I am from a colonised nation - I've had family - and friends killed as recently as 2019 as a result of colonial conflict - the over arching question as to the necessity of violence to deal with colonial aggression is one I feel is very relevant right now -especially as we deal with the prospect of potential reunification and what that would look like with respect to violence, given the recent history of my country.

I didn't find the text preachy - in fact I thought the part where Ramy talks about putting on a show of the stereotypes that colonisers have of him - and picking to be an Indian prince rather than a street rat was REALLY insightful - and spoke to British issues of class as well as race, but I did think the issue could have been more effective if it had been less explicitly stated - leading the reader to an 'Oh shit!' realisation moment, as they realise how problematic something is, rather than telling them where they should see the problems. Which is obviously easier for a reader to say a writer should do it, than it is for the writer to actually make it work!

My issue with the style is just that - the style - and its not at all unique to this book. I think because I read so much literature from the period, when people attempt to mimic it just stands out in a big way for me. Writing a perfect pastiche is almost impossible - and writing speculative fiction is very difficult - Kuang has given herself both challenges! She makes a great go of it - but there are moments that break the effect for me - just like how in Bridgerton novels - Violet referring to another house as being 'down the block' breaks it for me there - and Kuang I would say does a better than average job, and certainly a better job than Quinn - I think because her work is so clearly well and thoroughly researched.

I did a script writing class with Julian Fellows, who wrote Gsofrod Park and Downton - he talked extensively about how linguistic patterns can make or break faux period writing, and that it can be something American writers of period fiction set in England can struggle with because the upper class linguistic patterns of England of the preWWII period are so unique and specific that they are incredibly difficult to mimic, and require so much contextual knowledge that they are, as a class of writing, just less successful - now he won an oscar for writing English toffs, so he probably has a vested interest in believing that only upper class English people can write upper class english people - but I'm not convinced he's wrong.