The Bedlam Stacks: From the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street

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If that sounds a bit much, that is because it is. In the end it did not surprise me, but did disappoint me, when we have a “giant eagle” style save by a Inca community floating in the clouds.

If you need an example of the cruelty of man and empire you have to look no farther than the slaughter and slavery of the Congo rubber trade. It's hard to root for a guy who is super chill about the Congo. And for a book which tosses that in there as an aside. More 'blink and you miss it' but with massacres. This expedition isn’t really about the trees at all, is it? It’s about getting a decent map, for if – when – the army has to go?’ steal a plant whose exact location nobody knows, in territory now defended by quinine barons under the protection of the government, and inhabited by tribal Indians who also hate foreigners and have killed everyone who’s got close in the last ten years.’ He understood well what grief meant to a markayuq. In the same way that they learnt languages, gathering knowledge carved into stone at the first mention and never forgetting, never lessening, they held sadness just as permanently. Language: English Words: 4,177 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 4 Kudos: 8 Bookmarks: 1 Hits: 74

Spoiler Warning: This article or section may contain spoilers. If this bothers you, proceed with caution. OK, so in the two volumes I've read so far of N K Jemison's Broken Earth trilogy, The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate, there are creatures called Stone Eaters, humans who turn to stone! Is this a thing? I have not come across this in any book before.)

I nodded. He could have. But it felt good to have stood in front of him without flinching and, however stupid it was, I wanted to do it again. I was drawn into this story from the very beginning – I loved the way that the fictional Tremaynes were insinuated into the family history of the real Tremayne family that used to live at Heligan – but even if I hadn’t known that very real place, where the lost gardens are open to visitors, I still would have been captivated. The whole pointlessness of the plot did bother me, as there seemed to be no real goal. There was obstacles as they appeared, but no real drive behind the story to hold the interest. The characters here are interesting enough, though at times their words didn't seem to suit the time period. There's also a guest appearance from a character those who've read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street will recognise. A sweet inclusion, but ultimately just another weird moment for me. I cannot pin down what this story was trying for. The two men reacted quite differently to these things, to other remarkable things they encountered and to the people they met. It became clear that they had different destinies …

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The history of quinine and the East India Company was fascinating, as were the stone statues which moved. A hint here - do not read this book if you dislike magical realism. There is a whole lot of fantastical stuff going on which you may not be able to swallow if you like your fiction real. The difference here of course, there is nothing covert about this storyline. As the story unfolds we learn that there is indeed an ulterior motive and far more sinister developments are underway. Oh and something else the SAS didn't have to deal with: sorcery. The eagerly anticipated new novel from the author of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - a treacherous quest in the magical landscape of nineteenth-century Peru. Definitely recommended for anyone to whom a queer platonic historical fantasy set in Peru sounds interesting. :) I will likely read this and Watchmaker again before Pulley's next book comes out. My edition to the HMC au that I would like very much to write more for. Language: English Words: 2,502 Chapters: 1/1 Comments: 4 Kudos: 5 Bookmarks: 1 Hits: 50

The writing itself is - fine. Technically inoffensive, though with a few typos here and there. There is a tinge, but only a very bare and unstated tinge, of male/male romance. 'Blink and you miss it' stuff. It's possible that the romance and also the entire novel was just too subtle and understated and British for my brash American needs. But subtle can be very, very skilled and cruel if you don't make it boring.

At this point I should explain that this isn’t a sequel or part of a series, that there is a character who appears in both books, but that this is a different story set at a different time in that same world. This is a difficult book for me to review. In many ways it's excellent, and I enjoyed it a great deal, but I feel like I only understand its flaws and am at a loss with regards to how Pulley makes the successful parts succeed. The cover alone made me desperate to get hold of this book, not to mention the description. Exploding trees? Strange events in Peru? Sign me up now, please! I was too caught up in the wonder of what I was reading to ponder the serious questions, but I saw that they were there and they gave the story weight without ever weighing it down. What I missed most was the kind of philosophical battle, which did occur at the end of the Watchmaker of Filigree Street, pitting free will and predestination against each other through characters which you could both support.

As a reader, it felt like Pulley’s research into Peru - not just the country and the layout/scenery, but also the history and language - was very extensive and it really showed throughout her writing. The past ahead. Time is like a river and you float with the current. Your ancestors set off before you did, so they're far ahead. Your descendants will sail it after.” Pulley’s attention to detail and world building was exceptional – I found myself vividly picturing what was occurring throughout the novel, and to me, that is exactly what a novel should do. I received an ARC of this novel from Bloomsbury Publishing in exchange for an honest review – all thoughts are my own. I was smitten when I read Natasha Pulley’s first book, ‘The Watchmaker of Filigree Street’ a year or two ago, and so when I saw that a second book was being sent out into the world I knew that I had to rush out and buy a copy.

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The world he travelled through was so well realised, and the Peruvian jungle and the town of Bedlam felt wonderfully real and alive. The imaginative elements worked well because they came out of the natural world and old traditions, and they spoke of what makes up human. I particularly liked that way that those things sat against practical concerns, particularly the importance of a good cup of coffee. He protested that his leg wasn’t up to the trip; he suspected – correctly – that there was more to the trip than he was being told; he knew that others had tried do the same thing and lost their lives in the process; but he was intrigued and he remembered that his father had told him stories about his own travels to that part of the world, and hinted that there were more stories that he couldn’t tell. If you read The Watchmaker of Filigree Street then you may already know this, but first time readers need to understand going into this book: it requires some patience. I wouldn't describe it as slow because changing the pace would be changing the feeling of the book itself, I would much rather describe it as peaceful and lovingly written. Thus begins a slow-paced epic journey. Others have undertaken this journey before and few have survived it. And they were able-bodied men, whereas Tremayne can barely walk. Tremayne and his companion, his former naval colleague, Clements Markham. They are being sent to: The relationships in the book are very...unsatisfying. Nothing comes of much of them, or they're handled almost superficially. I'm all for slow burns but not if they fizzle into nothing, not if you build up a sort of almost super-human devotion and allow it to go absolutely nowhere.