A few recent books I haven't particularly enjoyed...
2012 is turning out to be a somewhat disappointing year for books. Either the books are merely "okay", or I actively don't like them and struggle to finish. A few of the low points:
The Audran Sequence by George Alec Effinger.
The Audran Sequence seemed so promising with an interesting world in which many nation-states have fractured and the story is set in a city somewhere in Arabia. However, much of it fell flat for me.
Part of the problem is that the series bills itself as cyberpunk noir, while it never really falls into either category. The only cyberpunk is basically technology modules that can implanted into a wired brain to grant specialized information or change your entire personality. The noir is supposedly inspired by detective stories, but is truly only about a poor, mixed-race man who rises to power and influence.
The biggest problem though is that the whole trilogy feels extremely convenient. The main character's successes, failures, friendships, etc all plays out exactly as the author wants rather than it feels like it should be. Morality questions are raised, but are avoided instead of answered. Characters and plot act at the author's whim so the story never feels right. Frankly, the whole thing is self-indulgent.
I'm giving this series 6.5 stars because, despite the flaws, the world-building and writing in and of themselves weren't too bad and I think others might enjoy it more than I did.
Redshirts by John Scalzi.
The novel starts off well enough with a satire on the "Redshirt" plot device from Star Trek. The problem is that the book lacks Scalzi's customary wit, humor, and drama. It really doesn't feel much like Scalzi at all. Part of that might be that the book gets quite a bit meta with characters realizing they're fictional, time travel back to the "real world" present, etc to the point it was mind-numbingly ridiculous. I've always enjoyed the author's work, but I just couldn't get into this one. It just wasn't funny or anything at all. I think it would have worked better if Scalzi hadn't tried to be so creative and had just done a riff on the trope.
5 out 10.
Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by GJ Koch.
This book read like a comic offspring of the Ketty Jay books and Firefly, albeit nowhere near as well written. There's a lot of action, snappy dialogue, plays on tropes, and genuinely funny moments. However, most of it gets recycled and overdone to the point that I wanted to be put out of my misery. I liked the idea, but the execution not so much.
I still gave the book a decent rating of 6.5 because I know there are others who would might enjoy this quite a bit.
Despite what you may think, there are a few books I have liked and I'll post more on them next time.
The Audran Sequence by George Alec Effinger.
The Audran Sequence seemed so promising with an interesting world in which many nation-states have fractured and the story is set in a city somewhere in Arabia. However, much of it fell flat for me.
Part of the problem is that the series bills itself as cyberpunk noir, while it never really falls into either category. The only cyberpunk is basically technology modules that can implanted into a wired brain to grant specialized information or change your entire personality. The noir is supposedly inspired by detective stories, but is truly only about a poor, mixed-race man who rises to power and influence.
The biggest problem though is that the whole trilogy feels extremely convenient. The main character's successes, failures, friendships, etc all plays out exactly as the author wants rather than it feels like it should be. Morality questions are raised, but are avoided instead of answered. Characters and plot act at the author's whim so the story never feels right. Frankly, the whole thing is self-indulgent.
I'm giving this series 6.5 stars because, despite the flaws, the world-building and writing in and of themselves weren't too bad and I think others might enjoy it more than I did.
Redshirts by John Scalzi.
The novel starts off well enough with a satire on the "Redshirt" plot device from Star Trek. The problem is that the book lacks Scalzi's customary wit, humor, and drama. It really doesn't feel much like Scalzi at all. Part of that might be that the book gets quite a bit meta with characters realizing they're fictional, time travel back to the "real world" present, etc to the point it was mind-numbingly ridiculous. I've always enjoyed the author's work, but I just couldn't get into this one. It just wasn't funny or anything at all. I think it would have worked better if Scalzi hadn't tried to be so creative and had just done a riff on the trope.
5 out 10.
Alexander Outland: Space Pirate by GJ Koch.
This book read like a comic offspring of the Ketty Jay books and Firefly, albeit nowhere near as well written. There's a lot of action, snappy dialogue, plays on tropes, and genuinely funny moments. However, most of it gets recycled and overdone to the point that I wanted to be put out of my misery. I liked the idea, but the execution not so much.
I still gave the book a decent rating of 6.5 because I know there are others who would might enjoy this quite a bit.
Despite what you may think, there are a few books I have liked and I'll post more on them next time.