A review by zoeelizabethk
A Practical Guide to Conquering the World by K.J. Parker

funny informative reflective slow-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? It's complicated

4.0

 Summary: K.J Parker is a new Terry Pratchett for me. Felix lost his people but finds new people as he conquers the world and orchestrates a new religion. Don't come for the plot, come for the asides about camels.

You don't need to have read the other Siege books to enjoy this one. I hadn't and I didn't feel like I was missing anything. I love the sardonic, dry humor, asides, and quirkiness of this book and the characters. It's the type of book that's hard to recommend because I think a lot of people might get angry at this book and it seems boring. But here's my advice, it's not about the plot - for the first 30% there's no clear idea what the plot is and even after that, it's a rather meandering, loose plot - or character development. That's not to say the plot or characters are bad, but that's not the point of the book. This book is about other things, and it's about the experience of reading an unreliable narrator who is sharp and cunning and will mislead you and aggravate you but has a lot to tell you in a roundabout way. I really enjoyed this book and want to read some more KJ Parker as soon as possible.

My one con here was that I thought the ending was going to have a little more payoff than it did, but I not convinced that that wasn't intentional.

Thanks to Orbit and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 
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