Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Ha'Penny by Jo Walton

4.5 STARS

Small Change - Book 2

Inspector Carmichael of Scotland Yard is back and boy has he got problems!

The alternate world that Jo Walton has created, "In 1949, eight years after the "Peace with Honor" was negotiated between Great Britain and Nazi Germany by the Farthing Set, England has completed its slide into fascist dicatorship.", is utterly fascinating. It causes you to ponder the might have beens and what ifs. Fascinating. :)

I call this book a thriller as opposed to a mystery because it's really not about who killed whom and why, it's a race (even if the 'good guys' don't know it until near the end) against time and a bomb that could change the world once again. So it felt more like a thriller.

Again, Walton alternates her narrative between the 1st Person POV of actress Viola Lark and the 3rd person tight POV of Inspector Carmichael. And again, it works very, very well. I was concerned that Viola would turn out to be too similar to Lucy, the heroine of the first book, but her voice was quite different and quite distinct.

I was thrilled to see Jack, Carmichael's long-time partner, get some screen time in this book. It was quite interesting to see more of Carmichael's private life and learn more about how he has to be so very careful in this reality.

There's some heart-break in this book as well and I found myself tearing up a time or two and at one point I think I actually yelled at the author. *LOL*

A yummy, delicious, complex, intriguing, fascinating treat and I can't wait to read #3 in the series.

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