The Two of Swords: Part Two
The second volume in The Two of Swords trilogy by World Fantasy Award-winning author K. J. Parker. "Why are we fighting this war? Because evil must be resisted, and sooner or later there comes a time when men of principle have to make a stand. Because war is good for business and it's better to die on our feet than live on our knees. Because they started it. But at this stage in the proceedings," he added, with a slightly lop-sided grin, "mostly from force of habit." A soldier with a gift for archery. A woman who kills without care. Two brothers, both unbeatable generals, now fighting for opposing armies. No-one in the vast and once glorious United Empire remains untouched by the rift between East and West, and the war has been fought for as long as anyone can remember. Some still survive who know how it was started, but no-one knows how it will end. The Two of Swords is the story of a war on a grand scale, told through the eyes of its soldiers, politicians, victims and heroes.
Series
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4 primary books#2 in The Two of Swords
The Two of Swords is a 4-book series with 4 released primary works first released in 2015 with contributions by K.J. Parker.
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3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
The Lodge, a mysterious guild of craftsmen with untold wealth and mysterious goals, stretches across a divided empire and beyond. Now, as various forces continue their endless, bloody battles for dominance, the Lodge has finally begun to be more open about what it wants and what it will do.
Review
I said in my review of the previous volume that the story was perhaps best read as one giant volume, and I now modify that a bit. In some ways, it's probably best read as released – as a long series of linked stories. Read all at once, the sameness of it all begins to wear. Though the story is carried forward by a host of different characters from different backgrounds, their perspectives all feel pretty much the same. The same things happen (immaculate plans that go entirely wrong or hopeless muddles that work out beautifully), they feel the same way about them (mainly bemused and confused), and they look at life the same way (fatalistic or pessimistic). It's the same problem as all Parker books, but compounded.
That said, because of Parker's other norm of generic places and names, it's often quite hard to follow who's who and what's happening where. Reading the segments far apart would make them feel fresher, but I'd think it would be extremely difficult to follow the plot. As it is, it's always plots within plots, and the constant failure of sure things because there's always someone smarter you didn't know about.
That said, there is forward motion in this middle segment, with some of the hidden figures finally beginning to declare themselves and at least a start at unraveling some of the secrets and mysteries the book has put forward.
It's in some ways a satisfying progression, even if built from very familiar elements. I sometimes feel that Parker has developed a complete world, and each of his books is an attempt to show a different part or time of it. If so, this book is again that in microcosm – we get the perspectives of a wealth of actors and sides, none with complete information. I knocked down the score a bit because I found it all quite hard to keep track of.
