GoodReads Review: The Treasure of Wonderwhat
The treasure of Wonderwhat by Bill Starr
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
An unusual and intriguing title, it sparked hope that I might have stumbled upon a writer reminiscent of a less-talented Peter S. Beagle with a science-fictional bent (even a less-talented Beagle would be a find). The cover was interesting, too; it was very much like the paperback cover of Robert A. Heinlein's The Rolling Stones:
I assume the same artist was responsible.
But it reads like a vastly inferior knock-off of Isaac Asimov's Lucky Starr series* - and much as I love Isaac's writing, those were the worst books he ever wrote.
When Asimov started the Lucky Starr series in 1952, standards were lower. The Treasure of Wonderwhat was written in 1977, twenty-five YEARS later. There is no excuse.
It is a sad commentary on the state of the genre and fandom that this book sold well enough to allow for the production of one or more sequels. I couldn't finish this dog; once I got far enough in to realize that it was virtually unreadable, I skimmed it and confirmed that the whole thing was of a type: sodden, limping prose and embarrassingly juvenile names and dialog. For me, it simply served to reaffirm the old saying: You can't judge a book by its cover.
Nor, obviously, by its title.
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* - Is it just a coincidence that the author of The Treasure of Wonderwhat shares his last name with the protagonist of the Lucky Starr series, right down to the idiosyncratic spelling? I have to wonder!
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