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elzbethmrgn's Reviews (667)
I'm not putting this in a fantasy category because the fantasy is only the trope to get the protagonist to the past where she can have a lot of sex with a young musclebound scotsman. Which is not entirely a bad thing, I suppose, but there's nothing I would call fantasy beyond that.
I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, really. It fulfilled the need I had for a long audiobook (33 hours!), and despite the reviews mentioning all of the sex (won't somebody think of the children!) it was really a non-event. My main problem was that I would be pottering around doing the housework, Claire would get into some kind of danger, and her Scotsman would ride in (literally) and save the day. Again. At which point I was reminded I was listening to a romance, not just the story of a lady who got magically transported back in time.
Davina Porter narrates the audio version brilliantly, and I will keep going with the series.
I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book, really. It fulfilled the need I had for a long audiobook (33 hours!), and despite the reviews mentioning all of the sex (won't somebody think of the children!) it was really a non-event. My main problem was that I would be pottering around doing the housework, Claire would get into some kind of danger, and her Scotsman would ride in (literally) and save the day. Again. At which point I was reminded I was listening to a romance, not just the story of a lady who got magically transported back in time.
Davina Porter narrates the audio version brilliantly, and I will keep going with the series.
The brilliance of this book is in the details. Both lives of Patricia contrast in obvious, clichéd ways. The details of both her lives is what made this book lovely. The awful, soul-destroying relationship, and the wonderful, supportive relationship. The life with no career and the life being financially independent. The life with children who love and respect her in her elderly years, and the life where her children shove her in a home.
The book isn't without flaws. Most of the dialogue was stilting and felt unnatural. The awfulness of one life in contrast to the 'fantastic' other life really was predictable and annoying.The threesomes with Michael without the need for making babies? Ehhh. I'm also really not a fan of alt history at all, although that isn't really a big thing in the book (think Forrest Gump: the story is about his life, rather than the history that happens around him).
But, I love that things happened to Patricia at the same time in both lives. The description of those lives is the best part. The tedium of a boring life with a boring husband. The joy of finding an equal to spend your life with. The awfulness of pregnancy and childbirth and raising toddlers. The wonderfulness of finding something fulfilling to do with your life and time. I relate to a lot of those things. I cried a lot.
The book isn't without flaws. Most of the dialogue was stilting and felt unnatural. The awfulness of one life in contrast to the 'fantastic' other life really was predictable and annoying.
But, I love that things happened to Patricia at the same time in both lives. The description of those lives is the best part. The tedium of a boring life with a boring husband. The joy of finding an equal to spend your life with. The awfulness of pregnancy and childbirth and raising toddlers. The wonderfulness of finding something fulfilling to do with your life and time. I relate to a lot of those things. I cried a lot.
Well I'm still not sure if I liked this story, but after gadfly-Sokrates comes to play (no spoilers, that's in the blurb) it was delightfully classic Walton (again, with the depictions of childbirth and parenting that broke my heart, although not as badly as [b:My Real Children|18490637|My Real Children|Jo Walton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1380218782s/18490637.jpg|26174356]).
I feel like a passing acquaintance with [b:The Republic|30289|The Republic|Plato|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386925655s/30289.jpg|1625515] would help here. Having had it come up multiple times in my uni life lately is what inspired me to finally give the series a go, so I can't speak to what the story would look like without knowing the basic premise of Plato's thought experiment.
I'll keep going with the series.
I feel like a passing acquaintance with [b:The Republic|30289|The Republic|Plato|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386925655s/30289.jpg|1625515] would help here. Having had it come up multiple times in my uni life lately is what inspired me to finally give the series a go, so I can't speak to what the story would look like without knowing the basic premise of Plato's thought experiment.
I'll keep going with the series.
I'm still not cool with alt-history but I do love Jo Walton's style very much. This is a fairly cozy British whodunit, with an intrigue tackling broader social and political issues. I'll read the next one, but not in a hurry.
A quick read. Light, but not as frothy as I anticipated. Historical fiction done right in a show-not-tell way.
The main thing I lothe about historical fiction is trying to shoehorn in Actual People, and Kowal only tries it once (as a brief cameo, at that).
I forgive it, I enjoyed the book.
The main thing I lothe about historical fiction is trying to shoehorn in Actual People, and Kowal only tries it once (as a brief cameo, at that).
I forgive it, I enjoyed the book.
Walton calls her series "Still Life with Fascists", and, yeah.
Not a whodunit, as in [b:Farthing|183740|Farthing (Small Change, #1)|Jo Walton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442714837s/183740.jpg|1884104], but a 'will the British Detective Inspector and his competent-but-no-genius sidekick prevent the murder?'. I prefer the former for my British detectives.
And yet, in our current political clime, probably quite triggering (oh ho what a pun, she says of the bomb-plot novel).
Not a whodunit, as in [b:Farthing|183740|Farthing (Small Change, #1)|Jo Walton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442714837s/183740.jpg|1884104], but a 'will the British Detective Inspector and his competent-but-no-genius sidekick prevent the murder?'. I prefer the former for my British detectives.
And yet, in our current political clime, probably quite triggering (oh ho what a pun, she says of the bomb-plot novel).
This one was my favourite of the trilogy, and I think it's because Something actually Happened. But to get to this point, to understand the jeopardy and the conflict, you do need to read the first two.
On the other hand, the Something that Happened is so far removed from the plot of the first two stories that I can completely understand why fans of the first don't like the last overmuch.
On the other hand, the Something that Happened is so far removed from the plot of the first two stories that I can completely understand why fans of the first don't like the last overmuch.
I laughed my arse off in the beginning, I was a little concerned at the turn of events in the middle, but by the end I was satisfied, if not thrilled. A solid 'it was ok' out of five.
