hawkwing_lb: (Default)
hawkwing_lb ([personal profile] hawkwing_lb) wrote2009-12-29 04:29 pm

Books 2009: nothing for the enemy

Books 2009: 110


110. Stephen Hunt, The Kingdom Beyond the Waves.

Stephen Hunt writes very strange books. Which is not to say I don't enjoy them, but I stopped reading this halfway through six months ago and only decided to finish it now because it's bad luck to end the year with a book half-read.

It'd work better if it were a film. Because then the strange and impenetrable distance that lies between the reader and the characters wouldn't matter so much: they are opaque in their motivations, unconvincing, for the most part, as human beings.

And yet the book itself is interesting, a hurly-burly race in discovery of ancient ruins, and then to save the world: steammen and flying people and crab-like people and people people and all manner of weirdness, explosions, and battles. Also doom, death, terror, horror, dread.

Very strange book.

Post a comment in response:

This account has disabled anonymous posting.
(will be screened if not validated)
If you don't have an account you can create one now.
HTML doesn't work in the subject.
More info about formatting

If you are unable to use this captcha for any reason, please contact us by email at support@dreamwidth.org