Review: Flood of Fire by Amitav Ghosh.

Book: Flood of Fire (Ibis Trilogy #3)

Author: Amitav Ghosh

Pages: 616

Read On: Hardcover

How Long it Took Me To Read: 3 days

Plot Summary: It is 1839 and tension has been rapidly mounting between China and British India following the crackdown on opium smuggling by Beijing. With no resolution in sight, the colonial government declares war.

One of the vessels requisitioned for the attack, the Hind, travels eastwards from Bengal to China, sailing into the midst of the First Opium War. The turbulent voyage brings together a diverse group of travellers, each with their own agenda to pursue. Among them is Kesri Singh, a sepoy in the East India Company who leads a company of Indian sepoys; Zachary Reid, an impoverished young sailor searching for his lost love, and Shireen Modi, a determined widow en route to China to reclaim her opium-trader husband's wealth and reputation. Flood of Fire follows a varied cast of characters from India to China, through the outbreak of the First Opium War and China's devastating defeat, to Britain's seizure of Hong Kong.

General Thoughts: The Ibis Trilogy, of which Fire of Flood is the third book, is one of my favourite book series. I have reviewed the first two books in this series HERE and I simply love everything about these books- the context, characters, the writing, the pace of events.. just about everything! I have been eagerly waiting for Flood of Fire and am so happy to report that this book exceeded my expectations! Highly recommend the entire series if you enjoy great writing, historical fiction and a tight, well pulled together narrative.

What I Liked: Loads of things, let's get started: 

• One of my pet peeves with book series, especially when the previous book had released a couple of years ago, is that there is insufficient tying up of several loose ends. Also, there is not enough context building of the events that happened in the previous book. I guess the assumption for the latter is that you are expected to re-read the previous books in the series or, at any rate, remember what happened in them. Most of the times, when the gap between books is less, it is easy to remember things, but sometimes one does not have the time to re-read and there is so much that has happened in the previous books that you tend to not remember. So, colour me happy, when I got caught up on everything that had happened in the previous books as I kept reading Flood of Fire. Events that had relevance and needed re-capping were re-capped, whereas events that were done and dusted are not dealt with again. Always a good thing! 

• The writing is sublime, as always! No surprises there! Amitav Ghosh is a master of the craft and the story flows effortlessly across Calcutta, the high seas, to China and Mauritius. Such a pleasure to read something so well written! 

• Even though this book is the concluding part of the Ibis Trilogy, we are introduced to several new characters. This keeps the narrative fresh and we get to see and learn about a completely different perspective to the opium trade and the East India Company. I loved the depictions of the lives of the East India Company's Indian sepoys and the military aspects of the planning behind the invasion of Canton in 1840-41. 

• Of the new characters in this book, I really liked reading about Kesari Singh, the Havildar in the East India Company's army. It was interesting to understand how loyalties were formed back then, when the idea of India, as a nation, was virtually non-existent. Kesari Singh, who we learn is Deeti's eldest brother, is pragmatic, no-nonsense but has a kind core. I found the close relationship of trust between him and Captain Mee (another new character that I liked reading about) very endearing. Captain Mee, again was a very interesting character, very fair and with so much integrity. However, the most interesting character, who to a large extent, shaped key events in this book was Mrs. Burnham aka Cathy. She is broken, sly, sort of manipulative, often holier-than-thou but mostly someone who had learnt to put a brave face when life did not go according to her desires. Her obvious manipulation of Zachary Reid was very well crafted. 

• A key sub-plot in this book is the journey made by Bahram Seth's wife- Shireen-to Hong Kong to meet Bahram's illegitimate son- Ah Fatt. Shireen's metamorphosis from a shy, protected, homebody to a smart woman of the world was really wonderfully done. Also loved her equation with Zadig Bey and her interactions with Ah Fatt. 

• The best thing about Flood of Fire is its panoramic storyline. The story starts in rural Assam, where we see the lives of the Bengal Native Infantry- petty politics, power structures, relationships etc.- and then moves on to events in Bombay, Canton, Hong Kong and so on. The book marvelously captures the roles played by the various stakeholders in the Opium Wars- the British businessmen, the East India Company and the Chinese officials- in just the right level of detail and we are given a story that is well written, historically accurate and very interesting. Never a dull moment in this book! 

What I Didn't Like: I didn't like who Zachary became by the end of this book and Paulette's future path as hinted in the book. I didn't care too much for Zachary, but I liked Paulette- an intrepid aspiring botanist- and I wish there was an alternate future path for her! 

Rating: 5/5 
I highly recommend the entire Ibis Trilogy and pretty much everything written by Amitav Ghosh! Go read these books!