Sign in with Facebook
Mayim de Vries's Reviews > An Autumn War
An Autumn War (Long Price Quartet, #3)
by
by
This was brilliant. Heartbreaking but brilliant. Also vicious. Still brilliant, if you get my meaning.
The third book in the Longest Price Quartet is neither about cotton or mining industry nor about betrayals and conspiracies (well, maybe a bit); it is mainly about war and other things even worse than book-burning. The intrigue grows in scale and the spins out of control. War is hell waged to escape the fears of what might happen, magic is a weapon of mass destruction. It is not about individual fates anymore. The world is at stake.
“One simple death is the best we can hope for, sometimes. If it saves the world.”
Otah, a ruler by necessity, has governed Machi for past 14 years. He has been forced to assume a role that placed him somewhere between the manager and a demigod (Khai means a servant after all). Years of ceremony and negotiations and court gossip worn him down but didn’t break him; he still refuses to follow the traditions blindly and so instead of having a cohort of wives he is married to one woman only and instead of a healthy flock of offspring that would attempt to kill each other in a bid for power, he has one daughter and one son (and a sickly one at that). But now, a time comes when he needs to sacrifice everything he holds dear in order to protect everything he has been questioning his whole life.
For the ever-expanding Galtic empire, the cities of the Khaiem amount to the anathema. Their schemes aimed at the destruction of the andat, previously thwarted, are about to bear fruit at last. It is possible thanks to a renegade poet, but mainly thanks to one man, general Balasar Gice. Man, ridden so hard by his personal demons that what he planned is not a simple war (don’t be deceived by the title). What he planned, is the end of the world.
The figure of Balasar has been superbly written; this single-minded Galt, physically unprepossessing but of an immense charisma and terrifying strategic mind reminded me of Napoleon in the way he is leading by example or believes that battles are won or lost long before they are fought.
“At heart, he was not a conqueror. Only a man who saw what needed doing and then did it.”
But so is Otah, whether what needs doing is killing a man, taking a throne or waging a war. The clash between these two personalities is one of the main axes the book revolves around. Sparks fly, but equally, tears fall and blood flows. Otah’s transformation is interesting to observe: how he negotiates and compromises between lofty ideals of his youth and the pragmatic considerations of his maturity. Admittedly, Mr Abraham also tries to paint Balasar in different hues to escape the image of a straightforward villain. In fact, what we get is a man of integrity, intelligence, and vision. Sometimes, it is hard to place him as an antagonist at all.
(view spoiler)
Needless to say, I found it hard to accept this reasoning and agree with the premises it has been built on. Every time Balasar was given voice to verbalise his hopes and fears, I wanted to kick him in straight into his double-standarded righteousness. I ended the book knowing that I hate the Galt general and Balasar Gice in particular. I really don't think Mr Abraham can ever redeem them for me.
However, the book is more than the clash of these two titans. I love how Mr Abraham wastes nothing. Not a single motif or a character is forgotten. There is Maati torn between his calling to be a poet and his desire to be a father. Liat, the long-lost lover, makes an appearance as she has been busy these long years, running a house that had been founded to keep watch on the duplicity of the ever-scheming Galts. She brings her son whom fatherhood is shrouded in mystery. There is Otah’s daughter’, half a girl, not quite half a woman yet, already fiendishly smart and independent. The jungle of feelings between parents and children, the motif of a family, of things worth sacrificing for and things that cannot be saved, are also important aspects of many individual arcs. And underlining it all, the reader will find the question of the price we are willing (or unwilling but forced) to pay, and then pay again.
Regardless of the one star killed by Balasar Gice, I have to say that the Autumn War is the best book in the whole set. Well written, repeatedly punching the reader in the most vulnerable places. The closing of chapter 15 and the opening of 16 was viciously brilliant (wait for it!). But, again I need to underline that Mr Abraham surprised me with his grand design. And as much as I can dislike the way he developed the story, or have a preferred alternative, I cannot argue with his version because it has both depth and sense that goes beyond mere neatness. Check yourself.
Also in the series:
1. A Shadow in Summer ✮✮✮✮
2. A Betrayal in Winter ✮✮✮✮✮
4. The Price of Spring ✮✮✮
The third book in the Longest Price Quartet is neither about cotton or mining industry nor about betrayals and conspiracies (well, maybe a bit); it is mainly about war and other things even worse than book-burning. The intrigue grows in scale and the spins out of control. War is hell waged to escape the fears of what might happen, magic is a weapon of mass destruction. It is not about individual fates anymore. The world is at stake.
“One simple death is the best we can hope for, sometimes. If it saves the world.”
Otah, a ruler by necessity, has governed Machi for past 14 years. He has been forced to assume a role that placed him somewhere between the manager and a demigod (Khai means a servant after all). Years of ceremony and negotiations and court gossip worn him down but didn’t break him; he still refuses to follow the traditions blindly and so instead of having a cohort of wives he is married to one woman only and instead of a healthy flock of offspring that would attempt to kill each other in a bid for power, he has one daughter and one son (and a sickly one at that). But now, a time comes when he needs to sacrifice everything he holds dear in order to protect everything he has been questioning his whole life.
For the ever-expanding Galtic empire, the cities of the Khaiem amount to the anathema. Their schemes aimed at the destruction of the andat, previously thwarted, are about to bear fruit at last. It is possible thanks to a renegade poet, but mainly thanks to one man, general Balasar Gice. Man, ridden so hard by his personal demons that what he planned is not a simple war (don’t be deceived by the title). What he planned, is the end of the world.
The figure of Balasar has been superbly written; this single-minded Galt, physically unprepossessing but of an immense charisma and terrifying strategic mind reminded me of Napoleon in the way he is leading by example or believes that battles are won or lost long before they are fought.
“At heart, he was not a conqueror. Only a man who saw what needed doing and then did it.”
But so is Otah, whether what needs doing is killing a man, taking a throne or waging a war. The clash between these two personalities is one of the main axes the book revolves around. Sparks fly, but equally, tears fall and blood flows. Otah’s transformation is interesting to observe: how he negotiates and compromises between lofty ideals of his youth and the pragmatic considerations of his maturity. Admittedly, Mr Abraham also tries to paint Balasar in different hues to escape the image of a straightforward villain. In fact, what we get is a man of integrity, intelligence, and vision. Sometimes, it is hard to place him as an antagonist at all.
(view spoiler)
Needless to say, I found it hard to accept this reasoning and agree with the premises it has been built on. Every time Balasar was given voice to verbalise his hopes and fears, I wanted to kick him in straight into his double-standarded righteousness. I ended the book knowing that I hate the Galt general and Balasar Gice in particular. I really don't think Mr Abraham can ever redeem them for me.
However, the book is more than the clash of these two titans. I love how Mr Abraham wastes nothing. Not a single motif or a character is forgotten. There is Maati torn between his calling to be a poet and his desire to be a father. Liat, the long-lost lover, makes an appearance as she has been busy these long years, running a house that had been founded to keep watch on the duplicity of the ever-scheming Galts. She brings her son whom fatherhood is shrouded in mystery. There is Otah’s daughter’, half a girl, not quite half a woman yet, already fiendishly smart and independent. The jungle of feelings between parents and children, the motif of a family, of things worth sacrificing for and things that cannot be saved, are also important aspects of many individual arcs. And underlining it all, the reader will find the question of the price we are willing (or unwilling but forced) to pay, and then pay again.
Regardless of the one star killed by Balasar Gice, I have to say that the Autumn War is the best book in the whole set. Well written, repeatedly punching the reader in the most vulnerable places. The closing of chapter 15 and the opening of 16 was viciously brilliant (wait for it!). But, again I need to underline that Mr Abraham surprised me with his grand design. And as much as I can dislike the way he developed the story, or have a preferred alternative, I cannot argue with his version because it has both depth and sense that goes beyond mere neatness. Check yourself.
Also in the series:
1. A Shadow in Summer ✮✮✮✮
2. A Betrayal in Winter ✮✮✮✮✮
4. The Price of Spring ✮✮✮
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
An Autumn War.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
April 12, 2018
–
Started Reading
April 12, 2018
– Shelved
April 17, 2018
–
Finished Reading
