Review: The Court of the Air
So yes, I have decided to do a book review. For a given value of review, which is most likely closer to rambling.
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
It's a very interesting book to say the least. A really interesting book.
The plot could be a little more coherent. The story basically follows the lives of two orphans whose fates are tied into a larger world conflict. In theory it was a good story but I think the plot needed to be a bit tighter and a few things more clearly explained.
But what made the book extremely interesting and enjoyable was the sheer surreality of the world itself. I mean, you have the Jackelian Kingdom that cuts the arms off their Kings to show how the monarchy will never raise its arms against the people again (hell, the kings aren't going to be raising their arms period). In parliament, debates are settled with fighting duels. There's a race of Steam Men whose shamans read the future by throwing the cogs of Gear-gu-ji (I think I got that right). There are the magic using worldsingers and the feybreed. Royal Buccaneers and gypsy witches. There's flying Aerostats that run on celgas and guns that fire crystal bullets fulls of exploding tree sap.
And that, seriously, is just the beginning. The world is surreal and absurd and just downright intriguing. And it's all presented in such a normal, everyday way. The story doesn't pause to introduce these strange elements (okay, sometimes it does), they just get mentioned and the story moves on without taking any notice.
If you really want to know what the story was, it was something about a group of people who were called Communityists (three guesses to what that was based on), followers of the Carlist way, who try to take over the Jackelian Kingdom using Metal-Fleshers (human people they basically cut up and shoved into metal suits (like the Cybermen from Doctor Who) and also by raising the old insect gods, the Wildcoatyl. And then those two orphans are the only two who can stop it which is why they get hunted down and then it all culminates in a giant battle at the end. Or something like that. I might have been slightly distracted by the utter weirdness of everything to remember the specifics. Oh, and the Court of the Air, which was this group of people (kinda like a secret service) that float in the sky in ships and they watch everyone below and then go on missions to keep the world turning or something, well these people show up a couple of times for some reason. Which considering the title of the book, you'd think they would have a clearer role but whatever.
I'd imagine that if I read the book again, the story would make more sense. And I probably will because like I said, the world is damn interesting. It reminds me of Scott Lynch's A Tale of Locke Lamora except Lynch's book had a better written story. But they are both book's with an intriguing world setting which is something that I really like.
If I was better organised I would have a fancy rating system or something but I don't. The fact that I actually wrote out this post probably means the book was interesting enough.
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
It's a very interesting book to say the least. A really interesting book.
The plot could be a little more coherent. The story basically follows the lives of two orphans whose fates are tied into a larger world conflict. In theory it was a good story but I think the plot needed to be a bit tighter and a few things more clearly explained.
But what made the book extremely interesting and enjoyable was the sheer surreality of the world itself. I mean, you have the Jackelian Kingdom that cuts the arms off their Kings to show how the monarchy will never raise its arms against the people again (hell, the kings aren't going to be raising their arms period). In parliament, debates are settled with fighting duels. There's a race of Steam Men whose shamans read the future by throwing the cogs of Gear-gu-ji (I think I got that right). There are the magic using worldsingers and the feybreed. Royal Buccaneers and gypsy witches. There's flying Aerostats that run on celgas and guns that fire crystal bullets fulls of exploding tree sap.
And that, seriously, is just the beginning. The world is surreal and absurd and just downright intriguing. And it's all presented in such a normal, everyday way. The story doesn't pause to introduce these strange elements (okay, sometimes it does), they just get mentioned and the story moves on without taking any notice.
If you really want to know what the story was, it was something about a group of people who were called Communityists (three guesses to what that was based on), followers of the Carlist way, who try to take over the Jackelian Kingdom using Metal-Fleshers (human people they basically cut up and shoved into metal suits (like the Cybermen from Doctor Who) and also by raising the old insect gods, the Wildcoatyl. And then those two orphans are the only two who can stop it which is why they get hunted down and then it all culminates in a giant battle at the end. Or something like that. I might have been slightly distracted by the utter weirdness of everything to remember the specifics. Oh, and the Court of the Air, which was this group of people (kinda like a secret service) that float in the sky in ships and they watch everyone below and then go on missions to keep the world turning or something, well these people show up a couple of times for some reason. Which considering the title of the book, you'd think they would have a clearer role but whatever.
I'd imagine that if I read the book again, the story would make more sense. And I probably will because like I said, the world is damn interesting. It reminds me of Scott Lynch's A Tale of Locke Lamora except Lynch's book had a better written story. But they are both book's with an intriguing world setting which is something that I really like.
If I was better organised I would have a fancy rating system or something but I don't. The fact that I actually wrote out this post probably means the book was interesting enough.