In Geoff Ryman’s novels, everyone is important. ‘The King’s Last Song’ tells us about Jayavarman, the Khmer king who gave up the pursuit of sainthood to unify his country, but also about William and Map, two guides to the wreckage of modern Cambodia. It is a novel about forgiveness and finding a point to your life to which Map’s quest to atone for what he did in the Pol Pot years is as central as the search of Jayavarman’s crippled son to find a role in a world in which he is regarded as cursed by the gods.
And finding a role, finding salvation, is always to some degree in the hands of chance. Luc, the French archaeologist in charge of the recently rediscovered memoirs of Jayavarman, finds his fulfilment translating them as a way to stay alive in the hands of Khmer Rouge holdouts. His captor Pich comes, without ever softening, to respect Luc’s very different dedication. Map, by contrast, has done, almost by accident, things that neither he nor those around him can forgive; it was his fate to live in terrible times.
(Time Out's Roz Kaveney reviews The King's Last Song)
... In the end, it's the vibrant emotional lives of Luc and his friends that capture the tragic beauty of Cambodia. (Publisher's Weekly)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book was part of the Intercultural VBB.

Hope you like it!

Thanks very much, ApoloniaX, the book arrived today and looks very promising. Thanks also for the beautiful bookmarky-thingys :)

I read to about pag 100, but the story just didn't grab me. Too many characters, I think :)

My husband wants to give it a go, though, so the book will stay at our household for a little while longer still.