I've got to say I gave up on Charles Stross, despite multiple recommendations from friends, because I couldn't get on with the Laundry books either. Not even because of Bob, who is a lot like a lot of people I know and like (who are computer science graduates of that generation) but because of how women are written, basically all the time. Even when the author's trying to make them a likeable, relatable co-protagonist, that just kind of shows up the holes more, to me... there seems to be a point beyond which he can't fathom women being people.
I concur on pretty much everything you say about Good Omens, too :D I was expecting to love Tennant as Crowley and did, but I was expecting the answering machine not to have made it in... but then it was there because of course when you've got characters with that length of backstory, already doing things like driving a car that's nearly a century old, some retro phone equipment fits right in. And I was pleasantly surprised by how well Jack Whitehall did Newt, when I'd been expecting him to just basically be Jack Whitehall and spoil it. On Anathema, though, I think the eye-candy factor might have been what disturbed it - the character goes about things in a way that works *because* she reckons she won't be noticed much, or will just be dismissed as some silly hippy woman if she is. But that doesn't make for an involving character on TV for many people...
(If I had any slight disappointment it was that they included a bunch of Queen songs, but didn't make the joke about any cassette left in a car turning into a 'Best of Queen' album. That probably was hard to update, but still.)
Even when the author's trying to make them a likeable, relatable co-protagonist, that just kind of shows up the holes more, to me...
*nod* This was my experience with the Merchant Princes book, which had a female protagonist/POV character, and she just didn't feel like a person.
but then it was there because of course when you've got characters with that length of backstory, already doing things like driving a car that's nearly a century old, some retro phone equipment fits right in
Yes! Every time the "obsolete" stuff showed up, my reaction was, "Oh, of course! that makes perfect sense! Good job figuring out how to keep that in". I do think it probably would not have worked with cassette tapes left in the car, so I was OK with the Queen songs becoming kind of an inside joke for the book fans -- L and I gave each other a delighted consiratorial look every time it came up.
I had no prior experience with Jack Whitehall, so no expectations, but I did like this Newt. And, I dunno... I think I was just distracted by Anathema being eye-candy, in that every time she was on screen, I was thinking, "there's an actress they cast for eye candy" rather than really seeing her as Anathema or part of the action. It wasn't even that she taxed my in-universe suspension of disbelief, though I understand what you mean, but more that just seeing her knocked me out of the story.
I concur on pretty much everything you say about Good Omens, too :D I was expecting to love Tennant as Crowley and did, but I was expecting the answering machine not to have made it in... but then it was there because of course when you've got characters with that length of backstory, already doing things like driving a car that's nearly a century old, some retro phone equipment fits right in. And I was pleasantly surprised by how well Jack Whitehall did Newt, when I'd been expecting him to just basically be Jack Whitehall and spoil it. On Anathema, though, I think the eye-candy factor might have been what disturbed it - the character goes about things in a way that works *because* she reckons she won't be noticed much, or will just be dismissed as some silly hippy woman if she is. But that doesn't make for an involving character on TV for many people...
(If I had any slight disappointment it was that they included a bunch of Queen songs, but didn't make the joke about any cassette left in a car turning into a 'Best of Queen' album. That probably was hard to update, but still.)
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*nod* This was my experience with the Merchant Princes book, which had a female protagonist/POV character, and she just didn't feel like a person.
but then it was there because of course when you've got characters with that length of backstory, already doing things like driving a car that's nearly a century old, some retro phone equipment fits right in
Yes! Every time the "obsolete" stuff showed up, my reaction was, "Oh, of course! that makes perfect sense! Good job figuring out how to keep that in". I do think it probably would not have worked with cassette tapes left in the car, so I was OK with the Queen songs becoming kind of an inside joke for the book fans -- L and I gave each other a delighted consiratorial look every time it came up.
I had no prior experience with Jack Whitehall, so no expectations, but I did like this Newt. And, I dunno... I think I was just distracted by Anathema being eye-candy, in that every time she was on screen, I was thinking, "there's an actress they cast for eye candy" rather than really seeing her as Anathema or part of the action. It wasn't even that she taxed my in-universe suspension of disbelief, though I understand what you mean, but more that just seeing her knocked me out of the story.
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