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myrdschaemI recently finished the second book in this series, River of Smoke, and thought I should mention it to more people so they can read it too.
The Ibis trilogy is a set of historical novels centering around the opium trade of the British Empire, the introduction of indenture contracts to take countless people from the Indian sub-continent to ship them to other English colonies without a way home and the lead up to the First Opium war. Ghosh fills the setting with many varied characters from different societal positions and put in a lot of pidgin into the dialogue which doesn't come off as cheesy but instead lends more texture to the scenes.
In particular, River of Smoke focuses mostly on the opium trade in China. Again the care taken with research shines true, merchants arguing about whether the blame for addiction of the masses should lay with "the chinese" or is on the English and other traders bringing the imports are often adapted from contemporary sources like news papers. The audacity of some left me bitter and angry, but there are also rebuttals that argue against. Some of it is also familiar in the worst way - whenever the traders start up on the invisible hand of the market being a law of nature.
Despite not pulling punches, the books do give wonderful insights into different characters. A rollercoaster of emotion sometimes where you don't know who to side with. The book gives plenty of examples in story and historical bits follow nicely.
The Ibis trilogy is a set of historical novels centering around the opium trade of the British Empire, the introduction of indenture contracts to take countless people from the Indian sub-continent to ship them to other English colonies without a way home and the lead up to the First Opium war. Ghosh fills the setting with many varied characters from different societal positions and put in a lot of pidgin into the dialogue which doesn't come off as cheesy but instead lends more texture to the scenes.
In particular, River of Smoke focuses mostly on the opium trade in China. Again the care taken with research shines true, merchants arguing about whether the blame for addiction of the masses should lay with "the chinese" or is on the English and other traders bringing the imports are often adapted from contemporary sources like news papers. The audacity of some left me bitter and angry, but there are also rebuttals that argue against. Some of it is also familiar in the worst way - whenever the traders start up on the invisible hand of the market being a law of nature.
Despite not pulling punches, the books do give wonderful insights into different characters. A rollercoaster of emotion sometimes where you don't know who to side with. The book gives plenty of examples in story and historical bits follow nicely.
