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octavia_cade's Reviews (2.64k)
I enjoyed this - the idea of a kid growing up in a graveyard, raised by ghosts, is a good one. And ghosts who protect that same child from the people who would turn him into a ghost if they had the chance is also a good idea. There were lots of good ideas in this book - I just wish I'd seen more of them and less of Bod. Don't get me wrong - as a main character he's perfectly adequate, but adequate was as far as it went for me. I was far more interested in the supporting cast (Silas and Miss Lupescu and Scarlett) and kind of wished the story was told from their perspective instead of Bod's.
Eh. On the bright side, I'm far more interested in Walker and his deeply ingrained cynicism than I am in Par and company, so that's good. But even so I can't help but feel this book is twice as long as it needs to be. I like Walker, I do, but there are only so many times I can read about his conflicted life and problems with magic before I just stop caring. It was deeply, deeply repetitive.
I would have liked to see more women as well. One is generally not enough to hold my interest in high fantasy, especially when that one is a magical nature fridge girl; have to admit I kind of rolled my eyes there, amid flashbacks to Amberle.
Basically, there's some good bits scattered here and there in this story, but for me they're just buried under dead weight and angst. Fantasy Bloat strikes again...
I would have liked to see more women as well. One is generally not enough to hold my interest in high fantasy, especially when that one is a magical nature fridge girl; have to admit I kind of rolled my eyes there, amid flashbacks to Amberle.
Basically, there's some good bits scattered here and there in this story, but for me they're just buried under dead weight and angst. Fantasy Bloat strikes again...
I'm liking these books, particularly for the language and the focus on strong female characters. Goodwin continues to be my favourite (I'm hoping she doesn't get side-lined in the next book) and I like the addition of Achoo.
The use of language is really interesting, and as in the first book, I read the glossary in the back with attention. There's a lot of old-fashioned words and street slang, and it gives the stories a real feel of city life - specifically, city life in a poor area. It seems to me that often in fantasy there's a tendency to mess about with language, and often it's in the footsteps of someone like Tolkien, who was an expert in languages and shouldn't be mimicked by those who aren't - it's frequently painful for all concerned. But Pierce has taken a different route. She isn't making language up from whole cloth here. A lot of the words she uses are familiar to me from other sources (i.e. they're real words and not invented like those from, say, Sindarin) and the way that her characters use words feels real to me. It's consistent through the characters and very well done, I thought. I never get the feeling that she'd slipped up on tone, and it never felt self-consciously "fantasy" to me. I find the flavour it gives the story very enjoyable - the best thing about the series so far.
The use of language is really interesting, and as in the first book, I read the glossary in the back with attention. There's a lot of old-fashioned words and street slang, and it gives the stories a real feel of city life - specifically, city life in a poor area. It seems to me that often in fantasy there's a tendency to mess about with language, and often it's in the footsteps of someone like Tolkien, who was an expert in languages and shouldn't be mimicked by those who aren't - it's frequently painful for all concerned. But Pierce has taken a different route. She isn't making language up from whole cloth here. A lot of the words she uses are familiar to me from other sources (i.e. they're real words and not invented like those from, say, Sindarin) and the way that her characters use words feels real to me. It's consistent through the characters and very well done, I thought. I never get the feeling that she'd slipped up on tone, and it never felt self-consciously "fantasy" to me. I find the flavour it gives the story very enjoyable - the best thing about the series so far.
I always enjoy the Guards novels, and this is no exception. I think, though, that my favourite part of this didn't have anything to do with Vetinari or Vimes or the Golem. No, it's the BFF relationship developing between Angua and Cheery Littlebottom, sole member of the brand new forensic science department of the City Watch, that's the most entertaining part of this. There are a few species misunderstandings to get through (werewolves and dwarves not being natural companions) but still. Cheery's desire to throw off the gold-singing, hammer-wielding, boring-clothes masculinity of dwarf life and throw herself into lipsticks and welded-on high heels, and Angua's solid support of her choices, really brings these two outsiders together.
Enjoyable story about a boy, a dying wish, and a magic circus. The circus itself was the best part of this - highly imaginative and charming, would love to visit there myself! I confess to being disappointed with the ending, however. I was really hoping that Ephraim would used his saved-up miracle for Gertrudis, after disillusionment and child abuse spoiled her life and turned her distrustful and bitter, clearly forever. Alas.
Honestly my main reaction to reading this was relief. Finally a little bit of forward momentum on the Faceless Man/Lesley storyline. There are glaciers that move faster than the overarching story in this series (more plot, less waffle please!). To me, the apparent betrayal between two best friends - if it is a betrayal, I cling to the belief that Lesley is undercover on Nightingale's orders - is the emotional centre of the books, going forward from Broken Homes, but it hasn't been treated as such. It's still not, which I find deeply frustrating but at least there's been some minor improvement.
I also do not, do not care for the introduction of the Americans and the whole special forces thing. It put me in mind of Buffy and the excruciatingly bloody boring Initiative. On the bright side, I'm really enjoying Guleed as a character. The series was beginning to suffer from lack of a female character as anything other than a minor support, so I was glad to see her placed firmly in the foreground. Long may it go on, as she's fantastic. And I think I'm finally beginning to warm to Lady Ty - shame that I remain completely indifferent to Beverly. Don't know why, I feel that I should enjoy her more, but I just don't. Peter, on the other hand, remains hugely enjoyable - witty, self-deprecating, open to most things and willing to experiment.
Anyway, so why do I think Lesley's undercover? Wishful thinking, for the most part. But there are other things. For one, she was always the example of moral rectitude and proper police procedure between her and Peter - it was part of her character. Two, it seems she's trying to protect him. Three, the Faceless Man was kicking their arses over some books and Nightingale didn't have a clue. You can't tell me he didn't look at Lesley with her face and intelligence (she picked up spells quicker than Peter) and think, "This is someone who looks like she can be believably turned". In Nightingale's position I'd take advantage of that and I wouldn't tell Peter, who is just too open with his emotions not to be obviously worrying his arse off. But does Lesley know this? Even Bev thinks she's trying to tell him something. Then there's Operation Carthorse, which seems like a joke of a name if you ask me. Literally putting the cart before the horse in the assumption that Lesley May has gone to the dark side, confusing cause and effect (assuming she has left the force to work with the Faceless Man, instead of working with the Faceless Man so having to (appear) to leave the force). Though, as I said, mostly wishful thinking.
I also do not, do not care for the introduction of the Americans and the whole special forces thing. It put me in mind of Buffy and the excruciatingly bloody boring Initiative. On the bright side, I'm really enjoying Guleed as a character. The series was beginning to suffer from lack of a female character as anything other than a minor support, so I was glad to see her placed firmly in the foreground. Long may it go on, as she's fantastic. And I think I'm finally beginning to warm to Lady Ty - shame that I remain completely indifferent to Beverly. Don't know why, I feel that I should enjoy her more, but I just don't. Peter, on the other hand, remains hugely enjoyable - witty, self-deprecating, open to most things and willing to experiment.
Anyway, so why do I think Lesley's undercover? Wishful thinking, for the most part. But there are other things. For one, she was always the example of moral rectitude and proper police procedure between her and Peter - it was part of her character. Two, it seems she's trying to protect him. Three, the Faceless Man was kicking their arses over some books and Nightingale didn't have a clue. You can't tell me he didn't look at Lesley with her face and intelligence (she picked up spells quicker than Peter) and think, "This is someone who looks like she can be believably turned". In Nightingale's position I'd take advantage of that and I wouldn't tell Peter, who is just too open with his emotions not to be obviously worrying his arse off. But does Lesley know this? Even Bev thinks she's trying to tell him something. Then there's Operation Carthorse, which seems like a joke of a name if you ask me. Literally putting the cart before the horse in the assumption that Lesley May has gone to the dark side, confusing cause and effect (assuming she has left the force to work with the Faceless Man, instead of working with the Faceless Man so having to (appear) to leave the force). Though, as I said, mostly wishful thinking.
I read and reviewed all three of the novels collected here separately, so this is just a quick note for my own reference. The two star rating is an averaged one: I gave both Halloween Rain and Afterimage two stars each, and Bad Bargain (my favourite of the bunch) three.
Slightly too lengthy but otherwise interesting enough Buffy outing. I've never much cared for Jonathan (and still don't, after reading this), but I really did enjoy the way that Cordelia was presented here: as someone who has useful information, and a source of intelligence as well as snark.
The petty petty thing that is knocking this down from a three star read, for me, is the irritation of a single paragraph: one that claims that science and the scientific method date back to the Renaissance. If you want to ignore the scientists of ancient China, India, the Middle East etc. and claim that early modern science dates back to the Renaissance, you might squeak a pass, but there is no excuse for whitewashing Ibn al-Haytham out of history. al-Haytham was the Iraqi-born Muslim who worked out the scientific method some centuries before the Renaissance. This is not obscure information. In fact it's pretty basic stuff in the history of science, and a bit disappointing that it was let slip through because al-Haytham was a fantastically interesting genius and deserves to be remembered.
The petty petty thing that is knocking this down from a three star read, for me, is the irritation of a single paragraph: one that claims that science and the scientific method date back to the Renaissance. If you want to ignore the scientists of ancient China, India, the Middle East etc. and claim that early modern science dates back to the Renaissance, you might squeak a pass, but there is no excuse for whitewashing Ibn al-Haytham out of history. al-Haytham was the Iraqi-born Muslim who worked out the scientific method some centuries before the Renaissance. This is not obscure information. In fact it's pretty basic stuff in the history of science, and a bit disappointing that it was let slip through because al-Haytham was a fantastically interesting genius and deserves to be remembered.
Quick, fun read that is much more tonally consistent than other Buffy books I've read lately. I liked the idea of Hellmouth pests as well: that ecological spillover from another dimension is enough to cause chaos when said demon pests don't do well in a new environment. It makes a change that the Big Bad isn't actually a Big Bad at all, just a bunch of little critters doing their thing, without an evil plan to their name. The kur was an interesting idea too, but I thought the wee salamander was cuter (aside from the whole burn-you-from-the-inside-out thing).
Not the worst of the Buffy tie-ins I've read, but not the best either. It does have a fairly cool villain, this sort of undead pumpkin-headed king who is genuinely creepy - though I'm not sure how much of that creepiness is because I'm inescapably reminded of the wonderfully schlocky Pumpkinhead series of horror films ("Keep away from Pumpkinhead / unless you're tired of living...").
Where it falls down for me is the tone. This is a problem I've noticed in three of the four tie-in novels I've read so far. BtVS has witty dialogue, but it's not a show that has a laugh track popping up every other moment. I often get the feelings that these tie-in novels are written with a laugh track in mind - and typically, they're not nearly as funny as the laugh track would indicate. In fairness, in Halloween Rain this does drop off in the second half, but for me the balance is out in the first. And I'm sorry, informal prose it may be, but lines like "...Willow Rosenberg was every bit as sweet yet, um, inelegant as her name might suggest" are just painful.
Where it falls down for me is the tone. This is a problem I've noticed in three of the four tie-in novels I've read so far. BtVS has witty dialogue, but it's not a show that has a laugh track popping up every other moment. I often get the feelings that these tie-in novels are written with a laugh track in mind - and typically, they're not nearly as funny as the laugh track would indicate. In fairness, in Halloween Rain this does drop off in the second half, but for me the balance is out in the first. And I'm sorry, informal prose it may be, but lines like "...Willow Rosenberg was every bit as sweet yet, um, inelegant as her name might suggest" are just painful.