Ratings24
Average rating4.2
Guns of the Dawn is a pacey, gripping fantasy of war and magic, from Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author, Adrian Tchaikovsky. ‘One of the best books I've ever read’ – Peter Newman, author of The Vagrant The first casualty of war is truth . . . First, Denland’s revolutionaries assassinated their king, launching a wave of bloodshed after generations of peace. Next they clashed with Lascanne, their royalist neighbour, pitching war-machines against warlocks in a fiercely fought conflict. Genteel Emily Marshwic watched as the hostilities stole her family’s young men. But then came the call for yet more Lascanne soldiers in a ravaged kingdom with none left to give. Emily must join the ranks of conscripted women and march toward the front lines. With barely enough training to hold a musket, Emily braves the savage reality of warfare. But she begins to doubt her country's cause, and those doubts become critical. For her choices will determine her own future and that of two nations locked in battle. ‘An engrossing story, beautifully told’ – SFX ‘Moving, gripping and wonderfully paced’ – The Bookbag
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I was initially skeptical, because I knew Tchaikovsky for his Science Fiction work, and this book was clearly not that. I'm not a big reader of Jane Austen novels either, which the start of this book resembles more. But the story eventually won me over, if not the heroine. Emily takes much too long to realize that her basic assumptions of the world are wrong, and several times I found myself shouting at her to wake up already. She gets there in the end, but it takes an entire epilogue chapter for that to happen.