The Empire Strikes Back
Apr. 24th, 2026 07:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qatsiBook Review: Flood of Fire, by Amitav Ghosh
I think it would be difficult to read this without the earlier books [1], [2] in the trilogy. This time I felt I was relying on previous information for context. It is interesting the way that characters gain and lose importance between the books - this time the principal storylines feature Zachary Reid, Shireen Mistry, and Kesri Singh. The British (with many Indian hired hands) and Chinese are engaged in diplomacy and war over opium. Not that it stands too much scrutiny to compare the situation to current affairs, but one of the combatants, whose war is of choice, is militarily overpowering, yet the other, for whom the conflict is existential, ought not to be underestimated. The result is some superposition of victory and stalemate, profiteering and collateral damage.
On reflection, it is unsurprising that Neel is the constant through the books. There are too many coincidences in the way people meet and rediscover each other, but they are clever and necessary for the saga to work. The ending is particularly brief but does wrap things up.
I think it would be difficult to read this without the earlier books [1], [2] in the trilogy. This time I felt I was relying on previous information for context. It is interesting the way that characters gain and lose importance between the books - this time the principal storylines feature Zachary Reid, Shireen Mistry, and Kesri Singh. The British (with many Indian hired hands) and Chinese are engaged in diplomacy and war over opium. Not that it stands too much scrutiny to compare the situation to current affairs, but one of the combatants, whose war is of choice, is militarily overpowering, yet the other, for whom the conflict is existential, ought not to be underestimated. The result is some superposition of victory and stalemate, profiteering and collateral damage.
On reflection, it is unsurprising that Neel is the constant through the books. There are too many coincidences in the way people meet and rediscover each other, but they are clever and necessary for the saga to work. The ending is particularly brief but does wrap things up.