Before I start, I should explain *why* I am reading Stargate novelisations. The answer is 'my mother.' I bought one, to see what it was like... and my mother noticed, and bought subsequent ones. I didn't really mind at first, as the first novel was actually pretty good, but she was buying faster than I was reading, so it took me a long time to realise that the rest weren't as good, and I had many better things to read. She has now been told to stop buying them... but I have several left. And I don't want to get rid of them before reading them... and so...
'The Chosen' is a fairly typical Atlantis adventure... they go to a new planet, find a bunch of people with a connection to the Ancients... in this case, an Ancient mated with one of the natives and founded their society and left behind a lot of tech that can only be operated by 'the chosen' (or people with the gene that allows them to operate Ancient tech). The nature of this technology means that the Ancient also has to impose a strict set of rules to ensure that it works to protect the people against the Wraith. There are societal problems... it looks as though the Chosen are being typical elitist rulers, filling their bellies at the expense of the poor, who need them to protect from the wraith. But things aren't quite that simple, and by opening his mouth, Rodney unwittingly causes a massive uprising, with several factions fighting it out... and then the Wraith show up, and the Chosen have been killed, and are unable to protect everyone.
And it's just one thing after another in this story. Really. It's actually quite irritating. The writing style is simplistic, to say the least, and the writers employ all-too-obvious techniques to keep the reader reading, trying to make it compulsive. But in making it too obvious, they made it less enjoyable. There's only so many times you can enjoy the feeling of suspense when it looks like one of the team have died. It's even more ridiculous, because anyone who's watched the show will *know* that they all survive... they're not going to have an unexplained disappearance between episodes. So the suspense of 'have they died or haven't they?' becomes 'how the hell do they get out of this one?’. Usually it's overuse of plot-no-jutsu, and the main-character-protective-shielding. And I'm not sure that it would have worked even if you didn't know the characters survived.
The eventual defeat of the Wraith (yes, a spoiler... but you know they're going to do it somehow. It's what they do), arises because of one of the more ridiculous Deus Ex Machina ever used... even on Stargate. Some of it is alluded to in previous parts of the story... but not in anywhere near enough detail to make it any less annoying when the Wraith are finally vanquished after a long and unnecessarily arduous battle. It might have even been less annoying if the final Deus Ex Machina was the first... but at several instances throughout the plot, other Deus Ex Machina are used, which makes the last and worst one, the final nail in the coffin of respect for the authors.
The style of plotting has more in common with a small child telling a story of an exciting day out (and then X and then Y and then Z.... who needs punctuation anyway?). The characters that sometimes only partially resemble the characters in the actual series, and the original characters are paper thin. This should have been posted on fanfiction.net, rather than published as an official Stargate novel. Then at least, it might be considered 'good' compared to what is around it. As it was, I read it with an increasing bitterness that my mother has ingrained a sense that I must always finish the books I start to read. I felt like throwing it against a wall, or burning it, but I finished it. And it has not enriched my life in the slightest.
I am well aware that a good review should mention the strengths and weakness of the item under review and allow the reader to make up their own mind. But I have too strong an emotional feeling that hours of my life have just been stolen, that I cannot be impartial. And as far as I can tell, the strengths pretty much came down to decent grammar and reasonable descriptions of people and places. But descriptions do not a novel make, and there was very little about this novel that redeemed the weak plot and characters. So, I ask, no beg, you to save yourselves. Do not read this book. You could probably write something better yourself, and enjoy it far more.
Friday, 12 October 2007
Sunday, 23 September 2007
Review of 'The Algebraist' by Iain M Banks
In this particular incarnation of Banks-ist Sci-fi, most of the gas giant planets in the galaxy are inhabited by extremely long-lived, eccentric alien life-forms known as 'Dwellers.' They aren't particularly interested in the other inhabitants of the galaxy, but a few of them allow a few of us, the humans, to visit them and chat, and exchange information. Seer Fassin Taak is one such individual, and in the course of his studies of the Dwellers, he finds a piece of information that a lot of people think is worthy of a lot of attention. And he has to find the rest of it, before the attention arrives.
The actual plot of the book is fairly solid, and has the kind of twists that I expected of Banks, after reading 'Consider Phlebas'. Unfortunately, the first 20 pages or so could put off a lot of people. He starts quite slowly... using long, flowery, over-complicated sentences to describe people and events that turn out to be almost completely irrelevant in later parts of the story. Whether he meant to provide an explanation for Seer Taak's uncle transforming himself into a Walrus, or whether this was just an off-hand way of describing the kind of technologies available isn't really clear. But that, and a few other things, could have been omitted to no detriment (and possibly an improvement).
However, perhaps Iain M has earned some indulgence over the years. If you press on past the first few pages, which require a lot of concentration and perseverance, you are rewarded with some superb descriptions of the Dweller, one of the most original sci-fi species I have ever heard of. It seems that Iain M Banks' talent lies very squarely in his aliens, which in this novel were entertaining and original, while still having a necessary ring-of-truth. The Dwellers are eccentric, and utterly alien. Their interactions with each other and with the Seers make for amusing reading. They are without-doubt the best part of the book.
There are some plot side-lines, as well. Some don’t seem to be completely necessary, but most of them at least gave some good character-development. For a reader that can go-with-the-flow and indulge the author, it is still quite enjoyable, though perhaps the book did suffer a little from a lack of editing, as so many really famous authors seem to.
This isn't the kind of book that I'd tell all my friends to go out and buy... for Banks novels, I'd put 'Consider Phlebas' quite a long way above 'the Algebraist', in readability and entertainment value. For those that do decide to read it, I’d recommend skim reading the first few pages, to avoid some of the more detailed descriptions. However, once past this, it becomes a very enjoyable read.
The actual plot of the book is fairly solid, and has the kind of twists that I expected of Banks, after reading 'Consider Phlebas'. Unfortunately, the first 20 pages or so could put off a lot of people. He starts quite slowly... using long, flowery, over-complicated sentences to describe people and events that turn out to be almost completely irrelevant in later parts of the story. Whether he meant to provide an explanation for Seer Taak's uncle transforming himself into a Walrus, or whether this was just an off-hand way of describing the kind of technologies available isn't really clear. But that, and a few other things, could have been omitted to no detriment (and possibly an improvement).
However, perhaps Iain M has earned some indulgence over the years. If you press on past the first few pages, which require a lot of concentration and perseverance, you are rewarded with some superb descriptions of the Dweller, one of the most original sci-fi species I have ever heard of. It seems that Iain M Banks' talent lies very squarely in his aliens, which in this novel were entertaining and original, while still having a necessary ring-of-truth. The Dwellers are eccentric, and utterly alien. Their interactions with each other and with the Seers make for amusing reading. They are without-doubt the best part of the book.
There are some plot side-lines, as well. Some don’t seem to be completely necessary, but most of them at least gave some good character-development. For a reader that can go-with-the-flow and indulge the author, it is still quite enjoyable, though perhaps the book did suffer a little from a lack of editing, as so many really famous authors seem to.
This isn't the kind of book that I'd tell all my friends to go out and buy... for Banks novels, I'd put 'Consider Phlebas' quite a long way above 'the Algebraist', in readability and entertainment value. For those that do decide to read it, I’d recommend skim reading the first few pages, to avoid some of the more detailed descriptions. However, once past this, it becomes a very enjoyable read.
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