Matthew's Journal

This book is a queerer retelling of events preceding the reign of the Hongwu Emperor in 14th-century China. The first viewpoint character we meet is the daughter of a peasant family who are slowly starving to death in the famine. Early on, she chooses to take up another's destiny, whatever the cost.

The plot is twisty and compelling (though I thought it lost focus a bit in the middle), and there's a very satisfying level of political machination going on. Very few of the characters are likeable, though: some of the antagonists are simply arseholes, but even those we are more sympathetic towards rarely show much in the way of kindness. Which I guess is making a point (echoed by the characters) that desire is the cause of suffering, but towards the end I found myself wanting to know how everything would turn out, rather than really rooting for any of the main characters to succeed...

The fantastic elements of the setting make little difference to the plot. I spent quite some time wondering if all this seeing of ghosts was going to impact the plot, and I'm not sure it really did..