Alternative history which starts out as a crime-novel taking place in Berlin 1964, in a Europe where Hitler’s Germany was successful in winning the waAlternative history which starts out as a crime-novel taking place in Berlin 1964, in a Europe where Hitler’s Germany was successful in winning the war, and turns into a mildly bland exposé piece. This is the 20th anniversary edition, and there was also a movie I remember seeing the intro of before my tape-recorder ate the tape. It had Rutger Hauer as March, IIRC. Anyway, the setting of a victorious Nazi Germany is an interesting point-of-view, but it doesn’t really have any teeth. No one would imagine it would be a Shangri-la, and the portrayal of a police-state with some of the most evil people in history at the reigns never really comes off. It starts out rather interesting, as you try to figure out what the central mystery is about, but halfway through it peters out and remains one-dimensional. Facts, settings and people’s lives are accurate until 1942, but from then on the author takes over with his imaginary history. Interestingly, the Berlin of this novel is modelled on Speer’s vision of Germania as the capital of a new German world order. References to such grotesqueries abound. We follow Zavi March, a policeman who investigates the death of a John Doe found a few days before the Führer’s seventy-fifth birthday. The death is suspicious, and March takes us along on his investigation. This is the most interesting part, as you try to piece together what the central mystery is and what the cover-up is for. Once this is made clear (roughly two-thirds in), it becomes less fun. The reveal certainly wasn’t a shocker, and once there it’s just about “what happens next”. I was a bit disappointed that it was that obvious, to be honest. The plot reads like a formula for late eighties/early nineties’ action movies, and the characters are very one-dimensional. The conclusion of the story is very hamfisted, but by that point I was eager to wrap the story up (I imagine Harris was as well).
Overall: fun read for the most part, a bit less in the final part....more
Final installment of the Milkweed Tryptich by Ian Tregillis. I must say, it doesn't disappoint. It's impossible to say much about the plot without spoFinal installment of the Milkweed Tryptich by Ian Tregillis. I must say, it doesn't disappoint. It's impossible to say much about the plot without spoiling anything, but I suffice to say this book also picks up right where there previous one left off. Most of the familiar characters are back again, and the plot thickens, as they say. The quest to stop the evil plans comes to a mostly satisfying conclusion, and the journey there was a pleasant one. Overall I certainly think so. Style and pace are good as ever and all loose ends are tied up. Most character arcs reach their end though some are open and others not. I had a very minor quibble with some of the endings, but not enough to dampen my enjoyment of the book, or for that matter the series. Loved it.
BTW, I love how certain events are foreshadowed and then brought back, Back to the Future-style. ...more
The Iron King is set in 1314, the year in which the Trial of the Templars reached its conclusion, and the French court was shocked by the Tower of NesThe Iron King is set in 1314, the year in which the Trial of the Templars reached its conclusion, and the French court was shocked by the Tower of Nesle affair. If you know what happens in these events, this novel is not for you. Prior knowledge will reduce the book to a travelogue featuring nothing but the drabbest of landmarks.
The Iron King is Philip IV, called the Fair, ostensibly because he’s as pretty (and as sentimental) as a statue. Philip is obsessed with strengthening the monarchy of France, by any means necessary. In the first part of the book the last phase of the Trial of the Templars takes center-stage. This trial, beginning with the arrest of all Templars in France on November 13th 1307, shook Europe. The Order of the Templars was one of the most powerful and wealthiest organizations in Europe; that a king would indict and persecute them was virtually unthinkable (and would not have worked had Philip not had the pope on a leash in Avignon). The second phase of the book centers on the Tower of the Nesle affair, the last part is about the curse of the Templars (hence The Accursed Kings) and the Lombards’ efforts to escape persecution.
The reason for the bad review is not that nothing happens in this book; it’s because the book isn’t written in anything resembling an engaging style. Druon is almost as statuesque as he claims Philip was. Almost everything is written from the point of view of an omniscient narrator, and even when not, the characters still don’t come to life. We are told this or that person is, for example, jealous, or an intriguer, or devoted etc. etc., but it never comes off. They remain one-dimensional, and in this way the book entirely fails to draw one in. Druon obviously knew what he was talking about (even though current scholarship may disagree with the theories he espoused in 1955), but it falls flat because it doesn’t engage. I love Medieval history, and I had to force myself to finish this. Sad, because this book could have been so much more....more
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