Name: Armistice
ISBN: 9781250173560

Lara Elena Donnelly

"In a tropical country where shadowy political affairs lurk behind the scenes of its glamorous film industry, three people maneuver inside a high stakes game of statecraft and espionage: Lillian, a reluctant diplomat serving a fascist nation, Aristide, an expatriate film director running from lost love and a criminal past, and Cordelia, a former cabaret stripper turned legendary revolutionary. Each one harbors dangerous knowledge that can upturn a nation. When their fates collide, machinations are put into play, unexpected alliances are built, and long-held secrets are exposed. Everything is barreling towards an international revolt...and only the wiliest ones will be prepared for what comes next"--Provided by publisher.

Book 2 in the Amberlough Dossier

Armistice

Sheila

Kind of an odd start to this book given the cliffhanger from the first book, but still great. This consisted entirely of maneuvering everyone into their Final Positions for the end, so I'm expecting something explosive for the third book!

Armistice returns to Donnelly’s ravishing 1930s Art Deco-tinged fantasy world of the Nebula and Lambda Award-nominated Amberlough with a decadent, tumultuous mixture of sex, politics, and spies “A hefty novel full of fascinating characters exploring oversized topics such as sexuality, music, culture, fascism, nationalism, class wars, revolution and love.” —Shelf Awareness In a tropical country where shadowy political affairs lurk behind the scenes of its glamorous film industry, three people maneuver inside a high stakes game of statecraft and espionage: Lillian, a reluctant diplomat serving a fascist nation, Aristide, an expatriate film director running from lost love and a criminal past, —and Cordelia, a former cabaret stripper turned legendary revolutionary. Each one harbors dangerous knowledge that can upturn a nation. When their fates collide, machinations are put into play, unexpected alliances are built, and long-held secrets are exposed. Everything is barreling towards an international revolt...and only the wiliest ones will be prepared for what comes next. For Amberlough: “James Bond by way of Oscar Wilde.”—Holly Black “Astonishing!” —World Fantasy Award-winning author Ellen Kushner “Beautiful, all too real, and full of pain. Read it. It will change you.” —Hugo Award-winning author Mary Robinette Kowal At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Jessica Smith

While Armistice was good, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Amberlough, the first book in the series. Where that book became compulsive reading as the sense of impending doom built up and up and up, this one kind of lacked that suspense.

Despite that, I'm continuing to enjoy this trilogy as a deeply political example of spec fic. The first book was set, basically, in a city heavily based on Weimar-era Berlin. This one fleshes out more of the world, with most of the action taking place in the nearby-ish tropical country of Porachis, although most (if not all) of the characters are still expats or refugees from Gedda. Without wanting to spoil too much for anyone who hasn't even read the first book (!), this one focuses more on politics at the diplomatic level, as well as resistance movements and their need for arms. There are three main perspective characters, of which it's the new one, Lillian, whose chapters are probably closest to the "spy thriller" vibe I got from the first book. Cordelia makes a triumphant return from the first book, having undergone even further character development since then and becoming someone very compelling, imo. Aristide is the third POV character, and probably does the least of them, but he has his moments.

Overall, while I feel a bit like this book was a "bridge" between a more exciting part one and (hopefully) part three, it still has its merits. If you like politics or are interested in 1930s history, or even just in LGBTI representation, this should be an appealing and somewhat unique series. At least at the moment I write this, the omnibus edition of the series is only $2.84 on Amazon AU, which is the kind of price where you might as well buy it even if you're not sure whether you'll ever work through your TBR pile enough to reach it. It's pretty good.

Review syndicated from micro.jayeless.net.

Armistice Book 2 in the Amberlough Dossier

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