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A review by paola_mobileread
Un déluge de feu by Amitav Ghosh
2.0
I have read this book withouth having read [b:Sea of Poppies|1330324|Sea of Poppies (Ibis Trilogy #1)|Amitav Ghosh|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327376395s/1330324.jpg|1319808] nor [b:River of Smoke|9783627|River of Smoke (Ibis Trilogy #2)|Amitav Ghosh|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1310286525s/9783627.jpg|14673463], as I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway, so did not want to delay unduly my "duty" of reviewing this novel.
[b:Flood of Fire|21375203|Flood of Fire (Ibis Trilogy #3)|Amitav Ghosh|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417893813s/21375203.jpg|40675361] however stands on its own as a novel, and though (by necessity) some of the facts referred to here are not detailed enough to grasp all the implications, they are anyway clear enough to provide sufficient background to the various characters.
While I did enjoy the first half, midway through the novel started unravelling for me - what were built as three separate stories (those of Kesri Singh, Zachary Reid and the recently widowed Shireen Moddy) start converging, with these three protagonists surely and not that slowly destined to meet aboard the same Hong Kong bound ship. And here I somewhat lost interest, as it seemed that the pace accelerated just to be sure that all the subplots could be ironed out in the remaining pages.
In terms of the plot, even without the benefit of the previous two books, most of the twist are very predictable. No big deal in itself if one wants to carry the larger picture, but here it felt as the historical background had already run out of steam (after the previous two instalments). I did not found the writing particularly beautiful, and at various points, rather repetitive: Shireen "kneads" the end of her saari countless times when she is under pressure, while most of the male characters cope with stress by trying to loosen their collars. The characters themselves lose credibility as they go along, with Reid rapidly turning from a naive and rather coarse carpenter/sailor to an articulate, shrewd, competent businessman in the space of a few months, and Shireen going from a sheltered stay at home dutiful wife who has hardly ventured outside her home to a decisive, confident woman who does not hesitate to use blackmail to get her way.
As I did not find the writing particularly beautiful, for the second half of the book it was the sheer pace of events that carried it for me.
One exception were the detailed descriptions of the battles, the strategies and the weapons: recounted in great detail, and very sympathetically, I never thought I could have found them so interesting. This however may not be true for all readers.
It is definitely an interesting book, and Ghosh manages to write accurate historical fiction with flair. Yet as a standalone novel it does very much feel as an epilogue, accessory to whatever came before.
[b:Flood of Fire|21375203|Flood of Fire (Ibis Trilogy #3)|Amitav Ghosh|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1417893813s/21375203.jpg|40675361] however stands on its own as a novel, and though (by necessity) some of the facts referred to here are not detailed enough to grasp all the implications, they are anyway clear enough to provide sufficient background to the various characters.
While I did enjoy the first half, midway through the novel started unravelling for me - what were built as three separate stories (those of Kesri Singh, Zachary Reid and the recently widowed Shireen Moddy) start converging, with these three protagonists surely and not that slowly destined to meet aboard the same Hong Kong bound ship. And here I somewhat lost interest, as it seemed that the pace accelerated just to be sure that all the subplots could be ironed out in the remaining pages.
In terms of the plot, even without the benefit of the previous two books, most of the twist are very predictable. No big deal in itself if one wants to carry the larger picture, but here it felt as the historical background had already run out of steam (after the previous two instalments). I did not found the writing particularly beautiful, and at various points, rather repetitive: Shireen "kneads" the end of her saari countless times when she is under pressure, while most of the male characters cope with stress by trying to loosen their collars. The characters themselves lose credibility as they go along, with Reid rapidly turning from a naive and rather coarse carpenter/sailor to an articulate, shrewd, competent businessman in the space of a few months, and Shireen going from a sheltered stay at home dutiful wife who has hardly ventured outside her home to a decisive, confident woman who does not hesitate to use blackmail to get her way.
As I did not find the writing particularly beautiful, for the second half of the book it was the sheer pace of events that carried it for me.
One exception were the detailed descriptions of the battles, the strategies and the weapons: recounted in great detail, and very sympathetically, I never thought I could have found them so interesting. This however may not be true for all readers.
It is definitely an interesting book, and Ghosh manages to write accurate historical fiction with flair. Yet as a standalone novel it does very much feel as an epilogue, accessory to whatever came before.