But for the small and completely unnecessary part where the author decides to go explicit beyond necessity of the tale into the nether personal details of his characters, either because his publishers like many others of the day thought this was a good way to catch those readers that won't read the book for its worth, or because at this age the author has second thoughts about being clean, whatever the reason that brings this book for a while into level of disgusting and questionable - at that point one isn't quite certain the writing will ever recover from the level it has sunk to - but for that part, this book would have been worthy of being rated excellent beyond par, in bringing out so much of history mostly ignored in traditional history as taught in most places.
At that, one is taken aback when in the epilogue the author mentions that further history would need a dozen more works from him to go into the diaries and other documents brought out by the descendent of Neel, and it might be the first inkling one is given that the whole tale might just be all about characters that in fact did exist. One does take it for granted that most of the better known ones were in fact historical, as are the various details about the opium wars UK imposed on China for sake of being allowed to sell opium which China had legally banned, but one is unaware for most part during reading the trilogy that the minor characters were just as historical.
About how one feels, there isn't much doubt - one applauds the emergence of a woman from home to the world; one pities the seemingly white Reid forever in danger of being discovered as officially identified "black" in manifesto of the ship he began on from US, even as one is revolted by his revenge for being spurned by the woman in love with another, and is finally glad he is likely to find redemption in love of the excellent Paulette Lambert, the botanist; one is forever on tenterhooks wondering if the author is going to have a father and son unwittingly on opposite sides of the battle a la Rustom Sohrab, and glad that such an event doesn't quite take place, despite it being imminent most of the time, and that they meet and escape safely; one weeps for the tragic love story of the young couple, Mrs. Burnaham and Captain Mee, that was separated because he is too low a caste for her parents, who meet again half a world away and end so tragically only because they are in fact both good, far better than those close to them that did survive such as her husband and his partner at the end who was the catalyst in the two deaths; one is glad Kalua or Maddow Calver is alive, and is able to save Kesari Singh the elder brother of Deeti, who is present in the tale albeit not physically, but live and well half a world away; one is taken with pity for the unfortunate half Chinese, half Parsi Ah Fatt renamed Freddie Lee, with his Parsi name mostly forgotten after his father died, pity evoked for him for most part in spite of his not always being good, or innocent - he after all did trap Reid; and so on.
But more than anything else this finale of the trilogy is important in giving a good picture of the geopolitical realities of the era, in how China was beleaguered with western onslaught in name of freedom of trade, how poor from India were used not only as workers and bonded labour for British enterprise but also as poor soldiers - never quite on part with their "white" counterparts - to battle, kill, put down poor of other nations in Asia, and hence forever hated by those they were used against; and more.
The author does specialise in bringing history to his readers in a story form, but the trilogy is definitely his crowning work.
