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A review by andyshute
The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist
1.0
I picked this up purely from the cover which was nicely and intriguingly designed (never judge a book...) and what sounded like a story right up my alley. It took me a whole week to plough my way through and a lot of the time I was having to try. The basic underlying story is interesting with a greatly bizarre and unique premise but the execution is lacking. Problems:
Huge numbers of characters with mostly unnecessarily unpronounceable names made it difficult to keep track of who was who (indeed during the finale I was completely lost as to who one of the major players turned out to be).
The alternating chapter telling the same events from the perspectives of the three main 'heroes' became quickly quite frustrating though when together I enjoyed it more.
The sheer depth of detail and description made reading pretty slow and heavy going with a distinct lack of narrative flow. Yet at other times the smug vagueness of plot points irritated (even down to the ambiguity of where it was set despite the surrounding real European setting).
The sheer number of coincidences and (as mentioned in a cover quote) 'miraculous escapes' just stretches credibility too far. The two male heros particularly could give John McClane a run for his money in being virtually indestructible.
And then the heroes. I quite liked Cardinal Chang, he seemed interesting and well drawn and you could understand his motivations. Doctor Svenson is less well developed and the lazy back story and motivation which randomly appears midway through doesn't make sense. Mostly though Miss Temple annoyed. She spends a good deal of time throughout moaning about how unfair it is that she's a woman and no-one will give her any respect as a result of this, then turns round break into tears and does something so mind-blowing stupid that you can't help but want to slap her. Out of anyone she seems to be doing purely for an adventure and never really seems to appreciate the gravity of the situation. It's all a jolly lark.
I could go on but that's enough. Could have been much better with a strict editor.
Huge numbers of characters with mostly unnecessarily unpronounceable names made it difficult to keep track of who was who (indeed during the finale I was completely lost as to who one of the major players turned out to be).
The alternating chapter telling the same events from the perspectives of the three main 'heroes' became quickly quite frustrating though when together I enjoyed it more.
The sheer depth of detail and description made reading pretty slow and heavy going with a distinct lack of narrative flow. Yet at other times the smug vagueness of plot points irritated (even down to the ambiguity of where it was set despite the surrounding real European setting).
The sheer number of coincidences and (as mentioned in a cover quote) 'miraculous escapes' just stretches credibility too far. The two male heros particularly could give John McClane a run for his money in being virtually indestructible.
And then the heroes. I quite liked Cardinal Chang, he seemed interesting and well drawn and you could understand his motivations. Doctor Svenson is less well developed and the lazy back story and motivation which randomly appears midway through doesn't make sense. Mostly though Miss Temple annoyed. She spends a good deal of time throughout moaning about how unfair it is that she's a woman and no-one will give her any respect as a result of this, then turns round break into tears and does something so mind-blowing stupid that you can't help but want to slap her. Out of anyone she seems to be doing purely for an adventure and never really seems to appreciate the gravity of the situation. It's all a jolly lark.
I could go on but that's enough. Could have been much better with a strict editor.