Started: 3/31/2020
Completed: 4/4/2020
Recommendation: Mild Recommendation
Recommended By: The Washington Post
Review:
I have trouble seeing this as fantasy. I guess, in a sense, it is a steampunk novel, but it seems more like fiction in a historical setting (like Dracula or alternate histories). Clearly I am in the minority. The rich collection of ideas that the author has collected are enjoyable and the struggle to create a country from whole cloth is well presented. The complexities of bringing a heterogeneous group into a homogeneous country are far more than presented in the book, but it would take many books and be quite tedious to pursue this in detail. I think it was interesting how the book highlighted individuals and tried to tease out how individuals play a role in creating a common society. This focus also gave the author a chance to humanize the book with personal faults. Magic played a role, but it was somewhat incidental and was used to suggest that magic provided some of the good leadership that allowed the country to be created and to morph into something that seemed better for all. Such a thing is done through compromise, compassion, and a fight for understanding.
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