{"id":12140,"date":"2019-10-06T21:10:54","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T01:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12140"},"modified":"2025-05-05T19:44:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T23:44:56","slug":"gunpowder-alchemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12140","title":{"rendered":"Gunpowder Alchemy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gunpowder Alchemy<\/a><\/em> (2014) Jeannie Lin<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Set in China in 1850<\/p>\n

It has taken me a really long time to read this; it’s been my lunch-time reading book, but I don’t always read at lunch, and after lunch I walk and listen to either an audiobook or podcasts. So–maybe I’ve been reading this for a year? Which is kind of crazy for me.<\/p>\n

Jin Soling’s father–like all the other advisors–was executed by the Emperor after the Chinese Army was defeated in battle. After his death, Jin, her mother, brother, and an old servant fled to the country when Jin tried to keep the family together while her mother escaped through opium.<\/p>\n

The bits about opium felt relatively true to the way the West dealt with China historically.<\/p>\n

Our empire had been forced to grant access to the foreigners after our defeat. From their section of the port, they were able to sell and trade whatever goods they pleased and there was little the empire could do to stop them. <\/p>\n

\u201cTheir commerce usually involves opium,\u201d Aguda said darkly. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From what I’ve read (and it’s minimal compared to what I could learn) the British empire really did treat China that badly, using opium to subjugate the Chinese empire.<\/p>\n

Really awful stuff, but then empires haven’t really ever been known for being benevolent.<\/p>\n

The story involves Jin trying to sell one of her father’s inventions, and instead getting swept up in both the war against the west and internal revolution. She comes across men who worked for her father–including one who to whom she had been betrothed as a child.<\/p>\n

This was an interesting story, but obviously not one that sucked me in, since I read it page-by-page until I finally finished it.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Jeannie Lin
\nRating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gunpowder Alchemy (2014) Jeannie Lin Set in China in 1850 It has taken me a really long time to read this; it’s been my lunch-time reading book, but I don’t always read at lunch, and after lunch I walk and listen to either an audiobook or podcasts. So–maybe I’ve been reading this for a year? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,31,2,28],"tags":[833],"class_list":["post-12140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alternate-history","category-asian","category-fantasy","category-steam-punk","tag-jeannie-lin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-39O","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5464,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5464","url_meta":{"origin":12140,"position":0},"title":"The Sword Dancer","author":"Michelle","date":"October 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Sword Dancer (2013) Jeannie Lin Set in Tang Dynasty China \u2014 AD 848 Thief-catcher Han is searching for jewel thieves. Li Feng was involved in the heist, but not for the reasons the others in her group were, so she left the group but still fell afoul of Han.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Sword-Dancer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/The-Sword-Dancer.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14153,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14153","url_meta":{"origin":12140,"position":1},"title":"The Lotus Palace","author":"Michelle","date":"March 29, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Lotus Palace (2013) Jeannie Lin Tang Dynasty China, 847 AD Yue-ying is a maidservant to Mingyu, one of the highest ranked courtesans in Pingkang li, the pleasure quarter. Mingyu had started training in music, dance and calligraphy immediately after Madame Sun had taken her in. 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Rozan (A Dee and Lao Mystery #1) Set in London in 1924 Lao She is living in London, teaching English to aspiring businessmen and politicians when he is told Judge Dee was swept up during a Chinese protest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Murder of Mr. Ma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/The_Murder_of_Mr_Ma.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/The_Murder_of_Mr_Ma.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/The_Murder_of_Mr_Ma.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10057,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10057","url_meta":{"origin":12140,"position":3},"title":"A Pattern of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"March 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A Pattern of Lies (2015) Charles Todd Set in Europe in Autumn 1918 It's time to take a break from this series. Reading one after the other is making me notice the weaknesses rather than the strengths. It's unfortunately, because I thought the bits about the mill were very interesting.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Pattern-of-Lies.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13775,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13775","url_meta":{"origin":12140,"position":4},"title":"A Pattern of Lies","author":"Michelle","date":"December 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A Pattern of Lies (2015) Charles Todd (Bess Crawford) Set in England and France in 1918. Stuck in Canterbury waiting for a transport train to take her to London, Bess meets a soldier she had helped nurse back to health. 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