In which I am a bad reviewer

[moon_custafer]

Read about half of A Tree of Bones on the subway and at lunch hour today, and it's great, but no spoiler warnings because this is about something else. Basically, Gemma's book is fast-paced, inventive and interesting enough that it's thrown the failings of another book into sharp relief. A couple of months back, I started reading a theological urban fantasy noir, only to realize after couple of chapters that the protagonist had never read a Vertigo comic in his life or afterlife, which was fair enough, except he'd evidently lived through the 1940s without ever picking up a crime story either, because he seemed incapable of noticing when authorities are really obviously hiding something. Then again, since I got too tired of watching him stand around wondering who could possibly profit from tricking Hell into breaking it's truce with Heaven, I can't be sure it turns out to be a rebellious subset of angels impatient with God's forbearance. Some novels are just Schroedingeriffic that way.

ETA - Checked the last chapter - yep, the angel did it. Took the protagonist 353 pages to figure it out.

Comments

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Now I'm intrigued...

Glad you're liking Tree, obviously, and that it holds up by comparison. I really enjoyed seeing you guys on Saturday.

[moon-custafer.livejournal.com]

Good seeing you too.

I'm making assumptions about the author of the book I didn't like, but it felt like s/he had never heard of Hellblazer etc - it almost makes me wonder how many "rip-offs" are really the opposite -- someone has an idea and not enough familiarity with the genre to know that it's been done before (says the woman who wrote a comedy/drama from a supervillain's PoV just at the time Dr. Horrible and Soon I Will Be Invincible came out.)

[leave-harmony.livejournal.com]

I'm still going through book 2. Trying to go slowly. Not easy.

[kibeky.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6M_6qOz-yw