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June 12, 2013
How to begin?
The most important thing is to say that there is plenty of good tin this novel. I would hate to know how much time Gee spent researching things for his novel, but it has really paid off. The detail from Government to technical specification, be it gun types or aircraft and beyond is close to phenomenal. Obviously I have no way of knowing how accurate it all is, but it does not matter: it feels real, the writer sells it well, and even if it is all fictional it makes it feel real to me. Better yet it is something that is consistent throughout the novel, and that is something to note and to be proud of.
The story itself is the germ of a great idea; the word potential certainly applies but for me at least, just beyond this is where the trouble begins.
Firstly editing: The book has been proof read, and edited and probably to a better degree than anything I could do, but I kept spotting mistakes.
Parts of the story, were, for me, derivative. Drawing upon legends and inserting them into a story might seem like a good and dramatic idea at the time, but for me at least, when I learned the old man's identity – something I had guessed and was begging to find myself wrong – I just groaned. Original characters might have added something.
Gee definitely has talent as a writer, but he has a tendency to overwrite in places, taking a few sentences to say what could be told in one.
Perhaps though the biggest fault was the central character, Chris. We get the traditional and perhaps iconic set up of a young man with next to nothing finding out that he is in fact something special, and he falls into the role far too easily, accepting all that he is told and becoming something truly exceptional with ease. But this could well be acceptable if it were not how powerful he actually becomes. Maybe a little too powerful. It detracts from the climax and makes you wonder just where the sequel can go in order to deliver a threat the feels palpable.
In summation there are the bones of a good, if not excellent book here, and I would happily argue that Gee is someone worth watching. This is a first, self-published novel after all, and I'm sure he will learn and improve as he goes on. Maybe once he has moved onto other things I can come back and have a look. I would not be surprised at all to see myself well rewarded.
The most important thing is to say that there is plenty of good tin this novel. I would hate to know how much time Gee spent researching things for his novel, but it has really paid off. The detail from Government to technical specification, be it gun types or aircraft and beyond is close to phenomenal. Obviously I have no way of knowing how accurate it all is, but it does not matter: it feels real, the writer sells it well, and even if it is all fictional it makes it feel real to me. Better yet it is something that is consistent throughout the novel, and that is something to note and to be proud of.
The story itself is the germ of a great idea; the word potential certainly applies but for me at least, just beyond this is where the trouble begins.
Firstly editing: The book has been proof read, and edited and probably to a better degree than anything I could do, but I kept spotting mistakes.
Parts of the story, were, for me, derivative. Drawing upon legends and inserting them into a story might seem like a good and dramatic idea at the time, but for me at least, when I learned the old man's identity – something I had guessed and was begging to find myself wrong – I just groaned. Original characters might have added something.
Gee definitely has talent as a writer, but he has a tendency to overwrite in places, taking a few sentences to say what could be told in one.
Perhaps though the biggest fault was the central character, Chris. We get the traditional and perhaps iconic set up of a young man with next to nothing finding out that he is in fact something special, and he falls into the role far too easily, accepting all that he is told and becoming something truly exceptional with ease. But this could well be acceptable if it were not how powerful he actually becomes. Maybe a little too powerful. It detracts from the climax and makes you wonder just where the sequel can go in order to deliver a threat the feels palpable.
In summation there are the bones of a good, if not excellent book here, and I would happily argue that Gee is someone worth watching. This is a first, self-published novel after all, and I'm sure he will learn and improve as he goes on. Maybe once he has moved onto other things I can come back and have a look. I would not be surprised at all to see myself well rewarded.
Displaying 1 of 1 review