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The Siege #2
How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It
This is the story of how the City was saved, by Notker the professional liar, written down because eventually the truth always seeps through.
The City may be under siege, but everyone still has to make a living. Take Notker, the acclaimed playwright, actor and impresario. Nobody works harder, even when he's not working. Thankfully, the good citizens of Classis appreciate an evening at the theatre even when there are large rocks falling out of the sky.
But Notker is a man of many talents, and all the world is, apparently, a stage. It seems that the Empire needs him - or someone who looks a lot like him - for a role that will call for the performance of a lifetime. At least it will guarantee fame, fortune and immortality. If it doesn't kill him first.
The City may be under siege, but everyone still has to make a living. Take Notker, the acclaimed playwright, actor and impresario. Nobody works harder, even when he's not working. Thankfully, the good citizens of Classis appreciate an evening at the theatre even when there are large rocks falling out of the sky.
But Notker is a man of many talents, and all the world is, apparently, a stage. It seems that the Empire needs him - or someone who looks a lot like him - for a role that will call for the performance of a lifetime. At least it will guarantee fame, fortune and immortality. If it doesn't kill him first.
354 pages, Paperback
First published August 18, 2020
535 people are currently reading
3,693 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Parker
133books1,602followersK.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 418 reviews
May 10, 2023
Absolutely marvelous in every way. Such an ingenious plot that will stick with me forever.
July 16, 2020
This is the direct sequel (and most likely ending) of the series that started with Sixteen Ways to Defend a walled City, taking place some 7 years later.
It follows the pattern on the first book with a personal narration of the (anti)-hero of the book, a city boy from a Theme family who didn't like the casual violence his father, a minor Green boss, dealt to various violators of Theme rules, violence he witnessed from an early age as his father decided that training his son to be a Green boss cannot start too early;
So Notker decided to get away from the Themes and since career opportunities in the City were limited for non-Theme citizens of the lower classes, he became a (mediocre to bad) actor, (moderately good if we take him to his word) playwriter and (superb) impersonator of the rich and famous. Now he has to play (quite reluctantly but sadly unavoidably) the ultimate role of a dead city leader; however things do not stop there as there is an ongoing siege, the ruling classes stunned by it and allowing the army to rule for the past 7 years may try to reassert their power, while the Themes now legalized may need to start contributing more to the war effort; not to speak of his one-time lady love from his teen years, currently manager/actress of a successful theater and (official as the dead man is rumored to play both sides as they say) mistress in chief of the dead man Notker has to impersonate.
And if that is not enough, Ogus still wants the city razed and all Robur dead and has a million-man army outside the walls and still rules the former Robur empire, so has all the manpower and riches to keep going on for a long time.
And as Notker puts it, it's like the duck and the hunter, the duck can hide successfully 9 times out of ten, but it takes only one good shot and the duck is dinner...
So Notker has also to balance his (dubious) loyalty to the city to his private survival needs...
It took me a while to get into this one as its funny, irreverent tone doesn't quite match the times, but when I started it seriously, I really couldn't put it down; lots of funny stuff, drama, reversals of fortune, twists (though some are more telegraphed than others) and a great definite ending.
Highly, highly recommended and even better than Sixteen ways to Defend a Walled City
It follows the pattern on the first book with a personal narration of the (anti)-hero of the book, a city boy from a Theme family who didn't like the casual violence his father, a minor Green boss, dealt to various violators of Theme rules, violence he witnessed from an early age as his father decided that training his son to be a Green boss cannot start too early;
So Notker decided to get away from the Themes and since career opportunities in the City were limited for non-Theme citizens of the lower classes, he became a (mediocre to bad) actor, (moderately good if we take him to his word) playwriter and (superb) impersonator of the rich and famous. Now he has to play (quite reluctantly but sadly unavoidably) the ultimate role of a dead city leader; however things do not stop there as there is an ongoing siege, the ruling classes stunned by it and allowing the army to rule for the past 7 years may try to reassert their power, while the Themes now legalized may need to start contributing more to the war effort; not to speak of his one-time lady love from his teen years, currently manager/actress of a successful theater and (official as the dead man is rumored to play both sides as they say) mistress in chief of the dead man Notker has to impersonate.
And if that is not enough, Ogus still wants the city razed and all Robur dead and has a million-man army outside the walls and still rules the former Robur empire, so has all the manpower and riches to keep going on for a long time.
And as Notker puts it, it's like the duck and the hunter, the duck can hide successfully 9 times out of ten, but it takes only one good shot and the duck is dinner...
So Notker has also to balance his (dubious) loyalty to the city to his private survival needs...
It took me a while to get into this one as its funny, irreverent tone doesn't quite match the times, but when I started it seriously, I really couldn't put it down; lots of funny stuff, drama, reversals of fortune, twists (though some are more telegraphed than others) and a great definite ending.
Highly, highly recommended and even better than Sixteen ways to Defend a Walled City
April 9, 2021
“Best of luck with it,� he said, “but I don’t honestly think it’s for us, thanks all the same.�
“There’s a siege in it,� I told him. “And a love story.�
He hesitated. “Sieges are good,� he said. “Tell you what. Why don’t you go away and rewrite it with just the siege, and forget about the other stuff? Sieges are going down really well right now.�
The reason sieges are on everybody’s mind lately inside the City is the hundreds of thousands of Barbarians camped outside the gates who have been trying for the last seven years or so to breach the walls and kill every last of its Robur citizens.
We learned how a single man, an engineer and builder of bridges, managed to pull a miracle out of his hard-hat and the save the capital of the empire from the hordes of Ogus in “Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City�. [This second book can be read independently though]
The engineer ultimately died in battle but the city still stands and the dark-skinned inhabitants have learned to live with the stress, somehow. Some of them are even interested in going to the theatre and this is where Notker comes in: a self-confessed professional liar and stand-up comedian who specializes in impersonations of City bigwigs, Notker supplements his income by writing plays for his fellow actors.
Virtue triumphant, evil utterly vanquished, a positive, uplifting message, a gutsy, kick-ass female lead and, if at all possible, unicorns. I have to confess I’m no scholar, so for all I know there may be unicorns, in Permia or somewhere like that, so maybe one component of that list does actually exist in real life. Wouldn’t like to bet on it, though.
His true talent for me lies in his cynical, sarcastic running commentary on the history of how he became directly involved in the defence of the City. Against his will, of course. Who would be mad enough to write for himself a role as the ruler of the Robur empire? Who wants the aggravations of hard work, ungrateful subjects, plotting dignitaries and venal functionaries? Not to mention the barbarian horde at the gates, trying their damn best to get you sacked from the job?
Yet this is exactly the sort of trouble Notker finds himself thrown in when a group of power-brokers in the Palace kidnap him and more-or-less promise to torture him and kill all his friends unless Notker agrees to impersonate Lysimachus, the current city liberator-figure, absent from the public view due to an unfortunate incident with a catapult stone.
That’s why the Invincible Sun gave us fear. It makes us smart. Show me somebody who’s afraid of nothing because he’s got nothing to be afraid of, and I’ll show you a cow. Humans are at their very best when they’re scared shitless.
Necessity is the mother of invention and survival is the strongest motivator for anybody who finds himself in this sort of quandary. Notker must either rise to the occasion or be written out of the script, with terminal consequences. So he accepts the role forced on him: to impersonate the heroic Lysimachus as he tries to outsmart the various groups who fight over the remains of the Empire. Among them the Army leaders, the Admiral of the Fleet, the Imperial senators, the Palace functionaries, the Green and Blue rival Themes that control the city quarters with an iron grip and the Ogus hordes outside the gates. Complicating matters, he must also date Lysimachus� mistress, a well-known actress that happens to be on eof Notker’s old flames [the kick-ass female lead from the imaginary script].
It’s a hopeless task, and most of the time Notker is tempted to run around like a headless chicken, flapping his arms and crying in abject terror. But failure is not really an option.
It’s remarkable how hope breeds in this city, like rats.
... and what’s theatre about if not peddling hope to people who ought to know better?
They want theatre? Lets give them theatre on a grand scale!
They want Notker to project power and authority? Let’s give them what they want and then some more!
This will be the role of a lifetime!
I wanted to laugh. All my working life, all the effort and skill we put into it, structures we build out of words and costumes, greasepaint and pretty scenes painted on cloth; castles in the air. Do we change the world? No. We make people feel better, for a little while. I could almost hear myself pitching to a manager. Castles in the air, I’d say, they’ve been done to death. Now a castle under the ground; that’s something new.
>>><<<>>><<<
This is a great sequel to the first siege novel, and even as it took me a lot longer to warm up to Notker and his deeds (he’s not an engineer was basically my only complaint) , I have to admit K J Parker is in top form here with his signature black comedy and morality puzzles build around a fantasy world without magic but with plenty of political, military and technological complications.
Stones and people; what they call a symbiosis. Stones piled up into a wall keep you safe. Stones lobbed over a wall squash you flat. Why does everything in life have to be so ambivalent?
As promised in the ouverture, there’s a siege, and a love story (of sorts) and, if the unicorns may remain elusive, we might come out from the theatre with a moral lesson about the corrupting nature of power, if we care to pay attention to the man in imperial motley up on the scene:
Anyone who thinks killing inconvenient people and sending soldiers to burn down cities is a good idea is Ogus, sooner or later. I wasn’t him, not yet, just a man doing impressions, but that’s the risk with staying in character. Sooner or later, the character stays in you. Or, as my mother used to say, don’t pull faces, you’ll stick like it.
>>><<<>>><<<
As an unexpected bonus in the afterword I have come across a link to a site built by fans of K J Parker that might make it easier to spot the numerous Easter Eggs and oblique references to other works by the author that share the same worldbuilding:
“There’s a siege in it,� I told him. “And a love story.�
He hesitated. “Sieges are good,� he said. “Tell you what. Why don’t you go away and rewrite it with just the siege, and forget about the other stuff? Sieges are going down really well right now.�
The reason sieges are on everybody’s mind lately inside the City is the hundreds of thousands of Barbarians camped outside the gates who have been trying for the last seven years or so to breach the walls and kill every last of its Robur citizens.
We learned how a single man, an engineer and builder of bridges, managed to pull a miracle out of his hard-hat and the save the capital of the empire from the hordes of Ogus in “Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City�. [This second book can be read independently though]
The engineer ultimately died in battle but the city still stands and the dark-skinned inhabitants have learned to live with the stress, somehow. Some of them are even interested in going to the theatre and this is where Notker comes in: a self-confessed professional liar and stand-up comedian who specializes in impersonations of City bigwigs, Notker supplements his income by writing plays for his fellow actors.
Virtue triumphant, evil utterly vanquished, a positive, uplifting message, a gutsy, kick-ass female lead and, if at all possible, unicorns. I have to confess I’m no scholar, so for all I know there may be unicorns, in Permia or somewhere like that, so maybe one component of that list does actually exist in real life. Wouldn’t like to bet on it, though.
His true talent for me lies in his cynical, sarcastic running commentary on the history of how he became directly involved in the defence of the City. Against his will, of course. Who would be mad enough to write for himself a role as the ruler of the Robur empire? Who wants the aggravations of hard work, ungrateful subjects, plotting dignitaries and venal functionaries? Not to mention the barbarian horde at the gates, trying their damn best to get you sacked from the job?
Yet this is exactly the sort of trouble Notker finds himself thrown in when a group of power-brokers in the Palace kidnap him and more-or-less promise to torture him and kill all his friends unless Notker agrees to impersonate Lysimachus, the current city liberator-figure, absent from the public view due to an unfortunate incident with a catapult stone.
That’s why the Invincible Sun gave us fear. It makes us smart. Show me somebody who’s afraid of nothing because he’s got nothing to be afraid of, and I’ll show you a cow. Humans are at their very best when they’re scared shitless.
Necessity is the mother of invention and survival is the strongest motivator for anybody who finds himself in this sort of quandary. Notker must either rise to the occasion or be written out of the script, with terminal consequences. So he accepts the role forced on him: to impersonate the heroic Lysimachus as he tries to outsmart the various groups who fight over the remains of the Empire. Among them the Army leaders, the Admiral of the Fleet, the Imperial senators, the Palace functionaries, the Green and Blue rival Themes that control the city quarters with an iron grip and the Ogus hordes outside the gates. Complicating matters, he must also date Lysimachus� mistress, a well-known actress that happens to be on eof Notker’s old flames [the kick-ass female lead from the imaginary script].
It’s a hopeless task, and most of the time Notker is tempted to run around like a headless chicken, flapping his arms and crying in abject terror. But failure is not really an option.
It’s remarkable how hope breeds in this city, like rats.
... and what’s theatre about if not peddling hope to people who ought to know better?
They want theatre? Lets give them theatre on a grand scale!
They want Notker to project power and authority? Let’s give them what they want and then some more!
This will be the role of a lifetime!
I wanted to laugh. All my working life, all the effort and skill we put into it, structures we build out of words and costumes, greasepaint and pretty scenes painted on cloth; castles in the air. Do we change the world? No. We make people feel better, for a little while. I could almost hear myself pitching to a manager. Castles in the air, I’d say, they’ve been done to death. Now a castle under the ground; that’s something new.
>>><<<>>><<<
This is a great sequel to the first siege novel, and even as it took me a lot longer to warm up to Notker and his deeds (he’s not an engineer was basically my only complaint) , I have to admit K J Parker is in top form here with his signature black comedy and morality puzzles build around a fantasy world without magic but with plenty of political, military and technological complications.
Stones and people; what they call a symbiosis. Stones piled up into a wall keep you safe. Stones lobbed over a wall squash you flat. Why does everything in life have to be so ambivalent?
As promised in the ouverture, there’s a siege, and a love story (of sorts) and, if the unicorns may remain elusive, we might come out from the theatre with a moral lesson about the corrupting nature of power, if we care to pay attention to the man in imperial motley up on the scene:
Anyone who thinks killing inconvenient people and sending soldiers to burn down cities is a good idea is Ogus, sooner or later. I wasn’t him, not yet, just a man doing impressions, but that’s the risk with staying in character. Sooner or later, the character stays in you. Or, as my mother used to say, don’t pull faces, you’ll stick like it.
>>><<<>>><<<
As an unexpected bonus in the afterword I have come across a link to a site built by fans of K J Parker that might make it easier to spot the numerous Easter Eggs and oblique references to other works by the author that share the same worldbuilding:
October 10, 2020
I don’t have to convince Parker’s fans to buy his books; they’ll do it anyway - even his weaker books beat most of the low fantasy published nowadays. How to Rule the Empire and Get Away With It is a loose sequel to Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, but it works as a standalone. And it’s great
Notker, a cynic, actor, and playwright has a knack for impersonating influential people. His acting skills and physique allow him to win the audience and make a living. Things get complicated when the enemy’s trebuchet kills Lysimachus, a venerated war hero. Without him, the city is doomed. It turns out Notker resembles him. A bit. He doesn’t have scars, and he dislikes blood and violence, but who cares. Definitely not the conspirators who coerce him into impersonating the hero.
Notker’s ex-girlfriend, Hodda, gets caught up in intrigue as well. To make matters more interesting, she used to date the real Lysimachus. Not to mention other influential figures. The pair gets tangled in a web of lies, and things escalate quickly. The Senate appoints Notker as Emperor and wants him to lead the war against King Ogus and his ruthless warriors. While Hodda plays an important role in the story, we stay in Notker’s head and POV. Like most of Parker’s protagonists, he’s no hero:
Notker’s sardonic voice, and his cynically philosophical asides about life, love, and politics, charmed me. Despite his shortcomings, Notker makes do. He uses his wit and resources to ensure an exciting and surprising finale. I love Parker's use of tight first-person narration. It always makes me laugh, think, and brood over the condition of humanity.
Parker conveys backstories through instant immersion into the everyday life of Notker, an actor turned Emperor trying to save the day against impossible odds. He has no illusions about his countrymen, but he’ll try to help them, anyway.
Much as I enjoyed Sixteen Ways to Defend The Walled City, I liked How to Rule the Empire and Get Away With It more. It feels tighter and Notker is easier to like than Orhan, even if there are a few moments where pacing could be improved. Still, this is a fantastic novel. Parker provides an immersive story with clever twists and uncomfortable truths about human nature and society in elegant yet utterly unpretentious prose.
One could argue that whole of Parker's oeuvre has the same general feel. And that he writes only one character with the same fatalistic but humorous outlook on life. And yet, as a writer, he gets away with it because he does it so well and he always offers unexpected twists. How to Rule the Empire and Get Away With It is darkly funny and cheerfully horrific. I had a great time reading it.
Notker, a cynic, actor, and playwright has a knack for impersonating influential people. His acting skills and physique allow him to win the audience and make a living. Things get complicated when the enemy’s trebuchet kills Lysimachus, a venerated war hero. Without him, the city is doomed. It turns out Notker resembles him. A bit. He doesn’t have scars, and he dislikes blood and violence, but who cares. Definitely not the conspirators who coerce him into impersonating the hero.
Notker’s ex-girlfriend, Hodda, gets caught up in intrigue as well. To make matters more interesting, she used to date the real Lysimachus. Not to mention other influential figures. The pair gets tangled in a web of lies, and things escalate quickly. The Senate appoints Notker as Emperor and wants him to lead the war against King Ogus and his ruthless warriors. While Hodda plays an important role in the story, we stay in Notker’s head and POV. Like most of Parker’s protagonists, he’s no hero:
Me, I don’t care about the bad guys, so long as they keep the hell away from me. When they get too close in my face, I tell lies and run away. That means I’ll never be a hero, but I don’t mind that. I do character parts and impersonations.
Notker’s sardonic voice, and his cynically philosophical asides about life, love, and politics, charmed me. Despite his shortcomings, Notker makes do. He uses his wit and resources to ensure an exciting and surprising finale. I love Parker's use of tight first-person narration. It always makes me laugh, think, and brood over the condition of humanity.
Ah, the people. My countrymen, my fellow citizens, my brothers. Mind you, some of them are all right, when you get to know them. But a lot of them aren’t; and here’s a funny thing, because when you mix them together, the ones that are all right and the ones that aren’t, as often as not the resulting blend is far worse than the sum of its parts. Greedier, more cowardly, more stupid.
Parker conveys backstories through instant immersion into the everyday life of Notker, an actor turned Emperor trying to save the day against impossible odds. He has no illusions about his countrymen, but he’ll try to help them, anyway.
Nothing changes more often, more rapidly or more radically than the past. Yesterday’s heroes are today’s villains. Yesterday’s eternal truths are today’s exploded myths. Yesterday’s right is today’s wrong, yesterday’s good is today’s evil. And tomorrow it’ll all be one hundred and eighty degrees different, on that you can rely.
Much as I enjoyed Sixteen Ways to Defend The Walled City, I liked How to Rule the Empire and Get Away With It more. It feels tighter and Notker is easier to like than Orhan, even if there are a few moments where pacing could be improved. Still, this is a fantastic novel. Parker provides an immersive story with clever twists and uncomfortable truths about human nature and society in elegant yet utterly unpretentious prose.
One could argue that whole of Parker's oeuvre has the same general feel. And that he writes only one character with the same fatalistic but humorous outlook on life. And yet, as a writer, he gets away with it because he does it so well and he always offers unexpected twists. How to Rule the Empire and Get Away With It is darkly funny and cheerfully horrific. I had a great time reading it.
August 16, 2023
In this second book of the series, another reluctant civilian is forced into the role of hero to protect the city from a never-ending siege. This time, it is an actor, who literally has to play a role - first as a war hero and then as emperor. He also has to face the constant carping of his “empress�. The book can be read as a standalone, but there is some history that you’ll miss without reading the first book. I think that both books are charming and witty, and don’t end the way I expected them to. 4.5 stars
June 26, 2022
"... what the people want is something that looks at first sight like real life, but which actually turns out to be a fairy tale with virtue triumphant, evil utterly vanquished, a positive, uplifting message, a gutsy, kick-ass female lead and, if at all possible, unicorns." pg 11, ebook
K.J. Parker (pen name for Tom Holt) gives readers all of that in this book - sorry, minus the unicorns.
The city has been under siege for decades. Readers are given the history of all that in the last book.
In this entry in the series, it is all about surviving and keeping hope alive against unbelievable odds. The enemy outside the gates outnumbers the survivors in the city by thousands. What hope can be had?
Enter Notker, a professional actor who, among other things, excels at mimicking city leaders.
"Accordingly, the death of Lysimachus - if true - was a devastating blow to me personally, purely because imitating him accounted for something like forty per cent of my income. Sure, you can still imitate people after they're dead, but there just isn't the same demand." pg 24, ebook
When Notker gets pulled into government, he shows an unexpected talent for keeping the city's hopes alive. It is a delight finding out how he does all of it, so I won't spoil it for you.
You don't have to have read the first book in the series to appreciate this one. (I read the first months ago and didn't really remember much of it.) But I imagine if you read them back to back, you'll find some hidden gems tying the two books together.
"If you stopped to think about it you'd never do it, so don't stop and think." pg 98, ebook
The most interesting character in the book is a tie between Notker and Hodda (the female lead, so to speak). Both develop as the story goes along in predictable and unpredictable ways. I loved every twist as the characters fought for their survival.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It is a cross between historical fiction and something that feels like a Shakespearean play. Highly recommended.
K.J. Parker (pen name for Tom Holt) gives readers all of that in this book - sorry, minus the unicorns.
The city has been under siege for decades. Readers are given the history of all that in the last book.
In this entry in the series, it is all about surviving and keeping hope alive against unbelievable odds. The enemy outside the gates outnumbers the survivors in the city by thousands. What hope can be had?
Enter Notker, a professional actor who, among other things, excels at mimicking city leaders.
"Accordingly, the death of Lysimachus - if true - was a devastating blow to me personally, purely because imitating him accounted for something like forty per cent of my income. Sure, you can still imitate people after they're dead, but there just isn't the same demand." pg 24, ebook
When Notker gets pulled into government, he shows an unexpected talent for keeping the city's hopes alive. It is a delight finding out how he does all of it, so I won't spoil it for you.
You don't have to have read the first book in the series to appreciate this one. (I read the first months ago and didn't really remember much of it.) But I imagine if you read them back to back, you'll find some hidden gems tying the two books together.
"If you stopped to think about it you'd never do it, so don't stop and think." pg 98, ebook
The most interesting character in the book is a tie between Notker and Hodda (the female lead, so to speak). Both develop as the story goes along in predictable and unpredictable ways. I loved every twist as the characters fought for their survival.
I enjoyed this book a lot. It is a cross between historical fiction and something that feels like a Shakespearean play. Highly recommended.
December 14, 2021
If anything, this one might be a better read than the first, but only because I fell in love with the different characters a bit more. The first was a very engineering kind of novel. This one takes place in the same city, but years apart, and the focus is quite amusing.
Acting.
I mean, sure, we've got this cool little commonplace trope going on here where an actor takes over for whatever supreme ruler has just kicked, right, and we love it because it's absurd and full of absolute peril and we hope to see the little squirt get away with it and perhaps even do a better job of being Emperor than the original. RIGHT? Or is that just me? Nah. I think there are a lot of us who wish our supreme leaders would just get swapped out with an actor who then grows into his/her role and fixes the things that are so obviously wrong. :)
But yes, there's still a Siege going on here. And therefore it is still a good Xmas book. Who do we want to see swapped?
Not the author. This is too fun. And now that I know that K. J. Parker is just another name for Tom Holt, it looks like I have a growing list of books I need to read.
Acting.
I mean, sure, we've got this cool little commonplace trope going on here where an actor takes over for whatever supreme ruler has just kicked, right, and we love it because it's absurd and full of absolute peril and we hope to see the little squirt get away with it and perhaps even do a better job of being Emperor than the original. RIGHT? Or is that just me? Nah. I think there are a lot of us who wish our supreme leaders would just get swapped out with an actor who then grows into his/her role and fixes the things that are so obviously wrong. :)
But yes, there's still a Siege going on here. And therefore it is still a good Xmas book. Who do we want to see swapped?
Not the author. This is too fun. And now that I know that K. J. Parker is just another name for Tom Holt, it looks like I have a growing list of books I need to read.
Read
June 29, 2021Second book in this series about the siege of an alt-Byzantium, with once again a lying cheat finding himself in charge and turning out to be cleverer than everyone else as he weasels his way to save the city.
Very much the same strengths and weaknesses as the first. The politics and the siege details and the technicalities are all wonderful, plausible and interesting. The unreliable, shitty narrator is always good value, as is the world of untrustworthy people where most things go wrong. However, and almost impressively, this long book with a huge cast has exactly two women with speaking parts, both of whom constantly undermine our narrator's efforts to save the city. And the racial element (the people of the City, head of a brutal colonial empire, are black, the entire besieging force of millions made up of most of the other nearby countries, is mostly white) remains very clunkily done and doesn't add anything I can see.
Very much the same strengths and weaknesses as the first. The politics and the siege details and the technicalities are all wonderful, plausible and interesting. The unreliable, shitty narrator is always good value, as is the world of untrustworthy people where most things go wrong. However, and almost impressively, this long book with a huge cast has exactly two women with speaking parts, both of whom constantly undermine our narrator's efforts to save the city. And the racial element (the people of the City, head of a brutal colonial empire, are black, the entire besieging force of millions made up of most of the other nearby countries, is mostly white) remains very clunkily done and doesn't add anything I can see.
August 21, 2020
Sixteen Ways to Defend a City was one of my favorite books of 2019. It was hilarious, clever and the main character had a completely unique voice. How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It is a brilliant sequel set 15 to 20 years later where our original protagonist has already been forgotten about and replaced in the people’s minds by his burly and heroic body guard Lysimachus, a far more suited and palatable savior for the commoners to worship and for the politicians to control than a simple engineer.
Notker is a struggling performer, a man of many talents and few scruples, whose life and personal relationships all revolve around the performing arts. As in The Man in the Iron Mask and many classic tales of old, Notker, a rather average man, is called upon to perform the old switcheroo when Lysimachus is squashed by a trebuchet-flung boulder. His skills as an impressionist and reasonable likeness make him the only choice and his ability to improvise, his expertise in the craft of theatre and his willingness to do anything to keep his head attached to his neck make him the perfect one. He’s both a realist and a magician.
“Me, I don’t care about the bad guys, so long as they keep the hell away from me. When they get too close, in my face, I tell them lies and run away. That means I’ll never be a hero, but I don’t mind that. I do character parts and impersonations�.
I loved the writing style of the entire book. It’s quite Shakespearean in terms of there being a play within a play (sometimes within another play), the swapping and assumption of multiple identities and an everyday person rising to a place of power. It’s also a very different sounding voice to any other fantasy books I’ve read. The humor is so unbelievably dry and it’s hard not to chuckle constantly. I have no idea how Parker manages to manifest these characters that, at first, seem very average in life but turn out to be almost genius in the chosen field. He also breaks down the world of politics wonderfully, throwing back the curtain to reveal the incompetence of those in charge, the lies that they live and die for and the sudden swings in power between those who have worked their whole life for it and those that stumble upon it. It’s easy to see the parallels between the utter shiteness of what we see everyday in the real world and what’s put in front of us in the pages of this book.
As you can probably tell I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Parker has created a world full of wit, ingenuity, unlikely tactics and reluctant heroes and there is nothing else quite like it. If this series is a play this is absolutely the second act with very little going the way I imagined, a protagonist who is constantly on the verge of being stabbed in the back and an overall feeling of impending doom. If you’re after something totally different from the rest of your TBR pile I highly recommend How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It.
A huge thanks to Angela Man and Orbit Books for providing me a physical copy of the ARC. I don’t enjoy using an e-reader and the pandemic has me buying a lot of books but there is nothing quite like surprise book mail. I immediately set my sights on getting this read as soon as possible in an effort to get my review done in time for release date and it proved to be no problem at all because I couldn’t put it down.
This review was originally posted at The Fantasy Hive
Notker is a struggling performer, a man of many talents and few scruples, whose life and personal relationships all revolve around the performing arts. As in The Man in the Iron Mask and many classic tales of old, Notker, a rather average man, is called upon to perform the old switcheroo when Lysimachus is squashed by a trebuchet-flung boulder. His skills as an impressionist and reasonable likeness make him the only choice and his ability to improvise, his expertise in the craft of theatre and his willingness to do anything to keep his head attached to his neck make him the perfect one. He’s both a realist and a magician.
“Me, I don’t care about the bad guys, so long as they keep the hell away from me. When they get too close, in my face, I tell them lies and run away. That means I’ll never be a hero, but I don’t mind that. I do character parts and impersonations�.
I loved the writing style of the entire book. It’s quite Shakespearean in terms of there being a play within a play (sometimes within another play), the swapping and assumption of multiple identities and an everyday person rising to a place of power. It’s also a very different sounding voice to any other fantasy books I’ve read. The humor is so unbelievably dry and it’s hard not to chuckle constantly. I have no idea how Parker manages to manifest these characters that, at first, seem very average in life but turn out to be almost genius in the chosen field. He also breaks down the world of politics wonderfully, throwing back the curtain to reveal the incompetence of those in charge, the lies that they live and die for and the sudden swings in power between those who have worked their whole life for it and those that stumble upon it. It’s easy to see the parallels between the utter shiteness of what we see everyday in the real world and what’s put in front of us in the pages of this book.
As you can probably tell I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Parker has created a world full of wit, ingenuity, unlikely tactics and reluctant heroes and there is nothing else quite like it. If this series is a play this is absolutely the second act with very little going the way I imagined, a protagonist who is constantly on the verge of being stabbed in the back and an overall feeling of impending doom. If you’re after something totally different from the rest of your TBR pile I highly recommend How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It.
A huge thanks to Angela Man and Orbit Books for providing me a physical copy of the ARC. I don’t enjoy using an e-reader and the pandemic has me buying a lot of books but there is nothing quite like surprise book mail. I immediately set my sights on getting this read as soon as possible in an effort to get my review done in time for release date and it proved to be no problem at all because I couldn’t put it down.
This review was originally posted at The Fantasy Hive
September 7, 2024
The first one was pure magic. This one was normal� but still pretty good. RTC
March 25, 2023
Briefly - Hum... Maybe this is something of a "marmite" book. Comedy fantasy is not an easy genre and this one didn't really do it for me.
In full
The city has been under siege for years. Along comes Notker, sometime playwright, sometime actor, frequent liar and part time criminal. The Empire appears to need him for a new role whether he likes it or not. This then is Notker's story.
Maybe unsurprisingly Notker, a thespian, frequently addresses his audience - us the reader - while he is telling his tale. Initially I found this light hearted and easy to read though maybe less easy to understand what is going in the city/story. However around 20% in things became much clearer and I found myself more engaged with the story. The story is partly addressed to the reader and partly narrative of events etc. I enjoyed Notker as a character but the rest felt rather shallow.
In the end I found this mildly entertaining and easy enough to read. However there was nothing here to get my teeth into. The story was ok I guess however I was never held by it I've not read anything by this author previously. I don't recall reading anything by Tom Holt - the real author - either. Comedy writing (indeed "comedy" generally) is a tough area I think. I don't actually regret reading this however I never really felt all that engaged in the machinations of the war and the siege. I imagine fans of the author may well be pleased with this book even if it wasn't particularly for me.
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
In full
The city has been under siege for years. Along comes Notker, sometime playwright, sometime actor, frequent liar and part time criminal. The Empire appears to need him for a new role whether he likes it or not. This then is Notker's story.
Maybe unsurprisingly Notker, a thespian, frequently addresses his audience - us the reader - while he is telling his tale. Initially I found this light hearted and easy to read though maybe less easy to understand what is going in the city/story. However around 20% in things became much clearer and I found myself more engaged with the story. The story is partly addressed to the reader and partly narrative of events etc. I enjoyed Notker as a character but the rest felt rather shallow.
In the end I found this mildly entertaining and easy enough to read. However there was nothing here to get my teeth into. The story was ok I guess however I was never held by it I've not read anything by this author previously. I don't recall reading anything by Tom Holt - the real author - either. Comedy writing (indeed "comedy" generally) is a tough area I think. I don't actually regret reading this however I never really felt all that engaged in the machinations of the war and the siege. I imagine fans of the author may well be pleased with this book even if it wasn't particularly for me.
Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review
March 20, 2024
Entertaining book! Not amazing but a really good idea executed really well
September 2, 2020
This book is an excellent sequel to the first one. I loved the first; I love the second even more.
Different cast but the characters are still as gripping as ever.
Different cast but the characters are still as gripping as ever.
June 13, 2020
In past reviews, I've tended to rate higher than I should have. In my last review, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars even though I spent most of the review nitpicking it and complaining about the need for an editor. I should've marked it as a 3 but the story and world that was built encouraged me to push past that edge. I have no reservations about this book being a solid 5.
Our story is set up right in the first chapter. Notker is a playwright and actor who is trying to shop his play around but nobody wants to buy. His story is considered to be too similar to another work named The Man in the Bronze Mask which is this world's equivalent to our own stories by Dumas and others. The Man in the Iron Mask was a real person imprisoned in Paris by Louis XIV. When told his play was done time and time again and that he needs something fresh, he brainstorms out loud and mentions a scene with a siege. The potential client says a full story about a siege would be better and to return if he writes one like that. The entire book we are about to read is a story about a city under siege where Notker is forced to impersonate someone else much like the character in the play he was trying to sell.
This particular snippet from Act 1, Chapter 2 stood out for me. I think it's a great example of the type of humor that's consistent through the book:
'The door opened, and this woman stood there staring at me.
You wouldn't put her on the stage. You wouldn't dare to. Stereotypes and caricatures are all very well - our life's blood, if the truth be told - but there's such a thing as overdoing it. So, if you want an obnoxious old hag, you go for two or three out of the recognized iconography: wrinkles, hooked nose, wispy thin white hair like sheep's wool caught in brambles, shriveled hands like claws, all that. You don't use them all, because it's too much. Which is why you don't get much real life on the stage. Nobody would believe it.
"Hello, Mother," I said.'
Notker's humor and attitude are what keeps the story flowing. This is a very smart story. Sometimes Notker will explain the structure of plays and what happens in the different acts. Whereas he's relating them to the siege in general, or villains versus heroes, K. J. Parker is really telling us as readers what is going on or how things will be developing. There's many read between the lines moments and as a reader it makes me feel extremely gratified to find them. I caught on to the big twist as I usually do but didn't expect the reveal of it to occur in the form that it did.
One of Notker's talents is impersonations. Out of these, one that he pulls off the best is Lysimachus who is a renowned war hero. The city the story takes place in is under a relentless siege from an opposing empire who for the most part shoot boulders or flaming pots at the city. One of these boulders crushes a building Lysimachus was in, killing him. Seizing an opportunity, three acquaintances of his decide to kidnap Notker and force him to impersonate Lysimachus in their attempt to take over the government. Notker has no choice in the matter but rises to the occasion proving time and time again that he makes for a good ruler after all. Eventually, the plot gets more complicated with numerous assassination attempts and Notker as Lysimachus finds himself crowned Emperor. There's a will he or won't he flee from his duties subplot as well. His former lover, current friend, forced to turn Emperess Hodda tries to encourage their escape. The further they get along in their plans, the more caught up they become with the struggles of the war going on. Nothing goes as planned and there's a lot of luck for our hero.
I was pleasantly surprised that the easiest plot line the author could have written did not come to fruition. In fact, the secret of Notker's identity does come up repeatedly but those that know the truth simply don't care to see beyond their own needs. This was excellent.
The resolution to the entire conflict was clever and rewarding. This is one of the safest reviews I might ever write because I do not want to give anything away. I want to save the details for the rest of the future readers out there because there will be many. The ending was concise enough for this to be a one and done novel but also left the story clearly available for a sequel in the future if Parker feels inclined to do so. I'm personally fine either way. I'd greedily eat up a sequel but this was a fine one-off if that's what its legacy will be. I'd be glad to have this sitting on my bookshelf.
Our story is set up right in the first chapter. Notker is a playwright and actor who is trying to shop his play around but nobody wants to buy. His story is considered to be too similar to another work named The Man in the Bronze Mask which is this world's equivalent to our own stories by Dumas and others. The Man in the Iron Mask was a real person imprisoned in Paris by Louis XIV. When told his play was done time and time again and that he needs something fresh, he brainstorms out loud and mentions a scene with a siege. The potential client says a full story about a siege would be better and to return if he writes one like that. The entire book we are about to read is a story about a city under siege where Notker is forced to impersonate someone else much like the character in the play he was trying to sell.
This particular snippet from Act 1, Chapter 2 stood out for me. I think it's a great example of the type of humor that's consistent through the book:
'The door opened, and this woman stood there staring at me.
You wouldn't put her on the stage. You wouldn't dare to. Stereotypes and caricatures are all very well - our life's blood, if the truth be told - but there's such a thing as overdoing it. So, if you want an obnoxious old hag, you go for two or three out of the recognized iconography: wrinkles, hooked nose, wispy thin white hair like sheep's wool caught in brambles, shriveled hands like claws, all that. You don't use them all, because it's too much. Which is why you don't get much real life on the stage. Nobody would believe it.
"Hello, Mother," I said.'
Notker's humor and attitude are what keeps the story flowing. This is a very smart story. Sometimes Notker will explain the structure of plays and what happens in the different acts. Whereas he's relating them to the siege in general, or villains versus heroes, K. J. Parker is really telling us as readers what is going on or how things will be developing. There's many read between the lines moments and as a reader it makes me feel extremely gratified to find them. I caught on to the big twist as I usually do but didn't expect the reveal of it to occur in the form that it did.
One of Notker's talents is impersonations. Out of these, one that he pulls off the best is Lysimachus who is a renowned war hero. The city the story takes place in is under a relentless siege from an opposing empire who for the most part shoot boulders or flaming pots at the city. One of these boulders crushes a building Lysimachus was in, killing him. Seizing an opportunity, three acquaintances of his decide to kidnap Notker and force him to impersonate Lysimachus in their attempt to take over the government. Notker has no choice in the matter but rises to the occasion proving time and time again that he makes for a good ruler after all. Eventually, the plot gets more complicated with numerous assassination attempts and Notker as Lysimachus finds himself crowned Emperor. There's a will he or won't he flee from his duties subplot as well. His former lover, current friend, forced to turn Emperess Hodda tries to encourage their escape. The further they get along in their plans, the more caught up they become with the struggles of the war going on. Nothing goes as planned and there's a lot of luck for our hero.
I was pleasantly surprised that the easiest plot line the author could have written did not come to fruition. In fact, the secret of Notker's identity does come up repeatedly but those that know the truth simply don't care to see beyond their own needs. This was excellent.
The resolution to the entire conflict was clever and rewarding. This is one of the safest reviews I might ever write because I do not want to give anything away. I want to save the details for the rest of the future readers out there because there will be many. The ending was concise enough for this to be a one and done novel but also left the story clearly available for a sequel in the future if Parker feels inclined to do so. I'm personally fine either way. I'd greedily eat up a sequel but this was a fine one-off if that's what its legacy will be. I'd be glad to have this sitting on my bookshelf.
May 23, 2021
If you ask me how disappointment looks like, I would throw this book in your face.
You're probably asking yourself, what could have caused such an outburst of violence in such a timid creature as me? Well, let me tell you. I loved the first book of this series. It went straight to my favourite shelf. Orhan was authentic, his actions made sense, he was an engineer. He won, because he used all his skills and failed, because of the skills he never could aquire in his life. Like showing emotions, or understanding the Themes in the poor quarters.
So usually if I like a book that much, I rarely give the sequel less than three stars. But guess what, I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. Because everything that made the first book interesting and enjoyable, this one couldn't serve.
So let's start with the main issue, Notker. That dude is nothing more than an actor, who was brought up as a gangster. He never went out of the city. He never had a business to manage or a family to take responsibility for. And yet, the sheer strengh of acting as the emperor suddenly gives him the skill to be far more intelligent than most politicans, military man and clerks together. You really want me to believe that no one ever thought about the solutions Notker magically came up with? Come on!
The best thing is, he gets all his genius plans from reading ONE book about a siege that happend a few hundred years ago... sure. He also suddenly knows how to rule over a crowd and make them do what he wants. An actor learns the skill to manipulate a crowd to have certain feelings, that yes. But not to manipulate them to take certain actions. Except if I throw a tomato at you, because you sucked at stage. And you, Notker, would have deserved that.
And don't let me start on Hodda, his best friend/love interest/somehow enemy/completely useless character. I know Parker can write good female characters. The two in the first book were no kick ass women, but they were there for a reason. Had a part in the story. One knew the Theme world and the other was such a good carpenter, that without her the city would have fallen and Orhan, too. But Hodda? The only thing she did was complain, why Notker is not as selfish and shitty as her. Was this supposed to bring the story further? Exept from moping around and initiating one political meeting that ended in a disaster, because of her stupidity, she didn't do much. But hey, for Notker she is the "most intelligent woman he ever met". Jesus, what kind of other women did you meet, Notker... I understand that she was supposed to be unlikable, but if a character is useless for the storyline, then please throw her into the bin, rather than into the book.
I also would like to mention Parkers not very superb dealing with homosexuality. (Mild spoiler here) The man that Notker needs to play, is known to be gay. The reaction of Notker to the fact is: "yea, he has a problem with that." No further explanation. But they tell him, it's okay, because they are going to pretend gay people do not exist and he can meet and parade with the supposed female lover of that man. So this isn't just problematic. It's not AUTHENTIC as well. Why, you ask? Well, let's see. The whole world is clearly inspired by the roman empire and partly Byzantine, I guess. Ancient rome also had this very similar theater culture that Parker describes in his book. And guess what? Ancient Romans also had a special vocabulary for the male actors, who also worked as lovers and prostitutes for the wealthy man. Actors and actresses and theaters in general were in many cultures the equivalent of luxurius brothels for a long time. And Parker even mentions in this very book, that many actresses earn extra money by being mistresses to their customers. You really think boys and men wouldn't do that, too? It was common in so many ancient societies! And furthermore, you want to tell me Notker can play the fucking emperor perfectly, but not a simple gay man? His acting skills must suck so hard...
But hey, why the fuss? It's fantasy so Parker clearly does not need to write and include a correct representation of gay people, just because they were common in good old rome, right? Maybe. But as I mentioned, I like authenticity. I like when characters and societies make sense in books. That was the reason, why I loved the first one.
So I'm out of here...
You're probably asking yourself, what could have caused such an outburst of violence in such a timid creature as me? Well, let me tell you. I loved the first book of this series. It went straight to my favourite shelf. Orhan was authentic, his actions made sense, he was an engineer. He won, because he used all his skills and failed, because of the skills he never could aquire in his life. Like showing emotions, or understanding the Themes in the poor quarters.
So usually if I like a book that much, I rarely give the sequel less than three stars. But guess what, I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. Because everything that made the first book interesting and enjoyable, this one couldn't serve.
So let's start with the main issue, Notker. That dude is nothing more than an actor, who was brought up as a gangster. He never went out of the city. He never had a business to manage or a family to take responsibility for. And yet, the sheer strengh of acting as the emperor suddenly gives him the skill to be far more intelligent than most politicans, military man and clerks together. You really want me to believe that no one ever thought about the solutions Notker magically came up with? Come on!
The best thing is, he gets all his genius plans from reading ONE book about a siege that happend a few hundred years ago... sure. He also suddenly knows how to rule over a crowd and make them do what he wants. An actor learns the skill to manipulate a crowd to have certain feelings, that yes. But not to manipulate them to take certain actions. Except if I throw a tomato at you, because you sucked at stage. And you, Notker, would have deserved that.
And don't let me start on Hodda, his best friend/love interest/somehow enemy/completely useless character. I know Parker can write good female characters. The two in the first book were no kick ass women, but they were there for a reason. Had a part in the story. One knew the Theme world and the other was such a good carpenter, that without her the city would have fallen and Orhan, too. But Hodda? The only thing she did was complain, why Notker is not as selfish and shitty as her. Was this supposed to bring the story further? Exept from moping around and initiating one political meeting that ended in a disaster, because of her stupidity, she didn't do much. But hey, for Notker she is the "most intelligent woman he ever met". Jesus, what kind of other women did you meet, Notker... I understand that she was supposed to be unlikable, but if a character is useless for the storyline, then please throw her into the bin, rather than into the book.
I also would like to mention Parkers not very superb dealing with homosexuality. (Mild spoiler here) The man that Notker needs to play, is known to be gay. The reaction of Notker to the fact is: "yea, he has a problem with that." No further explanation. But they tell him, it's okay, because they are going to pretend gay people do not exist and he can meet and parade with the supposed female lover of that man. So this isn't just problematic. It's not AUTHENTIC as well. Why, you ask? Well, let's see. The whole world is clearly inspired by the roman empire and partly Byzantine, I guess. Ancient rome also had this very similar theater culture that Parker describes in his book. And guess what? Ancient Romans also had a special vocabulary for the male actors, who also worked as lovers and prostitutes for the wealthy man. Actors and actresses and theaters in general were in many cultures the equivalent of luxurius brothels for a long time. And Parker even mentions in this very book, that many actresses earn extra money by being mistresses to their customers. You really think boys and men wouldn't do that, too? It was common in so many ancient societies! And furthermore, you want to tell me Notker can play the fucking emperor perfectly, but not a simple gay man? His acting skills must suck so hard...
But hey, why the fuss? It's fantasy so Parker clearly does not need to write and include a correct representation of gay people, just because they were common in good old rome, right? Maybe. But as I mentioned, I like authenticity. I like when characters and societies make sense in books. That was the reason, why I loved the first one.
So I'm out of here...
August 20, 2020
Synopsis: Lights on, ready for stage, enter professional liar Notker in three acts of his drama to save the City. The Robur capital is in nearly the same situation seven years after it was defended by engineer Orhan (actually, I've read it just two days ago): surrounded by the enemy white-face army, live just goes on like nothing behind the thick walls. Notker writes theater plays, and people like this way of living, because nowhere else in the whole world is anything like Robur style theaters. The city survives better than ever, because it exports well-crafted things in exchange for necessities like food or arrows.
Notker is a great impresario and he brings people to laugh with his imitations, best of all the city's savior Lysimachus. Wait, you say, wasn't it Orhan the grumpy engineer from the previous book who saved the city? History forgot him, because a real hero was needed, and so his name wasn't mentioned once in this second novel. Lysimachus is the shining hero, or better: was - because he was hit by one of the trebuchet stones.
A replacement was found in Notker - and one might name this comedy "Sudden Emperor", because nearly nobody noticed the change from playwright to his new ruling role. Soon, the people behind this act find out that he's got a will of his own and he's quite intelligent.
Review: I couldn't imagine a more interesting change of characters in the same setting - from snarky and nerdy Orhan with his petty criminal and treacherous ways to professional liar Notker. From engineering to theater.
The atmosphere changed from pressured, high octane action to a more light-minded, thoughtful approach to save the city.
The novel could be read as a standalone without the need to read through the predecessor. There are a couple of references where you get a good laugh or two if you've read both, but anything needed to understand the plot and characters is provided within this novel.
I just liked Orhan's character and the tighter atmosphere of the first novel better than this book - which might be a personal preference and could work the opposite for other readers.
The setting is the same - no dragons, no magic, similar to classic Rome.
Because this novel is perfectly entertaining, with a twisting plot, a very satisfying ending (which the first book hasn't), and a likeable protagonist who works as the unreliable, lying narrator. Once again, a very interesting and intelligent female sidekick plays along without ending in a boring romance.
In this sour year 2020, you might need to enjoy a comedy instead of grimdark tragedies. These two books are a perfect choice and I highly recommend reading both of them back to back.
Notker is a great impresario and he brings people to laugh with his imitations, best of all the city's savior Lysimachus. Wait, you say, wasn't it Orhan the grumpy engineer from the previous book who saved the city? History forgot him, because a real hero was needed, and so his name wasn't mentioned once in this second novel. Lysimachus is the shining hero, or better: was - because he was hit by one of the trebuchet stones.
A replacement was found in Notker - and one might name this comedy "Sudden Emperor", because nearly nobody noticed the change from playwright to his new ruling role. Soon, the people behind this act find out that he's got a will of his own and he's quite intelligent.
Review: I couldn't imagine a more interesting change of characters in the same setting - from snarky and nerdy Orhan with his petty criminal and treacherous ways to professional liar Notker. From engineering to theater.
The atmosphere changed from pressured, high octane action to a more light-minded, thoughtful approach to save the city.
The novel could be read as a standalone without the need to read through the predecessor. There are a couple of references where you get a good laugh or two if you've read both, but anything needed to understand the plot and characters is provided within this novel.
I just liked Orhan's character and the tighter atmosphere of the first novel better than this book - which might be a personal preference and could work the opposite for other readers.
The setting is the same - no dragons, no magic, similar to classic Rome.
Because this novel is perfectly entertaining, with a twisting plot, a very satisfying ending (which the first book hasn't), and a likeable protagonist who works as the unreliable, lying narrator. Once again, a very interesting and intelligent female sidekick plays along without ending in a boring romance.
In this sour year 2020, you might need to enjoy a comedy instead of grimdark tragedies. These two books are a perfect choice and I highly recommend reading both of them back to back.
May 19, 2022
A first-rate sequel to "Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City," which I liked a bit more. That one had an engineer for the hero, and a shocking ending. This one ends well, for the City and for Notker, the MC, a low actor and reluctant Emperor. Not that there isn't plenty of horrible stuff going on, but the horrors are peripheral. Mostly. And RULE has a slow start, which put me off to the point that I stalled for a day. When I came back, as Notker adjusts to becoming Emperor, I was happy.
OK, I've seen enough good reviews here to save me from writing a real one, which I'm not up to anyway. So: my favorite review is by my GR friend Andreas, and that's the one to read first: /review/show... "In this sour year 2020, you might need to enjoy a comedy instead of grimdark tragedies. These two books are a perfect choice . . ."
But. I didn't see much actual *comedy* here. Here's a mildly critical review by Tim Hicks, /review/show... "Entertaining and creative, often funny, always clever, good at satirizing how people, soldiers and politicians behave -- but in the end a bit disturbing."
So. Read "Sixteen Ways" first if you like the engineering mindset, and can live with a tragic ending. Read this one first if you prefer a (mostly) cheerful ending, so long as you don't look at it too closely. They are both (basically) stand-alone books, both first-rate, and I don't think it would matter much what order you read them in. I recommend them both to Holt/Parker fans. A bit of a coin-flip which one to start with. Let your public library's holdings decide!
OK, I've seen enough good reviews here to save me from writing a real one, which I'm not up to anyway. So: my favorite review is by my GR friend Andreas, and that's the one to read first: /review/show... "In this sour year 2020, you might need to enjoy a comedy instead of grimdark tragedies. These two books are a perfect choice . . ."
But. I didn't see much actual *comedy* here. Here's a mildly critical review by Tim Hicks, /review/show... "Entertaining and creative, often funny, always clever, good at satirizing how people, soldiers and politicians behave -- but in the end a bit disturbing."
So. Read "Sixteen Ways" first if you like the engineering mindset, and can live with a tragic ending. Read this one first if you prefer a (mostly) cheerful ending, so long as you don't look at it too closely. They are both (basically) stand-alone books, both first-rate, and I don't think it would matter much what order you read them in. I recommend them both to Holt/Parker fans. A bit of a coin-flip which one to start with. Let your public library's holdings decide!
January 11, 2022
4.5 stars.
This was terrific. The siege has been ongoing for seven years, and is now just part of the background of the lives of the Robusr in the City, except for when chunks of rock thrown by the enemy’s trebuchets flatten buildings, and the people within.
This is actually how Notker, a playwright/actor son of a Green enforcer, and who’s been looking for his next job, gets pulled into defending the city. When a figure from the first book in this series is killed suddenly, Notker is drafted to fill the person’s place, by former chief engineer Orhan’s seconds-in-command. And because the dead person was involved with a beautiful and intelligent theatre manager, Hodda, she’s dragged, furious, into the whole masquerade, too.
Everyone thinks Notker will be a passive figurehead, but he’s surprisingly intelligent, and keeps coming up with ways to motivate the City’s people and to bolster the martial plans, from books he read, against the enemy. It’s funny, as well as rather amazing how well his plans, or lies, work out, thwarting the enemy’s efforts.
Actually, this book really should have been subtitled, “Tell lies, then run away� as so many of Notker’s statements, and his assessment of himself, conform to this credo.
I laughed for much of this book, and was particularly chuffed by the end.
This was terrific. The siege has been ongoing for seven years, and is now just part of the background of the lives of the Robusr in the City, except for when chunks of rock thrown by the enemy’s trebuchets flatten buildings, and the people within.
This is actually how Notker, a playwright/actor son of a Green enforcer, and who’s been looking for his next job, gets pulled into defending the city. When a figure from the first book in this series is killed suddenly, Notker is drafted to fill the person’s place, by former chief engineer Orhan’s seconds-in-command. And because the dead person was involved with a beautiful and intelligent theatre manager, Hodda, she’s dragged, furious, into the whole masquerade, too.
Everyone thinks Notker will be a passive figurehead, but he’s surprisingly intelligent, and keeps coming up with ways to motivate the City’s people and to bolster the martial plans, from books he read, against the enemy. It’s funny, as well as rather amazing how well his plans, or lies, work out, thwarting the enemy’s efforts.
Actually, this book really should have been subtitled, “Tell lies, then run away� as so many of Notker’s statements, and his assessment of himself, conform to this credo.
I laughed for much of this book, and was particularly chuffed by the end.
December 8, 2020
Brilliant. I’m in the KJ Parker fan club so I usually expect top class writing, and a story which has an offbeat journey on its way to the destination. Not disappointed here. This is one of my favourites by this author.
It’s the follow up to , and starts just a few years after that story concludes. While the previous story featured the first person narration of Orhan, the commander of an engineering regiment reluctantly defending the Empire’s capital against siege, this story is narrated by Notker, a jobbing actor and occasional playwright. There’s a vague similarity between these lead characters; both intelligent, resourceful, brave in a non- sword wielding way and struggling with unexpected responsibility. In this story Notker certainly finds his acting skills useful. I especially enjoyed Notker’s reflections on life, on his adventure and difficulties, viewed through an actors eyes. It is the conversation that the narrator has with himself and with you, the reader, that’s a compelling and enjoyable feature of this book. The dialogue too is peerless.
I won’t spoil the clever and twisting plot by outlining any of it. But it’s a pacy story, with characteristic Parker wry humour embedded in the horror of bitter warfare. It’s not a story about heroes wielding swords in battle although the background is one of a ruthless siege and counter attack. Surprisingly few detailed Parkeresque excursions onto a technical subject he’s researched as background, a common feature of other Parker books, except here there’s a little on some specifics of siege tactics.
A typical Parker fantasy world, perhaps better named as imaginative historical fiction. As in many, but not all, of his books it’s a non-magical, non-supernatural world, loosely modelled on the Byzantium Empire of the early Middle Ages. If you read a range of his books using this world you’ll see similar historical characters mentioned, philosophers and artists, a religion based on The Invincible Sun (often shown with a Single Tear below his eye - no idea why). They are casually dropped in by the author to show a developed fantasy world but you really don’t need to know any of these details to read any single book. The Byzantium link is clearest here with the street gangs named Blues and Greens, and modelled on real historical gangs of those names. In history their allegiances were based on links to chariot race teams but here it’s linked to gladiatorial contests. As in �16 Ways....�, these gangs are a major plot factor.
If you’re a Parker fan then it’s a must read (after �16 Ways....�). If you’ve not read him then �16 Ways...� is also one of his more accessible books and a fantastic start before reading this one. I guess you could read this without the preceding book but you’d miss some background.
As strong a 5* as I’ve given this year.
It’s the follow up to , and starts just a few years after that story concludes. While the previous story featured the first person narration of Orhan, the commander of an engineering regiment reluctantly defending the Empire’s capital against siege, this story is narrated by Notker, a jobbing actor and occasional playwright. There’s a vague similarity between these lead characters; both intelligent, resourceful, brave in a non- sword wielding way and struggling with unexpected responsibility. In this story Notker certainly finds his acting skills useful. I especially enjoyed Notker’s reflections on life, on his adventure and difficulties, viewed through an actors eyes. It is the conversation that the narrator has with himself and with you, the reader, that’s a compelling and enjoyable feature of this book. The dialogue too is peerless.
I won’t spoil the clever and twisting plot by outlining any of it. But it’s a pacy story, with characteristic Parker wry humour embedded in the horror of bitter warfare. It’s not a story about heroes wielding swords in battle although the background is one of a ruthless siege and counter attack. Surprisingly few detailed Parkeresque excursions onto a technical subject he’s researched as background, a common feature of other Parker books, except here there’s a little on some specifics of siege tactics.
A typical Parker fantasy world, perhaps better named as imaginative historical fiction. As in many, but not all, of his books it’s a non-magical, non-supernatural world, loosely modelled on the Byzantium Empire of the early Middle Ages. If you read a range of his books using this world you’ll see similar historical characters mentioned, philosophers and artists, a religion based on The Invincible Sun (often shown with a Single Tear below his eye - no idea why). They are casually dropped in by the author to show a developed fantasy world but you really don’t need to know any of these details to read any single book. The Byzantium link is clearest here with the street gangs named Blues and Greens, and modelled on real historical gangs of those names. In history their allegiances were based on links to chariot race teams but here it’s linked to gladiatorial contests. As in �16 Ways....�, these gangs are a major plot factor.
If you’re a Parker fan then it’s a must read (after �16 Ways....�). If you’ve not read him then �16 Ways...� is also one of his more accessible books and a fantastic start before reading this one. I guess you could read this without the preceding book but you’d miss some background.
As strong a 5* as I’ve given this year.
October 3, 2020
Parker does not disappoint! 5 ⭐️
My only gripe why does orbit publishes these books in the cheapest quality paperback format only :/ I would love a hardback copy for a re-read later on.
My only gripe why does orbit publishes these books in the cheapest quality paperback format only :/ I would love a hardback copy for a re-read later on.
July 29, 2020
*copy from Netgalley in exchange for a review*
At this stage, my being enthusiastic about the latest K.J. Parker novel can’t be a surprise. And that streak is going to continue with How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, which is equal parts social commentary, elaborate heist, and war story. It also has an extremely long title, but you can’t have everything - and as a sort-of sequel to the equally lengthily titled Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, it’s on-brand. And much like that book, it's very, very good.
This is Parker at their best, frankly. The narrator is unreliable, intelligent, incisive, and sarcastic. The narrative voice, tied to the internal monologue of the character, is clear, personable, and thoroughly entertaining. As usual, Parker shines at giving us a protagonist we can root for who is at once thoroughly likable and rather flawed. Identity, come to think of it, is one of the key themes of the text. Watching our lead, a some-time professional actor-slash-impersonator, struggle to define who they are through the constraints of their own unreliable narration is a joy. When they’re still struggling to define themselves against their own legacy, how are we supposed to take what they say as entirely true.
Speaking of which, this is a story which does dip back into the past now and again, telling us the story of our protagonist’s childhood, from his own eyes, showing us, little by little, how he ended up where he is, and also how he ended up as the person that he is. Some other parts of the story are laugh out loud funny, and even these sections can get a subversive chuckle out of me, but there’s some grim reading here, dark steel beneath warmer words. The child of an enforcer in the Themes, the unofficial gangs of the City, our narrator comes from a heritage of violence, extortion, and outright murder. Struggling to shake off that heritage helps shape them, and they also have enough self-awareness to acknowledge the role that their childhood has in making them who they are. Frankly, the way that we start with an enigma, and gradually see parts of our narrator’s history field in by their own recollections, and from other characters in dialogue, is compelling stuff, and the slow drip of revelation and discovery made the story all the more intriguing.
So yes. Rock solid protagonist. Top banter. Clever. Thinks things through. Unreliable, though with a bit more of a moral centre than a lot of Parker’s other leads. Honestly, I love the characterisation here, it’s top notch. And that extends to the other characters as well. Some of them we only meet briefly, but you can feel the desperation, the sweat on their palms as they try and extricate themselves from a bad situation. Or the auger-like sharpness of a calculating gaze, weighing the odds, deciding when would be a good time to make that one roll that means either retirement to a money vault, or a rather rapid demise. Because our lead isn’t the only smart person around. There are others, and they all have an agenda of their own. Watching the fencing, the squabbling, the betrayals and moments of self-doubt, it helps shape this world,and show that there are people here, with agency, recognising or struggling against institutional inevitabilities.
As an aside, Parker has always been good about writing women who are as thoroughly realised and developed as characters as the men, and that trend continues here. There’s an abundance of sharp-witted, driven female characters here, with their own agency, utterly unwilling to take any crap from the protagonist, and getting on with their own lives, with their own goals. They’re not here to provide an incentive, or be the plot - they’re here to seize the initiative, and shape the world to their needs.
In the end, the characters here are, frankly, wonderful. They live, they breathe, and occasionally they die very quickly. Each of them feels like a person, and you can feel for them. If I had to pin down what makes them work, I’d say its their humanity - the pettiness, the spite, the conflict, and the moments of hope, of joy, of genuine love sprinkled through. These are people, and people matter. Which means that you keep turning the pages, to see what happens next.
Speaking of what happens next: Parker has always done narrative chess well, laying out all the pieces line by line, word by word, stepping the character and the readers through it until the story has the momentum of a hurtling boulder, born from the first few lines, way back at the beginning. So it is here. There’s a lot going on. This is a city under siege from an army sworn to destroy everything inside. And so there are rushes at gates. There are attempts to storm the walls, and heroic citizens laying down their lives for their culture. There’s saps and counter saps - I learned a surprising amount about siege mining! Basically, there’s a war on. And if we’re not often on the front lines, in the dark, feeling the grate of blade against bone, we’re watching the high level discussions about how the City can survive, what to do next, how to keep things moving from one day to the next. There’s issues with logistics, and, for example, a genuinely interesting bit on the role of fire brigades. And it works! It’s sometimes funny, always utterly convincing, and smart enough to keep your attention. The war is there, driving us forward, making our protagonist make choices, decide what to do, and what the results of those choices mean about who he is.
Anyway. At the end of the day, this is another cracking story from Parker. It has the superlative characterisation they’re known for, as well as the complex plotting, the devastating twists and turns, and the beautifully structured, thoroughly believable world. This is a fantastic story, and, as usual, I think you should give it, and Parker, a try.
At this stage, my being enthusiastic about the latest K.J. Parker novel can’t be a surprise. And that streak is going to continue with How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, which is equal parts social commentary, elaborate heist, and war story. It also has an extremely long title, but you can’t have everything - and as a sort-of sequel to the equally lengthily titled Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, it’s on-brand. And much like that book, it's very, very good.
This is Parker at their best, frankly. The narrator is unreliable, intelligent, incisive, and sarcastic. The narrative voice, tied to the internal monologue of the character, is clear, personable, and thoroughly entertaining. As usual, Parker shines at giving us a protagonist we can root for who is at once thoroughly likable and rather flawed. Identity, come to think of it, is one of the key themes of the text. Watching our lead, a some-time professional actor-slash-impersonator, struggle to define who they are through the constraints of their own unreliable narration is a joy. When they’re still struggling to define themselves against their own legacy, how are we supposed to take what they say as entirely true.
Speaking of which, this is a story which does dip back into the past now and again, telling us the story of our protagonist’s childhood, from his own eyes, showing us, little by little, how he ended up where he is, and also how he ended up as the person that he is. Some other parts of the story are laugh out loud funny, and even these sections can get a subversive chuckle out of me, but there’s some grim reading here, dark steel beneath warmer words. The child of an enforcer in the Themes, the unofficial gangs of the City, our narrator comes from a heritage of violence, extortion, and outright murder. Struggling to shake off that heritage helps shape them, and they also have enough self-awareness to acknowledge the role that their childhood has in making them who they are. Frankly, the way that we start with an enigma, and gradually see parts of our narrator’s history field in by their own recollections, and from other characters in dialogue, is compelling stuff, and the slow drip of revelation and discovery made the story all the more intriguing.
So yes. Rock solid protagonist. Top banter. Clever. Thinks things through. Unreliable, though with a bit more of a moral centre than a lot of Parker’s other leads. Honestly, I love the characterisation here, it’s top notch. And that extends to the other characters as well. Some of them we only meet briefly, but you can feel the desperation, the sweat on their palms as they try and extricate themselves from a bad situation. Or the auger-like sharpness of a calculating gaze, weighing the odds, deciding when would be a good time to make that one roll that means either retirement to a money vault, or a rather rapid demise. Because our lead isn’t the only smart person around. There are others, and they all have an agenda of their own. Watching the fencing, the squabbling, the betrayals and moments of self-doubt, it helps shape this world,and show that there are people here, with agency, recognising or struggling against institutional inevitabilities.
As an aside, Parker has always been good about writing women who are as thoroughly realised and developed as characters as the men, and that trend continues here. There’s an abundance of sharp-witted, driven female characters here, with their own agency, utterly unwilling to take any crap from the protagonist, and getting on with their own lives, with their own goals. They’re not here to provide an incentive, or be the plot - they’re here to seize the initiative, and shape the world to their needs.
In the end, the characters here are, frankly, wonderful. They live, they breathe, and occasionally they die very quickly. Each of them feels like a person, and you can feel for them. If I had to pin down what makes them work, I’d say its their humanity - the pettiness, the spite, the conflict, and the moments of hope, of joy, of genuine love sprinkled through. These are people, and people matter. Which means that you keep turning the pages, to see what happens next.
Speaking of what happens next: Parker has always done narrative chess well, laying out all the pieces line by line, word by word, stepping the character and the readers through it until the story has the momentum of a hurtling boulder, born from the first few lines, way back at the beginning. So it is here. There’s a lot going on. This is a city under siege from an army sworn to destroy everything inside. And so there are rushes at gates. There are attempts to storm the walls, and heroic citizens laying down their lives for their culture. There’s saps and counter saps - I learned a surprising amount about siege mining! Basically, there’s a war on. And if we’re not often on the front lines, in the dark, feeling the grate of blade against bone, we’re watching the high level discussions about how the City can survive, what to do next, how to keep things moving from one day to the next. There’s issues with logistics, and, for example, a genuinely interesting bit on the role of fire brigades. And it works! It’s sometimes funny, always utterly convincing, and smart enough to keep your attention. The war is there, driving us forward, making our protagonist make choices, decide what to do, and what the results of those choices mean about who he is.
Anyway. At the end of the day, this is another cracking story from Parker. It has the superlative characterisation they’re known for, as well as the complex plotting, the devastating twists and turns, and the beautifully structured, thoroughly believable world. This is a fantastic story, and, as usual, I think you should give it, and Parker, a try.
August 21, 2020
There's a very old saying: when you're falling off a cliff, learn to fly.
Alas, this was over too soon! Loved it - an easy 5 stars from me.
Alas, this was over too soon! Loved it - an easy 5 stars from me.
September 28, 2024
4/5
Very good story of an actor who is tasked with pretending to be the king.
Very good story of an actor who is tasked with pretending to be the king.
July 19, 2021
3.5 stars. Fun and witty, researched and clever. Book #1 is the novelty so don’t expect this one to exceed, but still, I truly appreciated Notker, Hodda and the finer humor of this installment.
April 7, 2022
Full review to come (or maybe not, child number 2 just showed up so free time will be in short supply). A nice follow up to the first book, though solving problems from a social/interpersonal perspective instead of an engineering perspective. Great characters like but not a very strong denouement. Still, I enjoyed reading ti quite a bit and look forward to another entry into this world.
September 6, 2020
I'm convinced that Tom Holt is writing these for me, and I'd like to be his best friend.
February 14, 2023
Nosaukums pilnībā atbilst saturam.
December 9, 2020
Clever and fun- maybe not cleverer and funner than the first book but that’s alright!
September 23, 2020
I received a copy of How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It from Hachette Australia to review.
Prepare to laugh like crazy with How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K. J. Parker, an intensely funny and clever fantasy read that was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020.
Several years after their home fell under a brutal and prolonged siege, the inhabitants of the City have settled into a new way of life. There may be a vast army camped on the plains outside and the occasional catapult shot may demolish a house or two, but that does not mean that people cannot make some money and get on with their lives. This includes Notker, an acclaimed actor, skilled lookalike and mediocre playwright, who scrapes a living by impersonating the rich and powerful of the City at parties while trying to get someone to pay him money for his latest play. However, what Notker does not know is that fame, opportunity, and a rather large boulder are about to land in his lap.
When the City’s greatest hero and nominal leader, Lysimachus, secretly dies, his followers/handlers, desperate to stay in power, recruit Notker to play the role of a lifetime. Impersonating Lysimachus, Notker continues to act as the city’s figurehead, allowing life to go on, and he even begins to think he has a handle on this simple job, until someone tries to murder him. Now he finds himself in the midst of a brutal and ongoing power struggle as the various power players in the city attempt to manipulate him for their own ends resulting in him being crowned as Emperor of the entire Robur Empire (or what is left of it).
As Notker attempts to find some sanity within his home, he begins to understand what a fragile position the City is in. With enemies surrounding them and the besiegers slowly overcoming the City’s defences, Notker needs to choose between making a run for it or trying to save the City. But what difference can one very good actor make in a war? If Notker has anything to do with it, everything!
To see the full review, click the link below:
An abridged version of this review ran in the Canberra Weekly on 17 September 2020:
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
Prepare to laugh like crazy with How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It by K. J. Parker, an intensely funny and clever fantasy read that was one of my most anticipated releases of 2020.
Several years after their home fell under a brutal and prolonged siege, the inhabitants of the City have settled into a new way of life. There may be a vast army camped on the plains outside and the occasional catapult shot may demolish a house or two, but that does not mean that people cannot make some money and get on with their lives. This includes Notker, an acclaimed actor, skilled lookalike and mediocre playwright, who scrapes a living by impersonating the rich and powerful of the City at parties while trying to get someone to pay him money for his latest play. However, what Notker does not know is that fame, opportunity, and a rather large boulder are about to land in his lap.
When the City’s greatest hero and nominal leader, Lysimachus, secretly dies, his followers/handlers, desperate to stay in power, recruit Notker to play the role of a lifetime. Impersonating Lysimachus, Notker continues to act as the city’s figurehead, allowing life to go on, and he even begins to think he has a handle on this simple job, until someone tries to murder him. Now he finds himself in the midst of a brutal and ongoing power struggle as the various power players in the city attempt to manipulate him for their own ends resulting in him being crowned as Emperor of the entire Robur Empire (or what is left of it).
As Notker attempts to find some sanity within his home, he begins to understand what a fragile position the City is in. With enemies surrounding them and the besiegers slowly overcoming the City’s defences, Notker needs to choose between making a run for it or trying to save the City. But what difference can one very good actor make in a war? If Notker has anything to do with it, everything!
To see the full review, click the link below:
An abridged version of this review ran in the Canberra Weekly on 17 September 2020:
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
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