marycatelli: (Golden Hair)
marycatelli ([personal profile] marycatelli) wrote in [community profile] books2020-02-07 06:55 pm
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The Ball and the Cross

The Ball and the Cross by G.K. Chesterton, illustrated by Ben Hatke

This work touches on steampunk, and fantasy, and dystopian novels. But what it chiefly is is a philosophical thriller.

It opens with a debate between two characters who feature later, in an airship. But the chapter ends with a young man breaking a window, and the story takes off with that young man, a Catholic named MacIan, and the atheist whose window he broke, Turnbull, chasing around England trying to escape the police so they can fight a duel.

It features a car accident, a borrowed yacht, buying diplomacy in a shop, many long discussions, beer, swords, champagne, sunsets and sunrises, and much more.
slippy: Photo of a wheat field and a stormy sky, surrounded by a border (Default)

[personal profile] slippy 2020-02-08 06:25 am (UTC)(link)
I'm wondering, is it humorous too? Because the premise sounds like it has a charmingly silly side if the prospective duel is about a broken window.