A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin [2000]

The third volume of the high fantasy saga that began with A Game of Thrones and continued in A Clash of Kings is one of the more rewarding examples of gigantism in contemporary fantasy. As Martin's richly imagined world slides closer to its 10-year winter, both the weather and the warfare worsen. In the north, King Joffrey of House Lannister sits uneasily on the Iron Throne. With the aid of a peasant wench, Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, escapes from jail in Riverrun. Jaime goes to the other youthful ruler, Robb Stark, to secure the release of Joffrey's prisoners, Robb's sisters Arya and Sansa Stark. Meanwhile, in the south, Queen Daenarys tries to assert her claim to the various thrones with an army of eunuchs, but discovers that she must choose between conquering more and ruling well what she has already taken. The complexity of characters such as Daenarys, Arya and the Kingslayer will keep readers turning even the vast number of pages contained in this volume, for the author, like Tolkien or Jordan, makes us care about their fates. Those two fantasy greats are also evoked by Martin's ability to convey such sensual experiences as the heat of wildfire, the chill of ice, the smell of the sea and the sheer gargantuan indigestibility of the medieval banquet at its most excessive. Perhaps this saga doesn't go as far beyond the previous bounds of high fantasy as some claim, but for most readers it certainly goes far enough to command their attention. (Nov.)


Author: George R. R. Martin
Series: A Song of Ice and Fire
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (October 31, 2000)
Media type: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book
Pages: 992 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0553106633
Followed by: A Feast For Crows
Preceded by: A Clash of Kings
Publication date: August 2000

Reader Review

An emotional roller coaster ride: bliss, surprise and sorrow
 
First off, I'm a heavy duty fan of GRRM. I've read over a 100 different fantasy authors in my time (started at 12; I'm now 32). Took about 5 years off from the genre b/c I felt it was all getting too formulaic and cliched. Typical archetype character who turns out to be the missing heir or boy wonder who saves the world against the Dark Lord.

So, when I came back to fantasy at the end of 1999, I read the usual: Goodkind, Jordan, etc. and then someone told me about GRRM and man, that was the kicker!

Here are the reasons to choose GRRM. I've also listed the reasons not to choose him to make it fair b/c I know their are certain personalities who won't like this series:

WHY TO READ GRRM

(1) YOU ARE TIRED OF FORMULAIC FANTASY: good lad beats the dark lord against impossible odds; boy is the epitome of good; he and all his friends never die even though they go through great dangers . . . the good and noble king; the beautiful princess who falls in love with the commoner boy even though their stations are drastically different . . . the dark lord is very evil and almost one sided at times . . . you get the idea. After reading this over and over, it gets old.

(2) YOU ARE TIRED OF ALL THE HEROES STAYING ALIVE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE UNDER CONSTANT DANGER: this gets even worse where the author kills a main hero off but that person comes back later in the story. Or, a hero does die but magic brings him back.

This sometimes carries to minor characters where even they may not die, but most fantasy authors like to kill them off to show that some risked the adventure and perished.

(3) YOU ARE A MEDIEVAL HISTORY BUFF: this story was influenced by the WARS OF THE ROSES and THE HUNDRED YEARS WAR.

(4) YOU LOVE SERIOUS INTRIGUE WITHOUT STUPID OPPONENTS: lots of layering; lots of intrigue; lots of clever players in the game of thrones. Unlike other fantasy novels, one side, usually the villain, is stupid or not too bright.

(5) YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BIASED OPINIONS AND DIFFERENT TRUTHS: GRRM has set this up where each chapter has the title of one character and the whole chapter is through their viewpoint. Interesting tidbit is that you get their perception of events or truths. But, if you pay attention, someone else will mention a different angle of truth in the story that we rarely see in other novels. Lastly and most importantly, GRRM doesn't try to tell us which person is right in their perception. He purposelly leaves it vague so that we are kept guessing.

(6) LEGENDS: some of the most interesting characters are those who are long gone or dead. We never get the entire story but only bits and pieces; something that other fantasy authors could learn from to heighten suspense. Additionally, b/c the points of views are not congruent, we sometimes get different opinions.

(7) WORDPLAY: if you're big on metaphors and description, GRRM is your guy. Almost flawless flow.

(8) LOTS OF CONFLICT: all types, too; not just fighting but between characters through threats and intrigue.

(9) MULTILAYERED PLOTTING; SUB PLOTS GALORE: each character has their own separate storyline; especially as the story continues and everyone gets scattered. This is one of the reasons why each novel is between 700-900 pages.

(10) SUPERLATIVE VARIED CHARACTERS: not the typical archetypes that we are used to in most fantasy; some are gritty; few are totally evil or good; GRRM does a great job of changing our opinions of characters as the series progress. This is especially true of Jaime in book three.

(11) REALISTIC MEDIEVAL DIALOGUE: not to the point that we can't understand it but well done.

(12) HEAPS OF SYMOBLISM AND PROPHECY: if you're big on that.

(13) EXCELLENT MYSTERIES: very hard to figure out the culprits; GRRM must have read a lot of mystery novels.

(14) RICHLY TEXTURED FEMALE CHARACTERS: best male author on female characters I have read; realistic on how women think, too.

(15) LOW MAGIC WORLD: magic is low key; not over the top so heroes can't get out of jams with it.

REASON TO NOT READ GRRM

(1) YOU LIKE YOUR MAIN CHARACTERS: GRRM does a good job of creating more likeable characters after a few die. But, if that isn't your style, you shouldn't be reading it. He kills off several, not just one, so be warned.

(2) DO NOT CARE FOR GRITTY GRAY CHARACTERS: if you like more white and gray characters, this may unsettle you. I suggest Feist or Goodkind or Dragonlance if you want a more straight forward story with strong archetypes.

(3) MULTIPLE POINTS OF VIEWS TURN YOU OFF: if you prefer that the POVS only go to a few characters, this might be confusing for you.

(4) SWEARING, SEX: there's a lot of it in this book just as there is in real life. If you have delicate ears, this book may upset you.

(5) YOU DEMAND CLOSURE AT THE END OF EVERY BOOK: this isn't the case for all stories in the series. Some are still going on; some have been resolved; others have been created and are moving on.

(6) IF YOU WANT A TARGET OR SOMEONE TO BLAME: this can be done to some extent but not as much. This is b/c he doesn't try to make anyone necessarily good or evil.

(7) ARCHETYPES: some readers like archetypal characters because it's comfortable; we like the good young hero (sort of like Pug in Feist's THE RIFTWAR SAGA); it's familiar and we sometimes like to pretend we're this upcoming, great hero. You wont' get much of this in GRRM with the exception of one or two characters. There really aren't any super heroes compared to all the other characters as it's more grittier and no one is shooting fireballs every milisecond or carrying around some super powerful sword.

(8) LENGTH: you don't want to get into a long fantasy epic series. In that case, look for shorters works as this is biiig.

(9) PATRIARCHY: men are most of the main characters with lots of power (one female exception). While this is realistic of the medieval era, some readers may not prefer this if they want more girl power, so to speak.

By the way, if you don't want to commit to a big book until you know the author better, check out his short story, THE HEDGE KNIGHT, in LEGENDS.

- by MISTER SJEM "sonofhotpie"

Martin Owns The Throne

1) This is, BY FAR, the best fantasy I have ever read. Ever. Better than Donaldson, Jordan, Goodkind, Brooks, better than everyone.

2)This is, BY FAR, the best characterization I've ever come across in the fantasy genre. Never in my life have I at so many different times over the course of the three books written been so amazed (Daenerys from the fire, obtaining the Unsullied, choosing between the {better?} of two betrayels) stunned (Catelyn, Ser Barristan Selmy) grief-stricken (from deaths of beloved characters, of course only to realize by the end of the next chapter there are so many fantastic characters left). And of course these are just a few examples, there are so many more but don't want to mention at the risk of spoiling new readers.

Yes -- amazed, stunned, saddened. I spontaneously and literally yelled, gasped, cried, and cheered while reading these books. Never have I been so emotionally invested in such a large cast of characters. Memories of these books bring forth emotion in me even now, a month after I read this, his latest book.

3)Fabulously intricate plotting. I find it interesting that a common thread in the slightly more negative reviews of this book find Martin a bit ponderous -- that there's so much writing with not alot of action. This couldn't be further from the truth!

Yes, this is high, epic, cruel fantasy of the tallest order. Yes, this is a tall read for younger readers, or those weaned on Jordan, Goodkind, Brooks, etc. But there literally isn't a SINGLE CHAPTER in any of his books where some part of the plot isn't advanced in some way -- spanning over 2000 pages of hardcover text. That's how good the writing is.

4)Deftly understated magic. I remember reading the first book thinking to myself, 'where's the magic? isn't this supposed to be fantasy?' And I kept reading, still finding almost no magic. The only real magic from the first book I can remember bookends the first book. I will never forget the birth of the Unburnt at the very end of the first novel. I'm gasping right now as I recall it. Such a POWERFUL moment. And there was some magic there. And the fact that my senses hadn't been already been dulled by the overdone, contrived use of magic found in so many other fantasy novels allowed me to feel the real impact of what Dany accomplished at the end of that first novel. Magic means so much more in these novels because at least over these the first three books, there is so little to be found.

5)Spectacular dialogue. This is the best dialogue I've ever read. Razorsharp wit, acid tongues, stoic nobility, prideful revenge, hungry vengeance, soul-baring sadness, and so many other wonderful emotions conveyed by superior dialogue. If this review weren't so long, I'd quote a few passages. I just remember reading some of those Lannister exchanges saying to myself 'you go! oh yeah! perfect!" I remember laughing out loud at some of the things said, not so much because they were humorous (although some of them were) but because so often the pointed words exchanged felt more like the point of a rapier twisting through the ribcage into the recipient's heart. It's just that good. So consistently good.

6)Anyone remember Thomas Covenant? One of the great anti-heroes in fantasy. You rooted for him and hated him. You knew he was the good guy, but you were never quite comfortable enough with who he was to cheer him on without reservation.

Well, many characters like him, not just one, populate Martin's books. As soon as you think you've found the bad guy, you begin to root for him as well. And you wonder, as you go from chapter to chapter, how you can find yourself rooting for almost every character in the book? Well, that's just one of the many great things about Martin's books. Practically every character is an anti-heroe and how a book can be so riveting with (at this point) no clear villain is a testimonial for the great characterization in these books.

People, I'm not kidding. This is the best out there. If Martin pulls off this series it will far and away be the best epic fantasy ever written. It already is, I'm just praying it's sustained. Yes, it's better than Tolkien, but only in the way that The Godfather was better than the old great silent pictures of the early 20th century. I regard Tolkien's work with great reverance, and it's wonderful to see the foundations of the fantasy genre brought to the big screen, but Martin is taking the genre to new heights. He truly is.

For me, I knew at least the first book was special early on. If you can... sense something... if yours eyes open just a bit, if your curiosity is peaked... if you're thinking 'hmmm'.... as the first chapter closes with the discovery of the Direwolves, then you'll be tasting just a hint of the wonderment Martin's books can give you.

Just try not to be too sad when you've finished and realize there may not be anything this good for a long, long time to come.

- by Michael Snyder

Unabated Frustration Costs Martin One Star

I've read through some of the other reviews of the first three books of this series and I think it time to address a few of the most commonly cited complaints.

First: the sex. Yes, there is a lot of graphic sexuality in these novels. But, you know, there's a lot more warfare, fighting, murder and mutilation. These books are about warfare and political intrigue. If you're bound to be offended by anything graphically described, then these are not the novels for you as the pages are rife with blood and gore. Sex, in comparison, is kind of a friendly diversion even if it is described in terms devoid of romance and rose petals. If, on the other hand, you are offended by sexuality but not by graphic violence, then there are more pressing questions for you to consider than which fantasy novel to read.

Second: character deaths. Yes, there are a lot of character deaths. Too many? Not enough? Hmm... I'd say just about right. It keeps things healthy, to have cared-for characters die every so often: it keeps you on your toes. Also, given the aforementioned subject matter, war and intrigue, it simply wouldn't make sense not to have death now and again. Finally, there are so many characters and so many plots running around that death is a nice way of keeping things rather more in hand. I do have a complaint regarding the character deaths, however, which I will come to soon.

Third: the gray morality. Yes, the characters are round and multi-faceted. Everyone has virtues, everyone has flaws. (Well, okay, I'd be hard-pressed to find the virtues in some of them, like Gregor or Joff, but still...) But, you know, that doesn't mean that the characters can't be seen as heroic or villainous. Just because Hitler loved animals and was a vegetarian (which is true) doesn't mean he didn't have some rather defining characteristics. C'mon-you know who the heroes and who the villains are. And, while our opinions do sometimes change (Jaime's character, for instance, starts to change over the course of this book), the reason that they do so is not because there is no morality present, but precisely because there is. But here, I again have my own complaint, which I shall deal with presently.

Having dealt with the gripes of others, it's now time for me to develop my own. My problem with Martin's morality is that he makes it appear that, roughly, good = stupid. If there were a hard and fast rule in his world, it would seem to be that being an honorable person will certainly lead to pain, humiliation and death. Often, the problems that the more heroic characters encounter are of their own devise, and it usually comes from blindly trusting and acting honorably to the more villainous characters. And so, Ned warns Cersei of his discovery instead of immediately taking action. Robb releases Theon to his home. Rodik refuses to attack on Winterfell until too late, trusting in his enemy's honor (despite knowing his enemy to have none). Catelyn releases Jaime. Renly and Stannis refuse to attack King's Landing, again until too late. Loras pledges himself to Joffrey instead of striking him down. Cate and company trust Frey. Sansa trusts, well, everyone she shouldn't. Time after time, the heroes have the ability and the opportunity to win the day, and time after time they drop the ball and allow villainy to succeed. It has been said that all it takes for evil to win is for good men to do nothing. In this series, good men often surpass doing nothing by doing extremely stupid things to the advantage of the evil. And this is not to mention Tyrion, who is a heroic character completely enthralled to his villainous family and keeping them alive and kicking more than any other. The villains in this series would have no hope of winning at all if it were not for the active interference (sometimes unwitting), in their favor, of the heroes. It's like reading a big, adult Series of Unfortunate Events populated by several Mr. Poes who continually place orphans in Olaf's hands and refuse to hear their warnings (much like Ned dismissed Arya's warnings, just prior to his being arrested/decapitated). And that is a little frustrating, the difference being that this frustration is primarily what Snicket intends-I am less sure as to Martin's intention.

My second gripe, concerning characters deaths, as promised, is that: the deaths don't always seem to be part of some master plan. Sometimes, the deaths just feel kind of tacked on, either for shock or for "realism." And, actually, this is part of a greater concern, the apparent lack of a master plan. As a for instance, way back in book one, you remember how Sansa's wolf, Lady was killed, and how that felt significant? As though, eventually, it would somehow matter that Sansa didn't have her wolf with her? Well... Sansa hasn't really gone through anything better or worse than any of the other Starks, and she's much more alive than some, including one who kept his wolf all the way to the end. It rather seems that Lady's death wasn't particularly significant. And that's the way a lot of the events feel including, sadly, character deaths. Again, this could be viewed as "realistic." But I prefer it when realism is subordinated to drama-when fictional events seem to have form and shape and direction as opposed to the chaos and borderline randomness of the real world. When a character dies, I want there to be a compelling reason for the death, being as it is such an inherently compelling event. Martin sometimes seems to kill his characters out of a sort of whimsy.

My third and final gripe remains roughly the same as it was with the first two books and is, in a nutshell, this: too damned long. Forget the page count; Martin's writing is good enough to read for ten thousand pages, I mean that he's taking too long to get to the point. This third installment of the series ends in a quick succession of highpoints. It's meant to build interest and steam going into the fourth, which it does (frustratingly so, given the time between releases). But most of the third book, like most of the second and the first before it, are build up. Three thousand pages of build up are simply not welcome, and certainly not in the face of a projected three thousand to come. There was even a point, somewhere near page 600 of this book, where I started to question my investment. After all, do I have any assurance that the next book, or the book after, will offer any satisfaction? How long will I have to wait, exactly, for any sort of a sense of closure on anything? How good is Martin's heart? His cholesterol count? Blood sugar? I suppose, on the bright side, that this series helps a person develop their patience and endurance. But, I'll tell you, couple this with my doubts of Martin's having a master plan, and you have a potential nightmare in the making. Is it still possible that he does have a direction in mind, and that book six will end up with all of the strings neatly tied in a satisfactory bow? Yes-that's still possible. But the hope dwindles with every passing page.

In the end, I will continue. Onwards to book four, I say, and quick about it. Frankly, I may have invested too much to turn back, now, no matter what happens. But I'm punishing Martin with one star less on this novel than I'd awarded the previous two. The book has the same quality as the others in the series, and the last fifty pages or so are rather exhilarating (and the scene with Sansa building the castle in the snow is just awesome-the kind of thing Martin must have had planned for a long time), but the slight problems become large over time, sort of like Malcolm's explanation of fractals and chaos theory in Jurassic Park, or something. Unabated, these problems will choke him all the way down to a single star by series end. I only pray it doesn't come to that.

- by DonAthos

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père [1844]

One of the most exciting and best-loved novels of all time, The Count of Monte Cristo is a timeless tale of endurance, courage, and revenge. Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned on an island fortress. After years of solitary confinement in a cramped, dank dungeon, he befriends an Italian prisoner who, with his dying breath, reveals the location of a vast treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. Dantès stages a daring and dramatic escape, retrieves this fabulous fortune, and returns to France to exact revenge on his enemies, posing as the Count of Monte Cristo. Dantès pursues his vengeance to the bitter end, only then realizing that he himself is a victim of fate. This newly revised, unabridged translation is as unputdownable now as it was when the novel first appeared.

Author: Alexandre Dumas père
Genre: Adventure, Classics
Publisher: Penguin Classics (May 27, 2003)
Media type: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audio Book
Pages: 1312 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0140449266
Publication date: 1844–1846


Reader Review

ROBIN BUSS's TRANSLATION from PENGUIN CLASSICS
 
This review is for those who've already decided they want to read The Count of Monte Cristo (you won't regret it!), and don't know which version to get.

Short answer: see review title, duh!

The Count of Monte Cristo is my favorite book, and I've read several translations, both abridged and unabridged.

TRANSLATION
The Buss translation is the most modern, and reads most fluidly. A quick example comparing this translation with the one found on Project Gutenberg:

PG - His wife visited for him, and this was the received thing in the world, where the weighty and multifarious occupations of the magistrate were accepted as an excuse for what was really only calculated pride...

BUSS - His wife visited on his behalf; this was accepted in society, where it was attributed to the amount and gravity of the lawyer's business -- when it was, in reality, deliberate arrogance...

Buss's work reads like the book was written in English. The two or so times that the work is nearly untranslatable, Buss makes a footnote about it (eg, an insinuated insult using the formal "vous" instead of the familiar "tu"). Other translations just skip the subtlety. The most common translation out there (uncredited in my version) reads like a swamp. Trust me, get Buss.

ABRIDGED V UNABRIDGED
Abridged versions of this book rarely say "abridged." You can tell by the size: abridged is 500-700 pages, unabridged is 1200-1400 pages. Go for the unabridged.

The abridged version is VERY confusing! Pruning 1200 pages down to 600 leaves a lot of plot on the cutting room floor. Suddenly, arriving at dinner are 4 new characters; it's very tiring to try to keep up with the hole-ridden story of the abridged versions. And you know where the holes are? Publishers "clean up" the book by omitting the affairs, illegitimate children, homosexuality, hashish trips, etc.

As an added bonus in the Penguin Classics edition, there's a wonderful appendix bursting with footnotes to explain all the 19th century references, and a quick guide to the rise and fall of Napoleon (crucial to the politics in the story).

Hope this helps. Get the book and start reading!

- by J. Cooper

A gripping tale of love and revenge

Warning: Do NOT pick this book up and start it if you have something that you need to do in the next day or three. You won't be able to put the book down, or if you do, you'll move zombielike through your everyday tasks while your mind stays with the adventures of Edmund Dantes.

The Count of Monte Cristo is a delicious book, full of intrigue, great fight scenes, love, passion, and witty social satire. Dumas has a wonderful grasp of human nature and a talent for rendering all the follies of man in delightful, snappy prose. I immediately recognized people that I know (yes, even myself) in his vivid characters, which made the book all the more engaging to me.

Some people might be put off by the size of the book -- it's a pretty hefty volume -- and tempted to buy the abridged version. Don't! I've heard from people who've read both versions that the abridged version is a pathetic, washed out shadow of the full novel. At any rate, as thick and impossibly long as The Count of Monte Cristo may seem when you open it for the first time, you'll feel as though it's far too short by the time you get to the last page.

- by  PurpleKat

The Good and The Bad

I can't decide whether I like this book or not. I suppose I should start with the bad, and finish off with the good.

The first thing that bothered me about this book was the improbability of the events. How an ignorant, naïve sailor could have become a powerful, knowledgable man with deep human understanding is beyond me. Admitedly, he did learn for many years from the Abbé Faria and later studied in the east, but I do not think that it could have turned him into the sudden enigma of the Count. The careers of most of the other characters, perhaps excepting Villefort, were improbable, too. For example, Fernand was a poor fisherman, and while he may have earned his fortune in the war, he could not have recieved enough knowledge and standing there to become a Peer of France.

I also found this book bothersome because of the romanticized and unrealistic descriptions Dumas wrote. I know you will have accused me of extreme realism and cynicism by now, but in my defense, I do like many Romantic novels. This particular Romantic novel was pushing it, however. For example, in the oficial document that tells how Franz's father was killed, he dedicates a paragraph to describing how dark and stormy the night was and how there was snow on the banks next to the river, although technically it was a legal testament. The everyday converstation between the characters is similarly stilted. The love affair between Maxemilien and Valentine was so teary, fake, and idealized, that I wanted to slap them by the end of the book.

And yet, despite all this, I cannot help but admire the book as a work of literature. The psychological twists and turns of this book are amazing. I love the way Edmond is convinced that he is an agent of Providence by doing justice, and how this "justice" goes out of control. I love the fact that the protagonist is in many ways an antagonist, and that this seemingly supper-human man can make mistakes. I always hated how the movies glamorized Edmond and his revenge. The book, instead, makes the revenge all the more profound because you feel a lot of sympathy for his victims.

This book also has a great deal of mystery, and it is fun to guess what is going on behind the scenes. As one person once told me, it is very much like a chess game, in which Edmond is laying out all the pieces but you can never be sure what move he is going to make next.

- by Mistlefoot

Conquistadora by Esmeralda Santiago [2011]

Conquistadora is many vivid things all at once, and for the reader, they happen in your body, imagination and soul. It’s a swashbuckling adventure, visceral and ardent; it’s a historical novel so seamlessly told that you don’t realize your heart’s pounding even as your brain’s amassing a wealth of fascinating new knowledge. This is a book that is like that one small island you’ve been longing for since the great adventure and pirate stories of childhood. But the island is real, and this novel tells a real story--an important piece of history--that has never been told before. It’s a story about Puerto Rico, Esmeralda Santiago’s birthplace, and it shows us the island in a way that we’ve never seen before.

Here also is a portrait of characters I came to know and to care about, far from the usual New World stock cast of rapacious and greedy Spanish plantation owners chasing after slave and Creole girls. I was especially intrigued from the start by Ana, whom we first meet as a teenager in a convent in Seville in 1826, bent over the yellowing pages of some journals. (I have an established proclivity for historical novels that begin in convents!) Ana’s story, as every feisty convent girl’s life story should, begins and ends with rebellion: those journals belong to an ancestor of hers who journeyed to Puerto Rico with Ponce de Leon, and when Ana travels there just after her eighteenth birthday, she is a señorita de buena familia rebelling against expectations--of her class, her gender, and the time period. By 1865, she’s rich: a wealthy plantation owner on the island. She’s lost none of her fire. But when the slaves on whom her sugarcane business was built catch the winds of change when Lincoln is elected in the US, she may lose it all. In the decades in between, Ana loves and loses, and finds her true home and her destiny. Puerto Rico, like many tropical “paradises,” turns out to be not the fantasy she’d dreamed on, but a harsh land with harsh realities--a place that rewards only the toughest. The surprising Ana is an irresistible heroine despite the history she carries. She is a woman of her time, for good or ill. A woman who by the end of this sweeping story, comes to define her life not just by all that she has conquered but also all that she has lost. Most importantly, she lives in the reader’s imagination.

Conquistadora is a novel that surpassed my every expectation. It brings a hitherto unknown swath of history alive through great storytelling and narrative verve.

Esmeralda Santiago has written a brilliant and blazingly alive novel, as engrossing and just plain fun as any I have read in a long while.

Author: Esmeralda Santiago
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Knopf (July 12, 2011)
Media type: Hardcover, Audio Book, Kindle
Pages: 432 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0307268327
Publication date: 12 July 2011


Reader Review

Page-Turner
 
Born in a time when ladies of Spain's high society are expected to be prim and proper, petite main character Ana is an unwelcome force of nature. So unwelcome that her parents abscond her to a convent school (where she meets her best friend and lover, the angelic Elena) and her grandparent's estate (where the history of her ancestors sets her mind and passions on fire).

To Ana, the future is a prison of corsets, parlor halls, and disapproving glances. She hatches a desperate - yet adventuresome - plan to secure her freedom. But to make things work, Ana has to give up bigger and bigger pieces of her soul until the admirably headstrong young girl becomes a cold and twisted warden-- to her husband, her plantation slaves, and ultimately even herself.

Starting with a brief look at the indigenous Boricuas of Puerto Rico and ending with the impact of Abraham Lincoln's assassination, Santiago seamlessly blends history throughout the story. My husband and I found CONQUISTADORA to be a true page-turner.

The book is not without its flaws, however: Santiago sometimes abruptly introduces a new point of view for reasons that become apparent only much later (or sometimes not at all). While her extensive character biographies are always interesting from a historic perspective, they are strangely lacking in character development.

The main characters are either irredeemably flawed or underdeveloped. While I found myself vested in knowing what happened next, if you need someone to root for, this book may not be for you. Some people have been bothered by the "magic realism" in the latter half of the book, but to me it seemed true to life that the characters would believe that one of the slaves would be a seer.

Finally, a warning for anyone with delicate sensibilities. The pages are full of gruesome deaths from accidents, murders, and an epidemic. There is also prostitution, incest and a historically accurate but completely disconcerting amount of adultery and rape.

Despite these weaknesses, CONQUISTADORA is a compelling look at a complex and under-studied time of Puerto Rican -- and at what might happen when a desperate person allows herself to be completely selfish. I recommend it highly. 

- by E. Kennen

 


Great Novel of a Flawed Heroine
 
The most cliché ridden reviews always contain the phrase `sweeping epic'... so imagine how embarrassed I am to begin this review by stating that this is very much a sweeping epic. My apologies.

I feel as if I just spent several days in the sweltering heat and dangerous surroundings of a sugar plantation in Puerto Rico in the middle of the nineteenth century. The writing is lush and evocative and yet words are used sparingly, no pages of chatter describing every leaf and sunset. Very admirable in a novel of this depth. Even more admirable is the unflinching view of how that sugar was harvested and the human toll such an endeavor was thought of as necessary. These people aren't cardboard cutouts that always do the right thing or even the smart thing. It gives an insight into what these plantation owners told themselves to continue demeaning and abusing their slaves, the rationalizations of how they were actually helping them, not hurting them. Though of course there are the characters that simply don't care. And yet, they knew the day would come when everything would change and feared it. Rightly so in fact. People with nothing to lose can be dangerous indeed.

It's not an easy book to read full of suffering and tragedy but I was mesmerized and glad to see a peek into an unfamiliar culture. Much of the historical fiction I've read happens in Europe or America. It was great to see a novel use a different culture. I did stumble a bit over the occasional passages written in what I assume is Spanish but not enough to throw me out of the story and usually the words or sentences are explained in English without resorting to dry interpretations.

The story is far from over and I'm looking forward to more and hope it comes soon.   

- by Kindred "In All But Spirit"

Intense and engaging but not sure I enjoyed the experience. 
 
Intense is one word for this book. I found myself unable to put it down, although it was affecting me emotionally such that I actually became melancholy. The story is primarily that of Ana, a strong-willed woman who is willing to do what it takes to do what she wants - reminiscent to me of Scarlett O'Hara. Like Scarlett, she feels a deep and abiding attachment to her land - in this case, the land that her ancestors "conquered", not one where she lived. Her imagination spurred on by reading the stories of the conquest of the Western Hemisphere, she finds a way to escape the vise-like grip of Spanish society to settle in Puerto Rico. There she finds life is not as luxurious as she hopes - the Hacienda is decaying, its lands reverting to nature, its trapiche falling apart. Quite unlike the lady she was raised to be, she hardens herself physically and emotionally to take on the challenge of creating her dream - a successful Hacienda. However, she must face all the political and social challenges of the day, including slavery.

The story is also an unusual romance, but not your typical romance where one woman loves one man. Rather there are multiple men and women in this story, and their loves for eachother tell part of the tale, but as I said, Ana is the main focus - her thread alone is woven into the tale from beginning to end. That said, the story does flip to different perspectives so that we see the inner workings of each character.

The essence of slavery - and class - are explored intimately in this book, in such a way that one understands both how people allowed slavery to exist, but also why it was - and is - incredibly wrong.

At a few times, I found the main character un-relatable. For example, her lack of connection to her own son - as a new mother myself with a close and loving relationship with my son, it was hard to reconcile her disconnection. Likewise, the way that she de-prioritizes love through her life - while a valid choice - is not something I could relate to. I would be working throughout life to have both love and "career success" you might call it in my life together rather than sacrificing one. But it was a different time and in both these cases I have to understand that the woman made different choices than I would have and probably for very good reasons.

There was one thing that was never resolved for me. There is an ambitious character called Severo. Somehow he always seemed to be near when harm came to others, especially when that harm could have benefited him. However, the author portrayed him in a sympathetic way at times and never settled the question whether he was involved. I ended the book still quite curious on that fact.

- by Shannon B Davis "Nepenthe"

Iron House by John Hart [2011]

Two babies left to die in an icy creak. Two boys who must fight to survive. Two men, two very different lives. One unbreakable bond.


When a twelve-year-old boy murders his tormentor in their brutal orphanage, his older brother takes the blame and runs to New York – into the heart of organized crime. Two decades later, Michael returns to North Carolina with a sentence on his head, the mob in hot pursuit and his long-lost brother in trouble of a different kind. With vast sums in play, political fortunes at risk and bodies piling up, the brothers must reunite to solve the mystery of their shared past.

Author: John Hart
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; First Edition edition (July 12, 2011)
Media type: Hardcover, Audio Book
Pages: 432 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0312380342
Publication date: 12 July 2011

Reader Review

Full meal deal
 
One of the things I love about John Hart is the depth of his writing. Reading a John Hart book is like having the most incredible dinner with ALL the trimmings. His characters are deep, often flawed but you become totally involved with them. In this particular story, he does get harsh and sometimes, well maybe often, bloody. But it does not stop you from wanting to know where all the little jigsaw pieces are going to fit. Every time you think you know where he is headed, he slips onto a new path. Its a love story of many facets. It is also a brutal story of horrible beginnings with people who, at the end, will still be damaged goods. They will learn to be the best they can with all that has happened to them. There is mystery. Yep, lots of it. It will keep you on your toes worrying about how this can turn out ok. But it basically does.

Each John Hart story is unique in its subject but very much the same in the good prose and depth. This is the fourth I have read and I think the most raw one. I suggest you pick up any one of his books. May I say, start with "Down River" or "The Last Child" and then graduate to "Iron House". You should be impressed . No, take that back, you WILL be impressed.

- by Susannah St Clair Foxy Loxy

 

A Southern Gothic Tale Of Family Woe With A Dash Of Gangster Melodrama

"Iron House," the new thriller from the estimable John Hart, is a novel loaded with brutality, violence and bloodshed. A relentlessly paced page turner, the novel whisks you from the halls of an isolated mountain orphanage to the mean streets of a lawless city to the fabulous estate of a wealthy politician. There are enough sadistic orphans, cold blooded hit men, unsavory back room machinations and unpleasant family secrets to fuel several comparable potboilers. With all this orchestrated mayhem, let's just say that "Iron House" won't win any awards for dramatic realism. It is pure escapism--albeit with a decidedly hard edge. And Hart's tale is a fantastic descent into darkness. But surprisingly, amidst all the murder and manipulations, we are served a cast of colorful characters that actually connect. At the heart of the foreboding story lies the power of familial love and the strong bonds of commitment. And despite the cards we're dealt, we all have the choice to try to make a better life.

Yes, this brutal story is also a telling exploration of regret and redemption. Despite all of the novel's violence, it is ultimately the characters yearning to break free from their various chains that delivers a powerful and emotional resonance that I wasn't really expecting. The central figure in Hart's story is a mob assassin named Michael. Having found unexpected love and joy, Michael seeks to part with his dangerous past--but it's not as easy as all that. In a blood soaked escape from the city, Michael reconnects with a disturbed brother and his influential new adoptive family in an effort to keep them safe. Still reeling from their troubled years in a state institution, the brother is facing some demons of his own as people from their collective past are turning up dead. A combination of mob retribution, southern gothic horror, and murder mystery combine to make this relentlessly entertaining.

There is no denying that Hart has a talent for his action set pieces. A torture scene as well as several exquisite gunfights really come alive with palpable tension. In truth, there's almost too much going on here. The dark family secrets are both suitably unpleasant but relatively expected. But it is in the quieter moments that "Iron House" feels the freshest and most surprising. Sequences featuring genuine tenderness really add a needed dimension to what might have been a bleak and twisted drama. But out of the heart of darkness comes light--and the novel's hopefulness strikes a real emotional chord. I wished for even a few more of these in-depth moments. Not for the squeamish or faint of heart, this is an easy recommendation for fans of action thrillers. When the momentum is at a frenzied pitch, it is near impossible to put the book down. KGHarris, 6/11.

- by  K. Harris "Film aficionado"

 

Damaged children, broken adults

When I read the product description for "Iron House" on Amazon I thought it seemed a little clichéd, the mob enforcer who finds love and seeks to break out of his old life, but can't because the mob won't let him go. He finds himself on the run with the woman he loves, who, of course, has no idea who he really is because he has been lying to her ever since he met her. I decided to give it a shot for two reasons; the first is the excellent reputation of John Hart. The second is the creepy, Southern Gothic atmosphere it looked like the book would deliver.

Well, the book does deliver. "Iron House" is consistently interesting, smoothly written, and has a variety of, for the most part, well-drawn characters . I did think the book would center more on the relationship between the two brothers, Julian and Michael, so I was a bit disappointed that Julian himself is missing for much of the book.

There were elements of this book I really enjoyed, and it always held my interest. However, and I know my opinion is in the minority here, I c an only give it three stars. One of the main reasons is for the scenes where the torture inflicted on characters is graphically detailed. Yes, I expected darkness in this book, but how the author chooses to depict it makes a big difference to the reader. For me, it went too far. In the end, it all seemed excessive; too many deaths and too much craziness. I also got tired of reading about the obscene amount of money some of the characters had at their disposal. I would like to have had some hint that Michael was at least going to try to do some good with the money, especially since it was basically ill-gotten gains. I also thought the last two chapters should have been left out of the book. For me, Michael and Julian's last visit to Iron House was a satisfying and proper ending. I imagine a lot of readers will disagree with me on this, but I would have preferred the Michael and Elena storyline to have ended on an ambiguous note. I won't be more specific, because I don't want to spoil anything, but the last chapter did not sit right with me and, in fact, seemed kind of silly.

Judging by the reviews already written for "Iron House," most readers seem to really like it. I just had too many problems with it to rate it any higher.

- by Carla Lilie "carlachris"