I Read Books: The Viceroy's Captain
Gurkha officer* John Caspasian has been assigned to a mission to recover a diamond that would cause the tribes to unite and invade India. Unfortunately it’s fallen into the wrong hands, including those of Russian military advisors to the Afghan prince. But there are more secrets to the diamond, and not everyone is telling them...
This is a time when British India is becoming Late British India. The first world war has changed everything – Caspasian of course, and the Russians, but also the weapons, the Raj and even the frontier itself; the prince was educated at Oxford. And from a 21st century perspective we can see that the British rule was... not good. Cruel, capricious and oscillating between Machiavellian and incompetent (occasionally both at once). I don’t think the novel quite gets there with its themes – it’s more interested in Caspasian performing feats of bravery and heroism in spite of everything – but it gestures at it, giving a bit of perspective.
Read This: For a superior, and modern, take on classic historical adventure fiction.
Don’t Read This: If ambushing people in the Hindu Kush sounds boring.
* The author was also an officer in the Ghurkas.
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