They start sympathetic enough, and at some point, they just lose it. And then, often the heroine is pretty unlikable because… because, that’s why. I have two other smaller problems as well: they all seem to focus way too much on the buildup towards the Sepoy Rebellion, often devoting dozens of pages to dialogue in which the enlightened and pro-native character lays out his wise political advice that contrasts with the narrow-minded stupidity of the rest of his caste. Novel X is inferior even if by the same author, Novel Y is too much of a wannabe and a poorer copy at that, Novel Z has a character that smells of rip-off… That has resulted in my experience reading all the other books with the same setting less enjoyable in some way. I have a big problem with novels set in colonial India: they all have to measure up, whether I will it or no, to the arch-famous “The Far Pavilions,” that by virtue of reading it first as much as its author’s craftiness, is the golden standard for me personally.
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