The Homecoming, by J. Scott Coatsworth
The Homecoming by J. Scott Coatsworth
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I'm not sure what to say about this book/story honestly. I think the bottom line is that I was interested in the story, and even the characters to a point, but it was very poorly executed. This read like fanfic as opposed to a polished and published piece, which is highly unfortunate.
So, let's hit come major points:
Premise. Good idea! The major draw was the idea of the human/wolf shapeshifters. Unfortunately the way the story was written relied totally on suspension of belief, as any background information or backstory for this group was saved for the very end of the book. Instead of crafting an interesting story for the wolf group, the author instead opted form "Hey, here's some wolf shapeshifters! Everyone likes wolves! Shapeshifters are popular!" and just ran with that.
Characters. I really liked most of the characters, especially Aldiss. The way he was introduced was great, and really pulled me in. His emotional reaction to losing his lover before the ship took off, and the weight of responsibility he felt once they landed was real, and very well written. Similarly, Hari, the main character on the shapeshifter side was also introduced well (save for a few irregularities). The pack dynamics played into his character presentation and made me interested in how he was going to progress. The downside to both these characters is that while they started out well, after that, they were static and flat. Both made decisions throughout the book that was seemingly random and had little to do with their initially presented personalities. This left me with a feeling of "Well, ok...." every time they did something random. These characters didn't grow at all after their initial presentation, which is sad because there was potential there. :(
Sex. This isn't usually a category I comment on, as it's most often wrapped into the story, but in this story it was just...used kind of oddly. First there was the comments from Hari about how he had fantasies about being with the pack leader, who in the same breath was described to be overbearing and cruel. OK, fetish maybe? There there was the initial meeting between Hari and Aldiss which was just bizarre, and started the breakdown of the Aldiss character. He went from being sad about his lost love, to "Hey, some random guy kissed me and acted really odd, I'm really horny now and want to get in his pants!" Even their first sexual encounter was odd, as soon as they both were physically able, they just fell into bed and started fucking. And that's what it was, the way the author wrote it. No development, no lead up, just a really out of place hard sex scene. Just story, story, story, and suddenly cock! Fucking! Ass pounding! Grunting! Yeah! There was some severe disconnect going on, and overall the sex/attraction between these two characters was the main problem to their development and was what caused their lack of development.
Pacing and Style. Both these were good. The story was laid out well, there wasn't too much down time, and is was smooth. Similarly, the author's style was clean. The writing is what saved this book, but also what contributed to my disappointment. There is clearly skill here, but the execution was just lacking.
Final verdict: While I know this is a short story and not a full length novel, there wasn't any balance between what the intent was ans the length of the story. If you want to create good characters, you have to give them the time they need and develop them over time, not just in their introduction, or keep them out of situations that are going to make them seem inconsistent and unbelievable, because that tanks the story. :(
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