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Oct 2020
8:09pm, 11 Oct 2020
53,731 posts
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Diogenes
I’m very much in the Powell camp. I read Corridors of Power to try and understand Snow better, and only had my feelings confirmed. I admit I’ve not read anything else by him. Quiggin was Also partly based on F R Leavis, another of Powell’s enemies.
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Oct 2020
7:52pm, 19 Oct 2020
17,941 posts
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Bazoaxe
I quite enjoyed this book by the end. I struggled at first but that was mainly my issue as I was reading small bits before bed and falling asleep so failing to follow the story and the characters.
I clocked very early on who would become pope albeit I thought I was wrong but that was maybe a good move by Harris and his writing. However it wasnt properly explained ( I dont think anyway) why the decision went the way of Benitez when he asked people to vote for Lomelli.
I actually read 54% of the book (kindles are great for this info) in the 28 hrs from 5pm on Saturday when I really got into this and couldnt wait to pick it back up and see what was happening.
Overall scored this an 8 and will look for more by Harris. Note to self to maybe try and set aside more time for the early reading though so I get the gist of things more quickly
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Oct 2020
11:44am, 20 Oct 2020
41,687 posts
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LindsD
I wasn't gripped by this initially and couldn't be bothered with working out who was who, but once the cardinals were in the Casa Santa Maria (if I've remembered it right) and the intrigue was starting to brew, I was hooked. I really liked the Lomeli character and wanted to know what would happen. I didn't spot the twist until just before it was revealed, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It was a light read, but it turns out it was exactly right for me just now, so I'm thankful to Lorraine for choosing it. I gave it a 7 and might read Fatherland soon.
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Oct 2020
11:45am, 20 Oct 2020
47,103 posts
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McGoohan
Twist: it's really Motherland
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Oct 2020
11:57am, 20 Oct 2020
41,688 posts
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LindsD
I loved your review. It kind of mirrored my own experience.
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Oct 2020
11:58am, 20 Oct 2020
47,104 posts
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McGoohan
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Oct 2020
12:02pm, 20 Oct 2020
17,950 posts
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Bazoaxe
Oh, I missed the key point. I didnt really like the twist at the end, but I guess for the religious types that would have caused a lot of thinking
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Oct 2020
10:19pm, 20 Oct 2020
20,399 posts
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Columba
It was at that point, Bazoaxe, that I began to think the author was going a bit too far... Not for religious reasons, but for stretching-credulity reasons.
My copy now posted on to eldest daughter-in-law. I described it on the family What'sApp as "Vatican thriller, but forget Dan Brown. This is Everest to Dan Brown's infected pimple".
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Oct 2020
11:26pm, 20 Oct 2020
722 posts
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Peregrinator
Columba: 😀 and yes about the final twist...
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Oct 2020
8:17am, 21 Oct 2020
12,922 posts
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Badger
In common with quite a lot of readers by the look of it, I spent the first quarter flipping back and forth trying to memorise who was who, and the last three flipping forward faster and faster to find out what happened next.
Given the structure was mainly “here is a terrible reason you must not vote for this front runner” it might have felt anti climactic if there wasn’t a twist ending, which had been hinted at by the razor, but I felt he could have come up with something as satisfying and less melodramatic.
It wasn’t quite what I’d expected after Fatherland - which I haven’t reread in years, but I thought was very good at the time. I would recommend that if you’ve enjoyed Conclave.
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