Sunday Story Ratings #20: The Grand Design

The Grand Design by John Marco (Tyrants and Kings #2)

Originally published 2000; this edition 2001

Publisher: Gollancz

R18+

(V, H, S, L, D, N)

Violence {R 18+; genocide, chemical warfare, torture}

Supernatural themes and references {no weight}

A Sex Scene {M}

Coarse Language {M}

Drug Use {PG}

Nudity {G}

Representations

Gender:

A broader scattering of POVs, at least one female. There is a conversation between two women, but it features a couple of men prominently.

Sex:

Sex is relegated to off-screen, or referenced as having happened in the past. One antagonist is described several times as bisexual (although not by that word). Antagonists of a different faction hold religious objections to homosexual acts (described incongruously as 'sodomy'), while the aforementioned character's friends maintain that sexual orientation is irrelevant to them. Otherwise this is a rather straight world.

Race & Ethnicity:

More prominent presence of people from Liss, considered ethnically related to those of Triin (that so far as I know fictitious race from the first book), but less overall presence of either than the first book, except one continuing major character. Most characters white, some of fictitious possibly-white ethnicity. One relatively minor character is bi-racial.

Disability, Physical Diversity and Health:

One character has had their physical development stopped at childhood due to medical experimentation. One character is repeatedly described as 'a midget'.

Tropes:

The Empire (Industrial Roman flavour)

Complete Monster

The Dark Side Will Make You Forget (actually listed on the site)

Utopia Justifies the Means (likewise mentioned above)

Super Serum

Psycho Serum (multi-function serum!)

Dead Little Sister

Conflicting Loyalty (different person, much more tragic)

Revenge by Proxy (that's two wives now, and someone else's fiancée.)

Past Victim Showcase (different victim, different target, same guy behind the package)

Finger in the Mail

Fantasy Counterpart Culture

Crystal Dragon Jesus (where the crystal dragon is Yahweh?)

Mighty Whitey

You Kill It, You Bought It (this time, an army of ravens)

Fire Breathing Weapon

Hollywood Acid (as artillery)

Deadly Gas (It's your old friend, deadly neurotoxin. If I were you, I would take a deep breath. And hold it.) (although the gas actually has nastier effects like bleeding diathesis)

Tears of Blood

Hopeless Suitor

Incompatible Orientation

The Extremist Was Right

Obligatory War Crime Scene (new ones!)

Duel to the Death

Older Thank They Look

Family Relationship Switcheroo

Batman Gambit

Heel Realisation

Not What I Signed On For

Revenge Before Reason

Kick the Dog

Pet the Dog

Morality Pet

Before I Change My Mind

Awards

None of note.

Not done one of these in a couple of weeks. Oops. I was a bit busy with school stuff and having some minor renovation foisted on me.

From the early stages of this book, I was looking forward to reading something else in the future, with a lighter and happier tone. So far not much luck, but I remain optimistic. Not that I disliked the book or have much bad to say about it (or much good, since it has been a while now since reading it :-/).

Even more so than the previous book, the outcome I rooted for was (most) of the characters getting together, talking to each other and settling their differences amicably. They don't have to be set against each other, but madness and drug addiction and (on one of the several sides) religious fanatacism interferes with their judgement. At least things get better and worse toward the end, with talk and the evidence of his enemies getting through to a vengeance-hardened heart. Made me optimistic about the following and final volume.

Also pleasantly surprised that the 'sending a little girl to seduce the priest' plot didn't go how I expectected.

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