Yeah, I thought Mistborn the first age was a good trilogy. Second, not so much. Other than “Night Watch”, “Interesting Times” is another Discworld book that involves a revolutionary themes. Though not as good as Night Watch. Night watch quote: “But here’s some advice, boy. Don’t put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That’s why they’re called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.”
Please don't ever apologize for such indulgent gushes, I absolutely love it! I honestly can't recall the last time (if ever) that a book has stirred so much passion and emotion in me, so I am either reading the wrong books or not reading deeply and intentionally enough lol. This story sounds incredible, I am definitely going to have to check it out. Anthropology and religion are two topics that interest me to no end, so this should be pure candy for my brain. Thanks for sharing!!
I appreciate your opinions but two separate Japanese historical societies, both based in Japan, reviewed this book and found it to be highly accurate in regards to setting and culture of 1600's Japan. I'm sure their papers are still able to be found online. They stated that they found very few errors, and the ones they did find were minor. In fact, the majority of the main criticisms the book has gotten from people in the west (not all, but most) have been proven to be invalid. (Not speaking of narrative here but the culture and setting of the time period as represented in the book.) This is the same situation that happened with the film Apocalypto by Mel Gibson. He wrote a film that took place in the Mayan civilization in the early 1500's. Everyone in the world began attacking him for historical inaccuracies until the Mayan's themselves wrote a paper explaining how extremely accurate his film was.
This was sooo helpful, I have been at a loss for where to start! Purple & Black sounds like the most appealing place for me to dip my toes in, but I also can't deny that I am morbidly curious about The Company now hahaha. Thanks for sharing!!
@@esmayrosalyne you can’t go wrong with either tbh haha. Purple and Black is super quick though, so if you’re ever in need of something short yet impactful, then I’d suggest having that on tap!
I put this on my tbr when you mentioned it in another video. I'm a devout Catholic and it is one of the most corrupt institutions in the world. My friends are like how are you a part of this? And it's because I believe in the teachings. I tell them even Jesus had Judas in the beginning-- so it's always been corrupted 😂 So I love these themes. Even though they're dark and difficult
I’ve been wanting to read more Endo, since I love Silence. A few years back I listened to a podcast that featured Van Gessel (translator for The Samurai). Apparently he was friends with Endo and that’s how he came to translate a lot of Endo’s books, but not Silence, which had been translated previously. As I recall, Gessel said there’s a major translation error in the climax where a harsher word is used in such a way that he feels it skews the meaning of the scene. Something to watch out for, in case you take issue with the climax in Silence. (It may not be an issue at all, but thought I’d mention it ahead of time.)
What an interesting setting and concept!! A Japanese character traveling to New Spain (Mexico) and other regions in 1613!! During the time of Spanish colonialism in Latin America. I am purchasing this book! Thanks for the recommendation!!
Have you read, Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas? If not and you love The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After will grab your heart. Enjoy Carpe Diem
I was a little hesitant to watch the video because I like to go into books like this cold and blind, so I watched far enough to know I DEFINITELY want to read this. His book Silence is the one I am starting as soon as I'm done with my current read, and now this one is on the list too.
As someone who was very deep in religious systems for much of my life, I think you give religion much too easy a pass here. When important aspects of a religion include the subservience of women and the abhorrence of homosexuality (to name a couple of many highly problematic and harmful teachings), it's clear that it's not simply a matter of humans twisting good practices for their own evil designs - rather, the very core is rotten.
@@joshyaks My discussion around religion is really restricted to the limits of this book, which doesn’t include exploration around the role of women or homosexuality etc. That would require hours and hours of discussion, not 30 minutes. Of course religion has bad aspects, I have seen those myself. And yes, some of that is to do with scripture/teachings. We’re aligned there, that’s for sure. I could have emphasised that more perhaps. It requires a much more nuanced conversation, factoring in a lot of different elements, that were definitely not in the scope of this video/review. I should have made that clear.
I LOVED Shusaku Endo’s Silence and I’m currently reading The Samurai. The exploration of faith and religion is so fascinating. But damn, Silence was very very dark. Can’t wait to read the rest of the Samurai.
Oh cool, congrats on 2K! I like that you open saying you're going to gush for 5 to 10 mins . . . and the video's a half hour long 😂😂😂😂 I already added this to my TBR when you mentioned it in a previous video, but holy crap this sounds incredibly interesting. Definitely sounds like it goes more into the history and social/religious consequences than Shogun does - that was more of a political thriller anyway.
@@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels thanks! Yeah I know hahahaha. It was 40 minutes long but I ended up cutting a bit out as I thought that was tooooo long. Based on what you’ve commented before, I think you’d enjoy this one!
@@bookswithzara I'm definitely looking forward to it even more after this, I'm just wary of jumping straight in after I finished reading Shogun so recently - want to approach this when it'll feel a little more fresh.
great stuff! - i haven't read any of these yet, but i'm glad they're out there waiting for me. just demolished the engineer trilogy, and after a quick "other authors" break am already on the scavengers. that mixture of technical detail and wry wit is unique :0
Completely agree with your last sentence! You’ve got so much more to tap into, which is one of the best things about Parker. So many high quality books!
@@thatsci-firogue no joke this actually made me quite emotional. It’s an absolute honour to have you be a part of this journey, Rogue 💙 Your username is always one I keep an eye out for whenever I release a video.
I recently read the short story collection Under My Skin by KJ Parker. It had some Saloninus stories and Prosper's Demon and a bunch of other stuff. It was totally amazing.
Oh, the audiobook for non-fiction has worked very ocassionally for me... like only thrice (as far as I recall) and in the three cases I ended up purchasing the physical/ebook and rereading it there! Ebooks I think are uncomfortable, for some reason, the medium is less immersive for me; it's like I need the pages! Special editions, I never was too much into it; there weren't many in my home country, and after relocating so much, I try not to get bulky things. I have Dune's special editions and I'll keep ogling Folio's BoTNS because shipping to Aus is outrageous. I agree on hyped books, sometimes they don't really work for me, and I think it's mostly because what hypes a book is generally not what I (subjectively!) prefer to read. It was a great analysis and discussion, Zara, thanks for sharing it!
The Company sounds right up my dark alley. This was a perfect video for me today because I was looking up KJ Parker this weekend trying to figure out where to start. lol. Before this video I was leaning toward The Folding Knife but I The Company sounds amazing. Awesome video Zara.
When you first put KJ Parker on my map a year or so ago I went to GoodReads to skim through a bunch of the reviews of his books, and ultimately decided to put Savages on the TBR. But after not being able to find it anywhere, I then added The Folding Knife as well, and just the other day also added Purple and Black after seeing you talk about it. And now I'll also add The Company, and hopefully will be able to find one of these books somewhere!
@@joshyaks I would definitely not recommend Savages for the first or even second book of his to read. It’s good but I don’t think it showcases his talent that well. Purple and Black is on SubPress (kindle version) in the US so should be easier to get than the other two.
Also you made me want to put down my other books and pick up more Parker. Lol but I'm reading Abraham!😂 I just bought the Engineer Trilogy after hearing Allen and most of his discord who read it really liked it. I haven't bought the Saevus Corax trilogy or 16 Ways yet.
I started with the Saloninus books and loved them off the bat. The Hammer is also a great one. His super natural stuff does creep me out but I guess that’s that part of their charm. I recommend “Prosper’s Demon” to someone who loves horror/ suspense / mystery and they loved it.
Underrated show, I'm telling everyone to watch it. Imo HBO isn't marketing it that much and they didn't even give it time to grow. Series takes time to grow and season 2-3 is usually when it can take off. I hope Hulu or Netflix can pick it up. Great interview BTW 👍
Awesome guide. Will definitely look forward to your updated guide once you make it through his trilogies. I only recently read his stuff for the first time myself (I know, I'm an infidel, somehow read 1000+ fantasy books before his) but I absolutely loved The Company and The Folding Knife - absolutely agree with your takes on them here. I'm going to the Engineer trilogy next mainly because I've always wanted to read that since I was back in Uni for civ. eng. and I have them in a box somewhere. I also heard he has a new book coming in Feb 2025!
@@OnlyTheBestFantasyNovels thanks! Yeah I think I’m going to try and get to Engineer as soon as I’ve read some stuff for the man himself. He does have a new series coming out next year, there’s going to be some strong magical elements in it!
Wow!! I was trying to find where to start videos and articles on KJ P but came up with nothing! I feel like I manifested this 😂 Thanks for doing this ❤
YES! Can't say enough good things about Piranesi, I am way overdue for a reread. Would recommend giving 2 To Ramble's recent review of that one a watch, their in-depth discussion of that book made me appreciate it on a whole new level. Also, I had never heard of Just City, but consider me intrigued!
I can't wait to get to The Just City! I've listened to her and Ada Palmer on their podcast and they have some very thoughtful discussions on a variety of topics
@@kaizacorp I’m really looking forward to the series they’re writing together. I really need to read Palmer too. Had no they had a podcast. Will check it out!
Okay, now I'm definitely going to have to read The Just City. I liked Among Others from her but I've never gotten around to anything else, I guess this will be my next read from her!
Oooh I really like this little twist on it, with you also addressing readers. Super great topics, and I honestly wholeheartedly agree with everything you said (boring as that may be lol). You never fail to deliver some great food for thought 🤍
I agree with you wholeheartedly about how the excessive use of violence for the sake of shock value can be very distasteful. That's what turned me off from watching Game of Thrones.
I think violence for the sake of violence is one of the things that frustrate me the most; I enjoy reading dark/grimdark, but there has to be a reason for it. There are so many other ways in which something can be grimdark that does not require violence as the sole mean. I honestly through the band-on-a-mission was more of a fantasy thing, rather than exclusively grimdark, tbh. Regarding the swearing, I used to think the same until I watched AP Canavan's video-lecture on swearing and realised there is so much more to it; I think that my problem with swearing in fantasy (in general) is that it almost always feels anachronistic and it takes me out of the immersion. Women in grimdark warrants a sole video discussing that, in my humble opinion--but your point still stands; sometimes characters (just like people) have layers, and it takes time (pages) to develop them fully. Great video!
Exactly on the violence point! The band on a mission thing is definitely not exclusively grimdark. I’ve just noticed more recent grimdark books have this trope. I’ve always associated swearing with when I was in school and all the supposedly cool kids would swear for the sake of it and it kind of lost its meaning, if that makes sense? Like I just found it really dumb. So when I see it done excessively in books I can’t help but think about that. Agreed that the topic of women in grimdark needs a whole video! I may do one but need to think of the right angles. Thanks for these great comments, Livia! Always a joy to speak to you.
"Evil begins when you begin to treat ppl as things" Pratchett. I don't mind the violence. I mean I love Hollywood movies that are filled with it and they're not grimdark. To me it's grimdark when the characters, especially the "protagonist", uses ppl as things. The reason there's such harsh realities in these books is because of that way of thinking. Which is the probably the point behind good grimdark.
Interesting point and I agree with you to an extent! Same as you, I don’t mind violence but I think grimdark and violence are conflated too much at times!
Yeah I’d agree with that. It’s what first popped into my head of what Grimdark was, when I first heard of it. SPOILERS for “The Company” The part in the company when Kunessin and his men plot to take the gold, lives and freedoms from their indentured servants instead of a truly fair share of the gold. Gold which that the servants in fact found…on an island Kunessin in fact stole, that was grimdark. There was no violence, maybe stronge implications of violence, but none really done.
