[books 2016] Guns of the Dawn
35. Guns of the Dawn by Adrian Tchaikovsky
I've encountered Adrian on many a panel at cons, and people I trust rate his work. However, he writes doorstops that are mostly part of a very long multi-part series so I've been wary. One of the latest, though, while still a doorstop, is a stand-alone and appealed to me more than the series, so I picked it up while I was at Books on the Hill.
In an alternate world whose level of development is somewhere between the Napoleonic and First World Wars (the weaponry is the former, but they have trains), two neighbouring nations are at war. One country is so screwed (but telling the citizens that victory is just around the corner, and people believe it) that they have a draft of women, one from each household. The thing that tells you this is a fantasy novel is that there are Warlocks, but they're not very effective in war.
Most noble families send a servant; however Emily Marshwic believes in honour and duty so she goes herself. By virtue of her elevated station in life she is immediately made a junior officer. Because of her belief in honour and duty, and because her brother was killed there, she volunteers to go to the less desirable of the two fronts.
Naturally, everything she thinks she knows and believes is tested to breaking point. She is fighting in a swamp, using outdated methods because their country has honour, against a country who just do what needs to be done to win. Her only outlet is that she is able to write freely to the corrupt mayor of her home town, without being subject to the censorship that the army writing home contends with.
The war ends and follows her home in an awful (but predictable) way.
I have no words to express how much I loved this book: the characters, the pacing, the plot. I usually get very bored with long battle scenes, but even these were fascinating to read. The end was absolutely perfect, which I very rarely say at the end of a good long book.
I've encountered Adrian on many a panel at cons, and people I trust rate his work. However, he writes doorstops that are mostly part of a very long multi-part series so I've been wary. One of the latest, though, while still a doorstop, is a stand-alone and appealed to me more than the series, so I picked it up while I was at Books on the Hill.
In an alternate world whose level of development is somewhere between the Napoleonic and First World Wars (the weaponry is the former, but they have trains), two neighbouring nations are at war. One country is so screwed (but telling the citizens that victory is just around the corner, and people believe it) that they have a draft of women, one from each household. The thing that tells you this is a fantasy novel is that there are Warlocks, but they're not very effective in war.
Most noble families send a servant; however Emily Marshwic believes in honour and duty so she goes herself. By virtue of her elevated station in life she is immediately made a junior officer. Because of her belief in honour and duty, and because her brother was killed there, she volunteers to go to the less desirable of the two fronts.
Naturally, everything she thinks she knows and believes is tested to breaking point. She is fighting in a swamp, using outdated methods because their country has honour, against a country who just do what needs to be done to win. Her only outlet is that she is able to write freely to the corrupt mayor of her home town, without being subject to the censorship that the army writing home contends with.
The war ends and follows her home in an awful (but predictable) way.
I have no words to express how much I loved this book: the characters, the pacing, the plot. I usually get very bored with long battle scenes, but even these were fascinating to read. The end was absolutely perfect, which I very rarely say at the end of a good long book.