Reddit mentions of River of Smoke: A Novel (The Ibis Trilogy)

If anyone is interested in reading a novel with the Opium Wars as the backdrop I highly suggest checking out the Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh, which starts with [Sea of Poppies] (http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Poppies-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/0312428596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377016732&sr=8-1&keywords=sea+of+poppies). In fairness the trilogy starts on the eve of the Opium Wars and hence SoP only scratches the surface; [River of Smoke] (http://www.amazon.com/River-Smoke-Novel-Amitav-Ghosh/dp/0374174237/ref=pd_sim_b_3)--part two of the trilogy--does a deeper dive on the political events that lead the Opium Wars but obviously you'll need to read SoP to make sense of what's going on in RoS.


(As an aside--I found SoP to be an excellent book with engaging characters, great prose and incredibly well written and plotted while RoS was merely ok for me. RoS could have used better editing and seemed almost unfocused at times. That said, the writing is still pretty strong and perhaps it seems unfocused because it is setting up the final, and as yet unreleased installment of the trilogy.)