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Freedom and Necessity (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author) "Mr ROEBUCK also begged to enter his protest against this ill-considered and crude piece of legislation, which he described as the result of a species..." (more)
Key Phrases: Trotter's Club, Aunt Louisa, Grey Hound (more...)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The early 19th century was a heady time of repeated challenges to the assumption that the social order as it stood was supernaturally (divinely) ordained. A particularly sticky web of politics and romance traps Susan Voight and James Cobham in a dense, thrillingly suspenseful plot connecting a reforming democratic labor movement, Chartism, to a secret society, the Trotters Club, whose corrupt members intend to exploit a magical ritual for their personal, complicated purposes of vengeance and power. Layers of truths and falsehoods mislead and confound the protagonists in their dealings with each other and the conspiracies; they come to understand that only honesty can save them. Although the perversion of the natural power of sorcery fails because it is unnatural, the social order, unnatural or not, is more resistant to justice. The swift pace, surprising developments, and appealing characters make it nearly impossible to put this book down. Though the women's rights movement is glancingly acknowledged, the conventionally romantic fulfillment is a little disappointing. Is there no other end for intelligent, financially independent women than maternity and love-partnership (as binding, or more, as legal marriage) with a man? --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From Library Journal

Where can you read about Marx, Engels, and Napoleon Bonaparte, plus numerous other historic characters in one book? In this new fantasy novel by Brust (Agyar, LJ 2/15/94) and Bull (Finder, LJ 2/15/93), that's where. Although the body of James Cobham has not been found, he is assumed to have drowned in an accident in 1849. Two months after the accident, his cousin, Richard, receives a letter from James annoucing that he is alive and in hiding, but he can't recall the past two months. Richard writes back, advising James to stay in hiding because he suspects foul play. The correspondence unfolds among several characters and reveals James's mysterious past. Resembling the works of Tolstoy and Dickens in the plethora of characters, Stoker in the and Mary Shelly in the presented exposition, the novel brings together intrigue, adventure, politics, and magic in a complex epic that astonishes the reader. Although the format is occasionally cumbersome, the story is interesting enough to keep the reader turning pages. Recommended for libraries with strong sf/fantasy collections.?Georgia Panos, Johnson Cty. Lib. System, Leawood, Kan.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Product Details

  • Mass Market Paperback: 608 pages
  • Publisher: Tor Fantasy; 1st edition (December 15, 1997)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0812562615
  • ISBN-13: 978-0812562613
  • Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,087,178 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #19 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( B ) > Bull, Emma
    #42 in  Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( B ) > Brust, Steven

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Emma Bull
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Steven Brust
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First Sentence:
Mr ROEBUCK also begged to enter his protest against this ill-considered and crude piece of legislation, which he described as the result of a species of cant which was almost as dangerous as vice. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Trotter's Club, Aunt Louisa, Grey Hound, Gideon Johnson, Betty Howard, Andrew Cobham, Alan Tournier, Hugh Stone, James Cobham, Sir George, Thomas Cavanaugh, Friedrich Engels, Eleanor Tournier, Uncle Andrew, Cauldhurst Abbey, Eileen Coslick, Bishop's Waltham, Legion of Aunts, Miss Trevelyan, Covent Garden, Diana Cobham, George Holland, Evan Davis, Miss Howard, Seamus Palmer
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Customer Reviews

39 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Like Climbing Everest..., August 14, 1999
By A Customer
some hard going, but that's why people do it.

Most of the hard reading in this fabulous book can be attributed to neither Bull nor Brust, but rather to 19th century German philosophy. Anything is easy reading compared to that! Nevertheless, the letters and news clippings which tell the story require some work as they are written in 19th century English - and 19th century English is quite different from modern English (is this a surprise to anyone?). Despite the somewhat difficult reading, it is well worth it - Hegelian philosophy and all.

Regarding the negative reviews, this book is definately not for everyone. If you have never read anything written prior to the latter half of this century be prepared to work hard - this doesn't come with Coles Notes to help you through like so many people needed to get through Shakespeare in high school. You are reading English that is 150 years old (or, rather, styled after English that is 150 years old) - it is understandable but not comfortable for a 20th century English speaker.

I agree that billing this as fantasy is a misnomer, but Brust and Bull have been pigeon-holed - much like you'll find Bob Dylan in the Folk section at too many record stores (Shot of Love = Folk?). Regardless of the genre it has been assigned to, it is a fantastic book - period. Not an OK Historical, great Fantasy - just a great book regardless of the genre. It's just that too many books, even historical fiction, are written in modern English which make them easier to digest.

The 19th Century letters and news clippings add a feeling of reality - there's not some omnipotent Narrator detailing everything that happened. I think it is a great way to tell the story and Brust and Bull pull it off with great flair. Think The Blair Witch Project - what is so powerful about it is it seems like it did happen, or at least like it could happen, because of the raw nature of the documentation (very "primary source" in History speak). But as to the originality of this device of telling the story through letters and news clippings, has no-one read Bram Stoker's Dracula? No, I am not refering to Bram Stoker's Dracula the movie, book, and marketing extravaganza from 1992, but rather the original from 1897.

Overall, a great tale that gradually reveals more and more of an Epic plot (yes, only a few cities may be visited, but the Fates of Nations, the Clash of Idealogies, Revolution, and the questioning of Reality are the backdrop!). And the device of letters and journals revealing this Epic, while not entirely novel, is most certainly daring in the late 20th Century. Coupled with Hegelian philosophy, mysticism, the Occult, independance versus Love, Marx and Engels' Communist ideology, et cetera this is a book you should not miss.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, but not for all tastes, March 25, 2004
By Paula Berman (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I note that most of the reviewers who gave this low ratings begin with "Epistolary novels are boring" or "I don't like Victorian settings". So look: this is a story told through letters and journal entries and it is set in the mid-1800s. Got that? If you can't stand either of those, this may not be the book for you. It also delves into philosophy (hence the title) and the politics of the time, and by the way it contains the best love letter *ever* and the best romance story since Dorothy Sayers' Gaudy Night. There are a few loose ends that could have been better tied up, and I really wish Bull and Brust had done a better job with the alternate universe subplot; as another reviewer has pointed out, the Golden Bough-type myths are hinted at but it is never clear whether there's anything to them in the world of the story, or whether Kitty's experiments are anything more than hallucinations. The story is not weakened if the magic some characters believe in is mythical, but a bit more exposition would be nice. Otherwise, just brilliant.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Thumping Good Read, February 24, 2003
By J. Angus Macdonald "bibliovore" (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Okay, I stole that line from "A Common Reader", but it seems appropriate!

Espistlatory novels, works written in the form of a series of letters and diary entries, are rather old-fashioned. They were very popular back in Victorian times but rather less so nowadays. To many they seem contrived. But consider this: this is a novel set in the Victorian Age. What better way to pay homage to the time then to attempt to copy the style and the verbage of that time? This is one of the many glories, great and small, of this novel and I raise my glass to Brust and Bull for it.

The cast of the novel is fairly large by modern standards but much curtailed for Dickens and his ilk; there are essentially four main characters (James Cobham, a ex-Chartist part-time anarchist, Kitty Holbourn, devoutee of the arcane, Richard Cobham, James' cousin and erstwhile lover of Kitty, and Susan Voight, 'an houri in practical shoes and sensible stays'). The plot revolves around several points, but primarily it is a mystery -- James falls from a boat, is assumed drowned, and yet finds himself very much alive and working in an inn as a stablehand several months after the event.

Working in and out from here are possible faery sightings, would-be Satanists, or at least individuals bent on human sacrifice, a possible government conspiracy, a traitor in the Chartist movement that may have led to the unravelling of the abortive revolutions of 1848, and even a wonderfully drawn appearance by Friedrich Engels. The characterizations are sharp, the descriptions clear, the manners superb; I never heard a false note in the cadences of voice and manner through the book, no sense of the 20th century imposing itself on the 19th. I ended up truly caring what happened to the characters and wondering what had happened to force them into their current horrible predicaments.

I can recommend this novel as a great fun read, a wild ride, and not a half-bad intro into certain aspect of the mid-19th century, at least as far as England is concerned.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars a book to savor
I first read this about 4 or 5 years ago, and it blew me away. So when somebody mentioned it a couple of months ago, I decided to take the chance and put it back in my TBR pile,... Read more
Published 11 months ago by D. K. Stokes

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
Will hold your attention through short periods of time and allow you to put it down easily. Will draw you back into it later. Is also easily read for hours. Read more
Published 20 months ago by A. Axe

4.0 out of 5 stars extremely complex not an easy read Victorian mystery
In 1849 his family assumes that Chartism revolutionary James Cobham died in a boating accident. Two months after his alleged death, James finds himself at a Portsmouth, England... Read more
Published on April 21, 2007 by Harriet Klausner

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-done, yet unfortunately, it wears a bit thin
I picked this book up after reading a piece in which China Mieville recommended it, and I really wanted to like it more than I did. Read more
Published on May 4, 2006 by Swift 36

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite reads
I LOVE this book, but I will admit it's not for everyone. I read a lot of sf/fantasy, but the best comparison I can come up with is A.S. Byatt's "Posession". Read more
Published on March 17, 2005 by K. R. Holmes

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Piece of Fiction
This is one of the best books I've read in quite some time, and I highly recommend it - but perhaps not to everyone. Read more
Published on February 22, 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Major Waste of Time
I was very disappointed with this book; I bought it because I love Emma Bull's BoneDance, which does not resemble this one at all. Read more
Published on October 20, 2002 by TONI McLEOD

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT worth the effort
I consider myself a die hard Brust fan and have enjoyed Emma Bulls works as well. This book was near agony to read and I am still one third of the way from finishing it (I bought... Read more
Published on January 23, 2002 by mortissanguine

4.0 out of 5 stars How to solve a problem like an epistolary novel...?
Epistolary novels used to be far more popular way-back-when people communicated by letters more often. It's an interesting device, but nearly impossible to pull off . Read more
Published on August 29, 2001 by E. A. Lewis

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!
This is one of my favorite books. It is truly a book of letters, between the two main female characters, and detailing a distinctly un-traditional set of adventures that even... Read more
Published on July 21, 2001 by Martha E. Nelson

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