It's a funny thing about trilogies, girls!!!!!!!!! When you get into stories of more than one volume, the results can often be uneven. Though I am not by any stretch of imagination what might be called a Tolkien groupie, I can say, that, on the printed page, "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy mounts in excitement, with each succeeding volume. And it is one of the few to do so.
Now, I absolutely adored Amitav Ghosh's 2008 novel, "Sea Of Poppies," which I think I read about two years ago. As far as I was concerned, that book could have stood on its own, but when I heard Ghosh was planning a trilogy, I was excited. When the second volume finally came out a year ago, I knew I would have to wait another year before reading it. I read 'Poppies' in paperback, and I wanted to wait for this one in the same format, as I intend to keep all three volumes.
The sheer detail of historical period and merchandising techniques (of opium!!!!) not to mention botany, are endlessly fascinating. The story is the kind where you want to lose yourself for hours. And yet....it just lacked the dramatic momentum of "Sea Of Poppies." Maybe I expected too much because of the first book????????? Or maybe, being a trilogy, it was inevitable it had to wane somewhere along the way??????? Only the third and final volume of this epic can answer that question!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Still, it was an absorbing read, with executions, drug deals, artwork, all playing their crucial roles. I can't say I was bored for a minute, and I got many pleasurable moments from it, yet, the thrill that was "Sea Of Poppies" was noticeably missing. Maybe just a case of mid-trilogy bog down.
Does that mean you should not read it?????? Certainly not; once you have read "Sea Of Poppies," you have to go on to the other volume. And I cannot wait for the third. But, since there was a three year gap between "Sea Of Poppies" and "River Of Smoke," and another year of me waiting for the paperback edition, I calculate I will be polishing off the trilogy sometime in 2015!!!!!!!!!!!
And I fully plan on being around, to do so!!!!!!!! Hey, I have come this far; I HAVE to see what happens, how it all ends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And if that is not enough, I am curious about Ghosh's other books, being he is such a skilled writer!!!!!!!!! The reading list grows, and grows, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Put these two on yours at once, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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