Dubi reviewed The rising by Ian Tregillis (The alchemy wars -- book two)
Review of 'The rising' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Well, this was much better than the first book.
Having finally decided he's done with his exposition, and also gotten over his obsessive need to demonstrate his knowledge of dutch architecture, in The Rising Tregillis finally delivers on the promise that the Mechanical only hinted at. This page-turner delivers non-stop action (although one wonders whether a careful tally of the passage of time along each of the three plot lines would not reveal some substantial issues -- certainly the end of the book raises some questions about the concurrent passage of time).
The book follows three sub-plots in a recurring pattern of chapters: Berenice's escape from New Amsterdam, Daniel (nee Jax)'s search for the legendary Queen Mab, and (now Captain) Longchamps' struggle to protect Marseilles-in-the-West. One of the book's strengths is in the cliffhangers at the end of many of the chapters, leading the reader to want to rush through …
Well, this was much better than the first book.
Having finally decided he's done with his exposition, and also gotten over his obsessive need to demonstrate his knowledge of dutch architecture, in The Rising Tregillis finally delivers on the promise that the Mechanical only hinted at. This page-turner delivers non-stop action (although one wonders whether a careful tally of the passage of time along each of the three plot lines would not reveal some substantial issues -- certainly the end of the book raises some questions about the concurrent passage of time).
The book follows three sub-plots in a recurring pattern of chapters: Berenice's escape from New Amsterdam, Daniel (nee Jax)'s search for the legendary Queen Mab, and (now Captain) Longchamps' struggle to protect Marseilles-in-the-West. One of the book's strengths is in the cliffhangers at the end of many of the chapters, leading the reader to want to rush through the next two plotlines to discover the resolution. Unfortunately, this is often achieve through the annoying trickery of hiding from the reader something that is known to the character from whose perspective the story is told. At the end of one episode the character would be praying for his or her life, certain that death has come for them, and next time they appear, it is revealed that they had planned for this already, and knew that in fact, they were not quite lost just yet. This happens numerous times. It is particularly common in the Longchamps plotline, where Tregillis again and again stretches the survival of the capital of New France using this very trick. At some point, not only does this become tired, but it also undermines my faith as a reader in the narrative itself. I can't sympathize with the danger facing the characters if I know by the next time I'll meet them, there will be some deux ex omissione that will save the day, no sweat.
If you're wondering what happens to Visser, gratefully his plotline takes place mostly off screen, and his contribution to the story is minimal. Which I found to be a blessing, particularly given how little Tregillis actually did with him in terms of moving forward not just the narrative, by the underlying moral of his story, when he did arrive at the scene.
Because while this book was certainly jam-packed with action, it was woefully lacking in actual story, but more importantly (and ironically), it was lacking in soul. In many ways it is the exact opposite of its predecessor, which often sacrificed plot advancement for a philosophical discussion. Here the philosophy is completely discarded to allow for big explosions and grand gestures.
I can only hope that the concluding volume will find the balance between these two elements, and bring this intriguing story to a strong ending.
