he orders something like this. Many world rulers do evince these kinds of contradictions, so I was sort of fascinated by the author's decision to portray him that way. And yet this incident goes nowhere, it barely gives Fatima pause. It just introduces Guyuk's wife- a survivor of this mass gang rape- who the prose gets very derisive about. She's probably the biggest example of 'show not tell' in this whole book. We're told she's unstable, and we're told to despise her as much as we're told to despise Guyuk. Overall, this book seems to have disdain for the female characters that aren't 'The Tiger Queens.' It's one thing for the characters to have less than charitable emotions petaining to Genghis's other wives, or for Guyuk's POW bride. It's quite another to have the prose basically tell you to dislike them because they're not part of the Golden Family. No thanks.This review sounds so harsh. Maybe it is. There's a lot in this book that's good. When the author is confident (ie; not outright telling us how character's feel) the prose really sings. It's truly beautiful, painting a vivid picture of changing life in the steppes over a course of many decades. All the POV characters sound different from one another, and their friendship and support of one another are genuinely touching. Although I didn't love this book, I think I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to read historical fiction that tackles different subjects than the usual.