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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Cuando creo que ya me se la historia, vienen estos dos autores y me le dan la vuelta a la tuerca, literalmente tengo una mueca en la boca, no porque el libro me desagrade, muy al contrario, pero ¡Caray! ¡Cómo juegan conmigo!.
El libro como todos los anteriores, me ha gustado mucho, por supuesto éste, a diferencia de casi la totalidad de los anteriores no tiene nada de esas cosas muy extrañas que suceden, más bien es una novela de sorpresas, vueltas de tuerca y venganza.
El final de este libro… no se que pensar, ya no voy a volver a dar por sentado nada en esta serie, porque visto lo visto, todo puede suceder y en el momento menos esperado.
Reitero que es impensable que no me canse Pendergast y sus aventuras después de tantos libros, pero ¿cómo podría? mientras que en cada entrega hay aventuras sin límite por otro lado, es un culebrón del tamaño del mundo.
Durante 16 libros hemos visto zombies, monstruos que vienen del pasado, gente inmortal, una cantidad importante de asesinos y los asesinatos más extraños jamás vistos, una esposa muerta que andaba de parranda, un hermano asesino en serie más inteligente que Einstein, y ni hablo de Pendergast porque haría más spoilers y no voy a hacerlos.
Loco todo, pero sin lugar a dudas tan fascinante que es imposible no colgarse de esta serie y querer correr al siguiente libro cuando acabo uno.
Como siempre, es indispensable, al menos desde mi punto de vista, leerse esta serie desde el primer libro, de otra manera tanta el culebrón que encierra es imposible de comprender.
El libro como todos los anteriores, me ha gustado mucho, por supuesto éste, a diferencia de casi la totalidad de los anteriores no tiene nada de esas cosas muy extrañas que suceden, más bien es una novela de sorpresas, vueltas de tuerca y venganza.
El final de este libro… no se que pensar, ya no voy a volver a dar por sentado nada en esta serie, porque visto lo visto, todo puede suceder y en el momento menos esperado.
Reitero que es impensable que no me canse Pendergast y sus aventuras después de tantos libros, pero ¿cómo podría? mientras que en cada entrega hay aventuras sin límite por otro lado, es un culebrón del tamaño del mundo.
Durante 16 libros hemos visto zombies, monstruos que vienen del pasado, gente inmortal, una cantidad importante de asesinos y los asesinatos más extraños jamás vistos, una esposa muerta que andaba de parranda, un hermano asesino en serie más inteligente que Einstein, y ni hablo de Pendergast porque haría más spoilers y no voy a hacerlos.
Loco todo, pero sin lugar a dudas tan fascinante que es imposible no colgarse de esta serie y querer correr al siguiente libro cuando acabo uno.
Como siempre, es indispensable, al menos desde mi punto de vista, leerse esta serie desde el primer libro, de otra manera tanta el culebrón que encierra es imposible de comprender.
This seemed like a bridge-book- linking narratives but not really a mystery.
I'm a little conflicted over this volume in the Pendergast series. I think I like it better when he remains enigmatic and solves wild mysteries with the help of his diverse array of friends. In this story we see a more personal story mystery that occurs in his absence. Great writing as always, fast -paced and smart but I just didn't love it as much as some of the other books earlier in the series.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Perhaps one of the worst I’ve read from this series. Very disappointing. I’m beginning to think that the authors really don’t know how to write and develop female characters and try to cover up with the “mystery” of the character. It just became more implausible with each page, especially with choices people would make. It makes the ending of the book very unsatisfactory. This one ranks just above The Wheel of Darkness in this series.
This book was much better than the previous books in spite of being heavy on Constance. She is my least favorite character in the series. Her history cannot makeup for the fact that her personality is two dimensional, shallow, and volatile. For being so very old she is nothing more than a spoiled and petulant child. I cannot fathom how two Pendergasts are so infatuated with her. I am hoping this will be the final book to be so heavily involved with this particular character.
The villain, Diogenes, was less villain and more like a terrified guardian of an undisciplined toddler throughout the book. I was thrilled to see that he might have a secondary storyline as an anti hero, but his being so intertwined in a love affair with Constance really mangled him as a character, and in the end shattered his mind a second time. I think anyone would have been hard pressed to try to please her, and his patience was near saintly. In short, my favorite villain was castrated.
The book was light on Aloysius Pendergast, which would have been fine had it focused on some realistic characters - a good support character and a detailed villain would have made it perfect.
On a positive note, they were more true to the character of Aloysius than they have been in a couple of books. I'm not saying he can't have a sensitive or even romantic side, but I'd like it to be with an exceptional woman rather than a petulant child that happens to be very old. The woman must be exceptional by her intellect and quirks, not made son by some sort of plot scheme.
The villain, Diogenes, was less villain and more like a terrified guardian of an undisciplined toddler throughout the book. I was thrilled to see that he might have a secondary storyline as an anti hero, but his being so intertwined in a love affair with Constance really mangled him as a character, and in the end shattered his mind a second time. I think anyone would have been hard pressed to try to please her, and his patience was near saintly. In short, my favorite villain was castrated.
The book was light on Aloysius Pendergast, which would have been fine had it focused on some realistic characters - a good support character and a detailed villain would have made it perfect.
On a positive note, they were more true to the character of Aloysius than they have been in a couple of books. I'm not saying he can't have a sensitive or even romantic side, but I'd like it to be with an exceptional woman rather than a petulant child that happens to be very old. The woman must be exceptional by her intellect and quirks, not made son by some sort of plot scheme.
4 stars for me!
I had a hard time rating this one because I loved what Preston & Child did with a certain plot in The Obsidian Chamber. I thought I would have issues with this plot but they wrote it well.
My issue with The Obsidian Chamber came at the end of the book. I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with how they resolved
I wish that Diogenes had blown himself up with his own Cabinet of Curiosities. It would have been a fitting and poetic ending to a tortured, evil character! Why didn't Preston & Child talk to me before publishing this one? ;) hahaha!
I also want Preston & Child to finally resolve this whole plot with Constance, A.X.L. Pendergast and Diogenes. If they keep this whole convoluted plot theme going, it's going to end up getting stale to me and it just needs to be finalized!
I did enjoy the new characters of Howard Longstreet and Flavia Greyling! They really added to the book and gave it some freshness which is what this series needs right now.
Bring back Vincent D'Agosta & Laura Hayward as well!
I need some of my favorite characters back and need Constance to fade away. I'm sick of her.
I had a hard time rating this one because I loved what Preston & Child did with a certain plot in The Obsidian Chamber. I thought I would have issues with this plot but they wrote it well.
My issue with The Obsidian Chamber came at the end of the book. I'm not sure if I'm satisfied with how they resolved
Spoiler
the Diogenes plot and having him survive. I just don't trust this guy and don't see how he can be rehabilitated!! Constance also did not help out with his rehabilitation as well. I think she's likely made him worse in the long run with her revenge and spurning his love. I'm actually getting sick of her character. True story.I wish that Diogenes had blown himself up with his own Cabinet of Curiosities. It would have been a fitting and poetic ending to a tortured, evil character! Why didn't Preston & Child talk to me before publishing this one? ;) hahaha!
I also want Preston & Child to finally resolve this whole plot with Constance, A.X.L. Pendergast and Diogenes. If they keep this whole convoluted plot theme going, it's going to end up getting stale to me and it just needs to be finalized!
I did enjoy the new characters of Howard Longstreet and Flavia Greyling! They really added to the book and gave it some freshness which is what this series needs right now.
Bring back Vincent D'Agosta & Laura Hayward as well!
I need some of my favorite characters back and need Constance to fade away. I'm sick of her.
Dear authors, when you kill a character by having them pushed into a volcano, do not have them come back virtually unscathed. It's not something I expect to have to be said, but here we are.
I get deadlines and this series being a cashcow for the publishing company, but did no one read this and go, "WTF? Go rewrite it."?
If you haven't read the Diogenes trilogy (Brimstone, Dance of Death, The Book of the Dead),Wheel of Darkness, and Crimson Shore, you won't understand half the shit in this book. And honestly if you have, I'm not sure if you would care about half the shit in this book. This book is just all kinds of bad. It's poorly crafted in the sense that plotlines that have no importance take up large portions of the book. Characters do things that make little sense. Some things from previous books are rehashed repeatedly. The earlier books in the series wasn't Ulysses, but they were fun and well written especially for the genre they're in.
Do any fans of this series actually like the character, Constance? Anyone? For a series with a whole cast of strong female characters starting from the first book, Constance seems to have been created to fill a void that never existed in the first place. She is the worst. I spent most this book hoping that she'd just die, which really defeats the purpose of this book. She's supposed to be essentially the female equivalent of Pendergast, except crazy. Except she's just so dumb I can't even deal with any of her decisions.
Spoilers below for people who care, but I'm not hiding them because screw this book.
Who the hell ever asked for a romance book between Diogenes and Constance? A good part of this book is their "courtship" and it was a combination of poorly written, eye rolling, and pointless. Obviously Constance was playing him the same way he messed with her previously. It was obvious from the very start, therefore making every section with the two of the utterly pointless. Diogenes was great in the original trilogy he appeared in, but when he's no longer the villain, he's utterly pathetic. And btw, he should be dead after being tossed into a volcano. I hope Flavia kills him in a future book. I am so, so tired of Pendergast's ridiculous family drama.
The Proctor storyline disappeared after a little bit. Which is great since it was obvious that it had nothing to do with anything but took up a pretty significant part of the first section of the book. The little part in the epilogue of him returning just makes you ask a bunch of questions because it doesn't make any sense. Attacked by lions? Walked 200 miles in the desert? Arrive back in NYC looking like he had done both of those things? How did he get back? What airline would let him back looking like that? Did he carry his briefcase of money with him through the Kalahari? What was the point of that except to make up a reason as to why Proctor was away? What a pointless waste of paper, and time for the reader.
When Pendergast finally shows up, the book gets interesting. The sections which deal with the FBI and the drug smugglers were actually interesting. But the book would come to a grinding halt because these chapters were interspersed with the Constance/Diogenes stuff.
We need to talk about the ending. They let Diogenes go. The whole, "oh but making him live and think about how Constance played him is worse than killing him or putting him in a prison" thing is such BS. The dude is supposed to be a genius psychopath who gets turned on by thinking up horrible ways to torture, mutilate, and kill other human beings. He may have been reformed in this book, except he wasn't since he murdered people anyways. But now he's got less to lose, was jilted by a lover, lost all his fake names, and was cackling and acting all sorts of insane at the end when they decided to let him leave. What the actual fuk. Pendergast feels guilty about possibly playing a role in "the event"? Dude, your brother either murdered or tried to murder every single one of your friends and close associates. You're not sure how stable he is now. But you're letting him go? WTF?
Also, cauda equina? For the love of God, I'm so glad anatomy lab is in the rearview mirror, I never want to see that written ever again.
The past three books have been pretty bad. Blue Labyrinth was comically bad so at least I was entertained. Crimson Shore was eye rolling bad. But this was just bad. Like I seriously considered never reading one of their books ever again, bad. But I've been invested in this series for almost 20 years. White Fire four books ago was a delight so I know they still have it in them. But this was just painful.
I get deadlines and this series being a cashcow for the publishing company, but did no one read this and go, "WTF? Go rewrite it."?
If you haven't read the Diogenes trilogy (Brimstone, Dance of Death, The Book of the Dead),Wheel of Darkness, and Crimson Shore, you won't understand half the shit in this book. And honestly if you have, I'm not sure if you would care about half the shit in this book. This book is just all kinds of bad. It's poorly crafted in the sense that plotlines that have no importance take up large portions of the book. Characters do things that make little sense. Some things from previous books are rehashed repeatedly. The earlier books in the series wasn't Ulysses, but they were fun and well written especially for the genre they're in.
Do any fans of this series actually like the character, Constance? Anyone? For a series with a whole cast of strong female characters starting from the first book, Constance seems to have been created to fill a void that never existed in the first place. She is the worst. I spent most this book hoping that she'd just die, which really defeats the purpose of this book. She's supposed to be essentially the female equivalent of Pendergast, except crazy. Except she's just so dumb I can't even deal with any of her decisions.
Spoilers below for people who care, but I'm not hiding them because screw this book.
Who the hell ever asked for a romance book between Diogenes and Constance? A good part of this book is their "courtship" and it was a combination of poorly written, eye rolling, and pointless. Obviously Constance was playing him the same way he messed with her previously. It was obvious from the very start, therefore making every section with the two of the utterly pointless. Diogenes was great in the original trilogy he appeared in, but when he's no longer the villain, he's utterly pathetic. And btw, he should be dead after being tossed into a volcano. I hope Flavia kills him in a future book. I am so, so tired of Pendergast's ridiculous family drama.
The Proctor storyline disappeared after a little bit. Which is great since it was obvious that it had nothing to do with anything but took up a pretty significant part of the first section of the book. The little part in the epilogue of him returning just makes you ask a bunch of questions because it doesn't make any sense. Attacked by lions? Walked 200 miles in the desert? Arrive back in NYC looking like he had done both of those things? How did he get back? What airline would let him back looking like that? Did he carry his briefcase of money with him through the Kalahari? What was the point of that except to make up a reason as to why Proctor was away? What a pointless waste of paper, and time for the reader.
When Pendergast finally shows up, the book gets interesting. The sections which deal with the FBI and the drug smugglers were actually interesting. But the book would come to a grinding halt because these chapters were interspersed with the Constance/Diogenes stuff.
We need to talk about the ending. They let Diogenes go. The whole, "oh but making him live and think about how Constance played him is worse than killing him or putting him in a prison" thing is such BS. The dude is supposed to be a genius psychopath who gets turned on by thinking up horrible ways to torture, mutilate, and kill other human beings. He may have been reformed in this book, except he wasn't since he murdered people anyways. But now he's got less to lose, was jilted by a lover, lost all his fake names, and was cackling and acting all sorts of insane at the end when they decided to let him leave. What the actual fuk. Pendergast feels guilty about possibly playing a role in "the event"? Dude, your brother either murdered or tried to murder every single one of your friends and close associates. You're not sure how stable he is now. But you're letting him go? WTF?
Also, cauda equina? For the love of God, I'm so glad anatomy lab is in the rearview mirror, I never want to see that written ever again.
The past three books have been pretty bad. Blue Labyrinth was comically bad so at least I was entertained. Crimson Shore was eye rolling bad. But this was just bad. Like I seriously considered never reading one of their books ever again, bad. But I've been invested in this series for almost 20 years. White Fire four books ago was a delight so I know they still have it in them. But this was just painful.