Blending grand-scale storytelling with deeply provocative social and spiritual themes, Lawrence could very well be the next...
The second installment of Lawrence’s Guardians series—following his debut novel The Guardians of Time (2011)—is equal parts epic science-fiction, time-travel adventure, historical-fiction drama and apocalyptic thriller.
With nothing short of the future of civilization at stake, agents from a time-traveling anti-terrorism group must go back into the past to stop an enemy organization determined to alter history—and thus the future—for its nefarious purposes. With dual storylines set largely in 2074 Monemvasia, Greece, “the Gibraltar of the East,” and early 19th-century Greece during the country’s war for independence against the Ottoman Empire, the high octane narrative is powered by an ensemble cast of well-developed, emotionally compelling characters such as Rashid Ibn Taleb Al-Noury, a young Moroccan who has joined the ranks of the Guardians as a Paladin to try and uncover what the Trustees are plotting in 1825 Greece; John Crowe, a ruthless, charismatic Trustee operative and former Paladin; and Mark Lawson, the time traveler from the future who brought with him that which could save humanity—and potentially destroy it. Although the science-fiction element is an obviously integral part of the storyline, much of the time it takes a backseat to the saga’s historical-fiction aspect. Lawrence excels at immersing the reader in 1825 Greece through vivid, thorough description and a clear knowledge of the area, its history and culture. Fans of elite alternate history sagas like S.M. Stirling’s Island in the Sea of Time trilogy, Robert Silverberg’s Roma Eterna and Eric Flint and David Drake’s Belisarius sequence will be more than satisfied with the meticulous historical detail, adept characterization and intricate plotlines of the Guardians saga.
Blending grand-scale storytelling with deeply provocative social and spiritual themes, Lawrence could very well be the next coming of Harry Turtledove.Pub Date: May 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0983172116
Page Count: 371
Publisher: Pentelicus
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2011
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
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Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of...
Lifelong, conflicted friendship of two women is the premise of Hannah’s maudlin latest (Magic Hour, 2006, etc.), again set in Washington State.
Tallulah “Tully” Hart, father unknown, is the daughter of a hippie, Cloud, who makes only intermittent appearances in her life. Tully takes refuge with the family of her “best friend forever,” Kate Mularkey, who compares herself unfavorably with Tully, in regards to looks and charisma. In college, “TullyandKate” pledge the same sorority and major in communications. Tully has a life goal for them both: They will become network TV anchorwomen. Tully lands an internship at KCPO-TV in Seattle and finagles a producing job for Kate. Kate no longer wishes to follow Tully into broadcasting and is more drawn to fiction writing, but she hesitates to tell her overbearing friend. Meanwhile a love triangle blooms at KCPO: Hard-bitten, irresistibly handsome, former war correspondent Johnny is clearly smitten with Tully. Expecting rejection, Kate keeps her infatuation with Johnny secret. When Tully lands a reporting job with a Today-like show, her career shifts into hyperdrive. Johnny and Kate had started an affair once Tully moved to Manhattan, and when Kate gets pregnant with daughter Marah, they marry. Kate is content as a stay-at-home mom, but frets about being Johnny’s second choice and about her unrealized writing ambitions. Tully becomes Seattle’s answer to Oprah. She hires Johnny, which spells riches for him and Kate. But Kate’s buttons are fully depressed by pitched battles over slutwear and curfews with teenaged Marah, who idolizes her godmother Tully. In an improbable twist, Tully invites Kate and Marah to resolve their differences on her show, only to blindside Kate by accusing her, on live TV, of overprotecting Marah. The BFFs are sundered. Tully’s latest attempt to salvage Cloud fails: The incorrigible, now geriatric hippie absconds once more. Just as Kate develops a spine, she’s given some devastating news. Will the friends reconcile before it’s too late?
Dated sermonizing on career versus motherhood, and conflict driven by characters’ willed helplessness, sap this tale of poignancy.Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-312-36408-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2007
BOOK TO SCREEN
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