How disappointing
Mar. 6th, 2011 05:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vr_trakowskiI just finished reading John M. Ford's The Last Hot Time. It's an Elfland-returns novel, that I believe is seriously riffing off of the Borderland series in its own way--a sort of mirror-image, and much darker. It's fascinating...and it doesn't quite work.
I hate to say that about a Ford book, because I adore his Growing Up Weightless and How Much for Just the Planet?. But this one hints and sketches and whispers and never quite explains what's going on, and the characters are almost flat, far too calm--almost as though they've been tranquilized. It's like reading through gauze; one doesn't ever quite see or feel clearly. And it's a great pity, because there's so much potential in this book.
Alas, I can't recommend it as a must-read, though it's certainly worth the look if you're in the mood for a magic post-apocalyptic novel with a good dose of noir. Which sounds like a dippy description, but sf/f fans will know just what I mean...
I hate to say that about a Ford book, because I adore his Growing Up Weightless and How Much for Just the Planet?. But this one hints and sketches and whispers and never quite explains what's going on, and the characters are almost flat, far too calm--almost as though they've been tranquilized. It's like reading through gauze; one doesn't ever quite see or feel clearly. And it's a great pity, because there's so much potential in this book.
Alas, I can't recommend it as a must-read, though it's certainly worth the look if you're in the mood for a magic post-apocalyptic novel with a good dose of noir. Which sounds like a dippy description, but sf/f fans will know just what I mean...