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There are books that are like nothing other than themselves. Gormenghast. Lud-in-the-Mist. The Worm Ouroboros.
The Hands of the Emperor is one of those. I love it so much that I can say nothing but here. Here is this book I love. Kermitflail. I hope you love it too.
THotE is about Cliopher 'Kip' Mdang. If, in his native land, you asked Kip who he was, he would respond, "I am Cliopher Mdang. My island is Loaloa. My dances are Aoteketetana." (thanks, edenfalling!) If, within the Empire, you ask who Cliopher is, you will be told that he is the Hands of the Emperor. Kip is an emigrant from the Vangavaye-Ve to the Empire. Kip is a two-cultures child, someone who was raised in one culture and became a bureaucrat in the second. Kip is a man who set out to change the world, and succeeded.
THotE is competence porn. Kip succeeds because he has a gift for the particular and the widespread. Kip can perceive both the local and the Empire-wide consequences of his decisions. Kip wants to change the world. He does. There's a lot of thought about colonialism, and about the importance of colonialized cultures, and about the importance of knowing who you are.
The world is changed, ultimately, because Kip recognizes that his Emperor needs a vacation. From that, the remainder of the novel flows. The novel also flows from Kip's slow, slow realization that his home doesn't recognize what he's done, and his home culture's slow, slow realization of how his work has changed their lives.
THotE is a 900-page novel. It's a big ask. I have read it at least five times since I bought it, in a time when I have barely been able to read novels at all.
e: For an alternate, well-reasoned take on the book, see Skygiants. They are absolutely right that this book is idfic. It hits my id, so. This is the only book I've ever read in which the performance of a ceremonial dance is a page-turner that I stayed up late to finish.
The Hands of the Emperor is one of those. I love it so much that I can say nothing but here. Here is this book I love. Kermitflail. I hope you love it too.
THotE is about Cliopher 'Kip' Mdang. If, in his native land, you asked Kip who he was, he would respond, "I am Cliopher Mdang. My island is Loaloa. My dances are Aoteketetana." (thanks, edenfalling!) If, within the Empire, you ask who Cliopher is, you will be told that he is the Hands of the Emperor. Kip is an emigrant from the Vangavaye-Ve to the Empire. Kip is a two-cultures child, someone who was raised in one culture and became a bureaucrat in the second. Kip is a man who set out to change the world, and succeeded.
THotE is competence porn. Kip succeeds because he has a gift for the particular and the widespread. Kip can perceive both the local and the Empire-wide consequences of his decisions. Kip wants to change the world. He does. There's a lot of thought about colonialism, and about the importance of colonialized cultures, and about the importance of knowing who you are.
The world is changed, ultimately, because Kip recognizes that his Emperor needs a vacation. From that, the remainder of the novel flows. The novel also flows from Kip's slow, slow realization that his home doesn't recognize what he's done, and his home culture's slow, slow realization of how his work has changed their lives.
THotE is a 900-page novel. It's a big ask. I have read it at least five times since I bought it, in a time when I have barely been able to read novels at all.
e: For an alternate, well-reasoned take on the book, see Skygiants. They are absolutely right that this book is idfic. It hits my id, so. This is the only book I've ever read in which the performance of a ceremonial dance is a page-turner that I stayed up late to finish.
