Any Other Name by Emma Newman
Nov. 1st, 2015 12:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
It’s Downton Abbey with magic, in Bath’s secret mirror city.
Cathy has been forced into an arranged marriage with William Iris – a situation that comes with far more strings than even she could have anticipated, especially when she learns of his family’s intentions for them both.
Meanwhile, Max and the gargoyle investigate the Agency – a mysterious organization that appears to play by its own twisted rules, none of them favourable to Society.
And in Mundanus, Sam has discovered something very peculiar about his wife’s employer – something that could herald disaster for everyone on both sides of the Split Worlds.
It’s several days after BETWEEN TWO THORNS. William Iris’s marriage to Catherine Papever has been brought forward, which is good as Will’s patron, Lord Iris wants them to establish themselves in Londinium and for Will to take the Dukedom. The fact that Will has no allies there and his role in bringing down the Rosas will count against him is no excuse for failure ...
Meanwhile Max and his gargoyle are investigating the attack on the Bath Chapter. Their inquiries lead them to the Agency, the mysterious organisation that underpins Society, which is concealing some shocking secrets. Cathy too – trying to settle into the role of Society wife – is having her own encounters with the Agency that point to shady goings on. Finally Sam also finds himself in London thanks to his wife’s job, but the discoveries he makes about his wife’s employer brings him back into contact with the mirror cities …
The second in Emma Newman’s SPLIT WORLDS TRILOGY is a mixed affair. I loved the expansion of the politics and social conditions of the mirror cities and Will’s attempts to navigate and win over Londinium society are great (especially his growing respect for his biggest rival, Bartholomew), but I was less convinced by the way he finds himself manipulated in the last quarter. I also enjoyed Cathy’s slow journey towards her own sense of purpose (including a heart-to-heart with her father, which helps to humanise him more). However, the investigation plot line is less successful in that despite the revelations about the Agency, there’s little actual progress with working out who’s behind the attack on the Bath Chapter and I didn’t understand Ekstrand’s reluctance to take some of the obvious steps that would move things on. Likewise Sam’s marital issues bored me given we haven’t really seen the happiness he supposedly used to enjoy with his wife and I wasn’t as interested in the revelation about her job as I was supposed to be. What really bothered me though was a rape, which is all the more horrific because no one seems to recognise it as a rape. I’m hoping that the repercussions will inform the final book because I found it really disturbing for it to go unremarked upon. I will definitely read the conclusion, but I’m worried about how Newman will pull the various plot strands together given that there’s so much story going on.
The Verdict:
The second in Emma Newman’s SPLIT WORLDS TRILOGY is a mixed affair. I loved the expansion of the politics and social conditions of the mirror cities and Will’s attempts to navigate and win over Londinium society are great (especially his growing respect for his biggest rival, Bartholomew), but I was less convinced by the way he finds himself manipulated in the last quarter. I also enjoyed Cathy’s slow journey towards her own sense of purpose (including a heart-to-heart with her father, which helps to humanise him more). However, the investigation plot line is less successful in that despite the revelations about the Agency, there’s little actual progress with working out who’s behind the attack on the Bath Chapter and I didn’t understand Ekstrand’s reluctance to take some of the obvious steps that would move things on. Likewise Sam’s marital issues bored me given we haven’t really seen the happiness he supposedly used to enjoy with his wife and I wasn’t as interested in the revelation about her job as I was supposed to be. What really bothered me though was a rape, which is all the more horrific because no one seems to recognise it as a rape. I’m hoping that the repercussions will inform the final book because I found it really disturbing for it to go unremarked upon. I will definitely read the conclusion, but I’m worried about how Newman will pull the various plot strands together given that there’s so much story going on.
Cathy has been forced into an arranged marriage with William Iris – a situation that comes with far more strings than even she could have anticipated, especially when she learns of his family’s intentions for them both.
Meanwhile, Max and the gargoyle investigate the Agency – a mysterious organization that appears to play by its own twisted rules, none of them favourable to Society.
And in Mundanus, Sam has discovered something very peculiar about his wife’s employer – something that could herald disaster for everyone on both sides of the Split Worlds.
It’s several days after BETWEEN TWO THORNS. William Iris’s marriage to Catherine Papever has been brought forward, which is good as Will’s patron, Lord Iris wants them to establish themselves in Londinium and for Will to take the Dukedom. The fact that Will has no allies there and his role in bringing down the Rosas will count against him is no excuse for failure ...
Meanwhile Max and his gargoyle are investigating the attack on the Bath Chapter. Their inquiries lead them to the Agency, the mysterious organisation that underpins Society, which is concealing some shocking secrets. Cathy too – trying to settle into the role of Society wife – is having her own encounters with the Agency that point to shady goings on. Finally Sam also finds himself in London thanks to his wife’s job, but the discoveries he makes about his wife’s employer brings him back into contact with the mirror cities …
The second in Emma Newman’s SPLIT WORLDS TRILOGY is a mixed affair. I loved the expansion of the politics and social conditions of the mirror cities and Will’s attempts to navigate and win over Londinium society are great (especially his growing respect for his biggest rival, Bartholomew), but I was less convinced by the way he finds himself manipulated in the last quarter. I also enjoyed Cathy’s slow journey towards her own sense of purpose (including a heart-to-heart with her father, which helps to humanise him more). However, the investigation plot line is less successful in that despite the revelations about the Agency, there’s little actual progress with working out who’s behind the attack on the Bath Chapter and I didn’t understand Ekstrand’s reluctance to take some of the obvious steps that would move things on. Likewise Sam’s marital issues bored me given we haven’t really seen the happiness he supposedly used to enjoy with his wife and I wasn’t as interested in the revelation about her job as I was supposed to be. What really bothered me though was a rape, which is all the more horrific because no one seems to recognise it as a rape. I’m hoping that the repercussions will inform the final book because I found it really disturbing for it to go unremarked upon. I will definitely read the conclusion, but I’m worried about how Newman will pull the various plot strands together given that there’s so much story going on.
The Verdict:
The second in Emma Newman’s SPLIT WORLDS TRILOGY is a mixed affair. I loved the expansion of the politics and social conditions of the mirror cities and Will’s attempts to navigate and win over Londinium society are great (especially his growing respect for his biggest rival, Bartholomew), but I was less convinced by the way he finds himself manipulated in the last quarter. I also enjoyed Cathy’s slow journey towards her own sense of purpose (including a heart-to-heart with her father, which helps to humanise him more). However, the investigation plot line is less successful in that despite the revelations about the Agency, there’s little actual progress with working out who’s behind the attack on the Bath Chapter and I didn’t understand Ekstrand’s reluctance to take some of the obvious steps that would move things on. Likewise Sam’s marital issues bored me given we haven’t really seen the happiness he supposedly used to enjoy with his wife and I wasn’t as interested in the revelation about her job as I was supposed to be. What really bothered me though was a rape, which is all the more horrific because no one seems to recognise it as a rape. I’m hoping that the repercussions will inform the final book because I found it really disturbing for it to go unremarked upon. I will definitely read the conclusion, but I’m worried about how Newman will pull the various plot strands together given that there’s so much story going on.
