The series is definitely beginning to drag for me. Plenty happens in this outing, and much of it was engaging, but the story just keeps going and goinThe series is definitely beginning to drag for me. Plenty happens in this outing, and much of it was engaging, but the story just keeps going and going. I no longer feel like I'm being told a STORY, which for me implies a beginning, a middle, an end, and a point. Instead it feels like I'm being led by the nose through an era of this strange world's HISTORY. And for me, that's where things come apart.
With a work like LOTR, I found the world itself deeply fascinating, so being told a long and involved tale about a pivotal time in its history felt worthwhile. I was riveted by the place itself - irrespective of the plot. But Roshar is not Middle Earth. Equally vast in area, perhaps, but to me only micron deep by comparison, with little sparkle or delight of its own. The closer I look at it, the more I see it as a Rube Goldberg contraption, a tinker's scaffold, purpose built to hold the pieces of this particular story aloft. Take away the events of the plot, and that scaffold collapses under the weight of its own absurdity.
As CEO of the world's most successful energy company, Lowell Bracken is at the top of his game and beginning to plan for his children to succeed him. As CEO of the world's most successful energy company, Lowell Bracken is at the top of his game and beginning to plan for his children to succeed him. But when a small upstart solar power company enters the scene, it triggers a series of political dominoes that will completely destabilize the power structures of the entire planet, and Lowell will be lucky to escape with his children - and his skin - intact.
This one is hard to pigeon hole. Part eco-drama. Part fantasy. Part political thriller. It's set on an alien planet, but with a tech level similar to our own. There is some kind of pseudo-magic, and dragons, but both are kept fairly low key in this first installment.
Despite these promising elements, this one didn't quite grab me. Lowell in particular seemed rather inconsistent. He's touted as a ruthless and ultra-savvy CEO who built his company up from ashes, against heroic obstacles. But when the chips were down, I never saw any of that heroic ferocity and competence in evidence. If anything, he comes across as a has-been who is now easily duped and slightly bewildered. It's one of those cases where the author describes the kind of character we all love to admire, but doesn't actually write him in a way that's consistent with that hype. And while some of the other characters do live up to their billing, they are so uni-dimensional that I wasn't able to bond emotionally with any of them.
Overall, I felt like this book took me to the brink of a really enjoyable ride, but left me standing there. It didn't quite have the horsepower to tip me over the edge and deliver....more
Imagine Clint Eastwood as an Old West Zombie Hunter.
That pretty much sums it up. Nathaniel Caine is a sort of high plains drifter, or maybe he's a palImagine Clint Eastwood as an Old West Zombie Hunter.
That pretty much sums it up. Nathaniel Caine is a sort of high plains drifter, or maybe he's a pale rider. Either way, when the stage coach he's riding in stops at a way station for supplies, Caine and his fellow travellers get more than they bargained for. And from there on in, it's pretty much all zombies, all the time. This has all the usual suspects: the cocky young man, the timorous merchant with the beautiful daughter, the megalomaniac zombie priest, and of course, a stout-hearted cast of redshirts - the stable boys and coach drivers who give their lives for the furtherment of plot.
But what it doesn't have is anything new.
Don't get me wrong, what Bahle has done here he has done very well. The writing is crisp and confident, the gore is present but not overdone, and his zombies shamble with the best of them. But I believe each book in a genre should attempt to do something more than simply restate the classic themes of that genre. Show me a zombie who can fly. Or a voodoo priest with a heart of gold. Or have the plucky young waif girl turn out to be the mastermind. I don't sail with the zombie navy very often, so maybe I'm out of step with the expectations of all the real zombinistas out there, but from my perspective, Nathaniel Caine needs a bit more of the unexpected.
Yeah, that'd do it. Flying zombies. Put a twist like that in and I'll jump on that stage coach with both feet....more
When a famous writer is murdered, his estranged son Ross returns for the funeral and is quickly plunged into tA two-fisted, gunpowder punk, must-read!
When a famous writer is murdered, his estranged son Ross returns for the funeral and is quickly plunged into the unfamiliar community of fantasy geeks and role playing nerds. So when he learns that the fantastical world of his father's fiction actually exists, Ross quickly crosses over to hunt the killer down, but soon realizes that he may have acted too hastily, because he's now lost in a world of gun-slingers and monsters where the rules make no sense. And Ross hasn't read the books.
Whirlwind is one of those rare indie books that pulls everything together. Its strong writing, vivid imagination and intriguing characters all combine to keep you riveted to the page. Hunt's prose is a delightful surprise in the often plodding swampland of indie publishing, and his ear for language and turns of phrase are of a quality that I only expect to see from upper-echelon, traditionally published authors.
Having said all that, I enjoyed the first half better than the second, and for this I blame the plot. Ross's objective never properly emerges, and without a clear and present goal drawing him forward, the second half of Whirlwind plays out more like a drunken stumble through an amusement park than the decisive action story this could have been. And to my intense frustration, Hunt makes a couple of plot choices shortly after the half way mark that seemed entirely out of step with the dark and sinister vibe that had been building so deliciously to that point. But admittedly, my tastes don't usually run to dark fantasy and gun-slinger stuff, so these quibbles may be mine alone.
If you're looking for a bold new world of fantastical adventure that harks back to Lovecraft rather than Tolkien, then The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree is a definite two-fisted, gunpowder punk, must-read....more
After trying to pick up the pieces following a family tragedy, Toy Designer Jeff Tanner begins to realize that his hasty glue job is in fact coming apAfter trying to pick up the pieces following a family tragedy, Toy Designer Jeff Tanner begins to realize that his hasty glue job is in fact coming apart at the seams. Friendless and adrift, now even the world of imaginary friends has turned on him, sparking a descent into madness that may cost him the few relationships he has left. His only chance is to let go of the past and accept the future - a future that may well be full of nightmares.
A good read that moved along briskly and had plenty of heart. Jeff seemed to do an awful lot of screaming and he seemed a rather pathetic, passive hero at times, but it had some great moments....more
The premise is interesting but I can't like characters who keep making stupid decisions. A recon team in an unknown hazmat zone who casually drink theThe premise is interesting but I can't like characters who keep making stupid decisions. A recon team in an unknown hazmat zone who casually drink the local water and shower in a zombie house? Turning off the engine of the recon vehicle during the first 30 seconds of exploration, with known hostiles in the area?
There was no time spent on establishing mood or immersing me in the world. I felt at sea the entire time, struggling to keep oriented with who was where, and doing what.
In general, it felt as though the author just wanted to get to the story and didn't really want to spend any time on making his characters believable or paint me into the scene with them. If I had to guess, I would say this was a first draft to establish the scope of the story, which went straight to copy editing for typos and then off to publication. I would love to see this again after a detailed story edit....more
One part Great Escape, one part Running Man and one part Stand By Me, Lockdown is the kind of story that should appeal to the rebel with a heart of goOne part Great Escape, one part Running Man and one part Stand By Me, Lockdown is the kind of story that should appeal to the rebel with a heart of gold in all of us - especially if that rebel is a teenage boy.
For me, however, all the surprises were of the more or less expectable variety, so I found it a bit too simple - right on target for it's intended audience, perhaps - but simple enough for me that I doubt I'll continue with the series....more
A strong spooky story with just enough Old World bogey lore to settle itself inside your skull when the lights are out and the night comes a'howling.A strong spooky story with just enough Old World bogey lore to settle itself inside your skull when the lights are out and the night comes a'howling....more
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