3 out of 4 stars
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“People who have suffered every atrocity, and who have every reason to fear that they will suffer them again, may submit tamely, or they may fight for survival. The English and Scots of the frontier were not tame folk.”
George MacDonald Fraser
The Border Reiver by Nick Christofides is a story of one man’s struggle against political transformation and the inevitable “unrest that follows when everything that we take for granted is no longer there”. Essentially, the first half of the 21st century has seen a power struggle, a struggle for order. Repulsed by the intensifying divide between the rich and poor, the British public decides to put its faith in the visionary, Ben Baines, and his political ideology. He begins the revolution by the erasure of the “corporate politics” and the redistribution of the nation’s wealth to the people. However, it soon comes to the fore that reform is not benefitting everyone. Will Ben Baines be able to protect the beliefs which brought him to power in the first place?
Nick Christofides was born in Northumberland, the place where this book is set. He always practiced “his love of writing poetry and stories as a past time”. The Border Reiver is essentially is debut text, and is an interesting read for a debut work. He lives in “Gower, South Wales with his wife, two children and Blondie the Lurcher”.
This book has quite an interesting plot. There is a strong structural coherence in the narrative that pulls the reader towards the book. There are rarely any loopholes, and the book has a really interesting storyline. I love the political overtones of the book, and I feel that in a time of corporate excess in the political world, such books are an absolute necessity. The author has done a splendid job of writing a beautiful exposition, and the reader finds himself drawn in from the very beginning. When it comes to political works, research can be very necessary, and I can tell that the author has done a commendable job on that front.
I would have to say that in spite of writing this review in celebration of all the things I loved about this book, I would have to point out the one thing that I found unsatisfactory. The characterisation in this book could have been much better. The author has created deeply flat and, to an extent, problematic characters that foster no intrigue. This was certainly one element that the author could’ve worked on.
Because of the characterisation, I am taking off a point, but overall I feel that it was a good read. People with a political inclination and people who love enthralling novels will love this work. I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.
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The Border Reiver
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