Before I talk about what I read, I have to mention my first flip through. This is a novel which I received a physical copy so I was able to do that this time. I have to say how oddly it’s formatted. That is to say, it’s not formatted as a novel at all. Rather than indentations to show paragraphs, each paragraph is separate on its own. And dialogue is shown justified, indented and begins with dashes. (Note: I’ve learned since that this style of dialogue, with the dashes, are seen largely in non-English writing, called a quotation dash. My advice to the author would be to format the novel according to the audience and language in which it will be read.) It’s all very strange. And there are pictures every now and then. It reminds me more of a textbook formatting, than a novel. I’m not against pictures, but the placement is more in line with a textbook. There’s even quite a large appendix to go along with it.
That being said, it’s clear the author has done quite a lot of research for this novel, but seems like he needs to prove that he’s done all the research by adding the appendix rather than showing it through the writing. Again, this is all before I’ve even started reading the novel. In fact, I’ve read through the Appendix first and indeed that is all basically a textbook. If the novel is written correctly, the entire appendix should be unnecessary.
Once I began reading, I noticed there’s quite an odd shift in style at chapter 8. The previous 70 or so pages were heavy on unnecessary details and lengthy explanations. It takes until roughly this point for me to even care about what’s happening. Granted, it’s not even 1/6th of the way through the book but it’s still been a big time investment for very little reward. The majority of the novel itself could be severely reduced without harming the integrity of the characters or plot. That’s a very big issue with this novel.
That is likely what makes this novel so disappointing. The concept is, in fact, quite interesting. It isn’t until near the end of the novel that I actually begin to like the main character, Q’ilyasisa. I’ve never read a novel with a focus on the Incan (or technically pre-Incan) empire so I was glad to have the chance. I learned quite a bit about the culture and cosmology, much in the same way I would learn from a text book. I don’t really feel I read a novel, to be honest. I really wanted to enjoy this novel, and at times I did but they were far and few between with great allowances.
This novel needs a massive edit, which is unlikely to happen at this point. Sparrow has clearly done a lot of research into the topic, especially as he has lived in Peru for some time. He likely would have been better to write a textbook than a novel. Overall, I cannot say I recommend this novel unless your objective is to learn about the Incan religion.
You can buy the book on Amazon.
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