It is exceedingly difficult to describe the sheer scale of this epic. Several enchanting threads run in parallel, each with unique and charismatic characters, and each character has engaging stories and fascinating back stories. Yet it is all presented so masterfully, and so rich in suspense and satire that it is incredibly hard to put down this page-turner.
Among the varied cast is a poppy-farmer’s widow, a disgraced minor king, a cross-dressing ship supercargo, a white-passing black American sailor, the orphaned teenage daughter of a French botanist, the former crew of a pirate ship among many more smaller, but just as interesting characters.
More interesting is the language that each character speaks; the charming admixture of their native tongues and the English of that time period blend to uniquely identify the voice of each character, like the freedman from Baltimore, the very formal and Indianized English of the supercargo, to the heavy peppering of Anglicized Indian words used by the colonials.
On a more serious, somber note, the story shines a spotlight on the grim details of opium production and its impact on the people of Bihar and Bengal of that time period. The vast British empire was financed through the blood, sweat and tears of the miserable Indian populace who they crushed under the steel-tipped boots of their Sepoy army.
I cannot recommend this book strongly enough, and am looking forward to the second book in the series, “River of Smoke”.