Empire of Lies from Raymond Khoury is a mixture of alternate history, some supernatural, and a historical thriller. While I was a little disappointed that has more to do with my expectations being, perhaps, too high. It is still an enjoyable read and definitely a thought-provoking alternative history.
While in some respects the story moves along at a nice clip it still seems a little sluggish to me. I think that is because of the use of some actual historical events which have to be contextualized for this alternative world. These sections were the ones that made me want to skim, but they did not make me want to stop reading. Since I am opposed to skimming fictional works I didn't do so though these were the points where I would stop for the night or to go do something else. In that respect they did interrupt the flow of the book for me.
Many alternative histories are based simply on a different outcome of a pivotal event, Germany winning World War II is a common example. While this book follows that basic starting point, the supernatural element makes this a bit of a different beast. Rather than just exploring what might have been if something had been different, this is a case of something being done with a larger purpose to change the course of history. That changes the story since part of what we think about is the why and the what will happen next in addition to the differences between what we know and what the alternative is.
For those who like to think about what, if anything, the book says about current events or even recent history, there are many ways to spin things. I found that part of my takeaway is that an extreme creates another extreme, a negative society creates a negative society in response. Thus the Ottoman Eurasia and the Fundamentalist Christian North America. both are horrible options and formed because of intolerant extremism, much like what we are experiencing in the USA right now, the stupid and immoral (GOP and Cult of Evangelicalism) trying to eliminate all differences. No doubt other readers can and will bring different perspectives and come to different conclusions, which is, I think, one of the book's strengths.
I think readers of any of the represented genres will find enough here to enjoy it. For me, this falls into the category of books I'm glad I read but probably will never revisit.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via BookishFirst.
While in some respects the story moves along at a nice clip it still seems a little sluggish to me. I think that is because of the use of some actual historical events which have to be contextualized for this alternative world. These sections were the ones that made me want to skim, but they did not make me want to stop reading. Since I am opposed to skimming fictional works I didn't do so though these were the points where I would stop for the night or to go do something else. In that respect they did interrupt the flow of the book for me.
Many alternative histories are based simply on a different outcome of a pivotal event, Germany winning World War II is a common example. While this book follows that basic starting point, the supernatural element makes this a bit of a different beast. Rather than just exploring what might have been if something had been different, this is a case of something being done with a larger purpose to change the course of history. That changes the story since part of what we think about is the why and the what will happen next in addition to the differences between what we know and what the alternative is.
For those who like to think about what, if anything, the book says about current events or even recent history, there are many ways to spin things. I found that part of my takeaway is that an extreme creates another extreme, a negative society creates a negative society in response. Thus the Ottoman Eurasia and the Fundamentalist Christian North America. both are horrible options and formed because of intolerant extremism, much like what we are experiencing in the USA right now, the stupid and immoral (GOP and Cult of Evangelicalism) trying to eliminate all differences. No doubt other readers can and will bring different perspectives and come to different conclusions, which is, I think, one of the book's strengths.
I think readers of any of the represented genres will find enough here to enjoy it. For me, this falls into the category of books I'm glad I read but probably will never revisit.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via BookishFirst.