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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
A million characters with little description. Beyond confused most of the time and didnt really see the point of it all.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I did not enjoy this. I found the writing to be frustrating to read as it was very hard to fall into the story. I did not find it funny or all that interesting and considering how often it has been recommended to me, I certainly found it overrated. Not recommended.
adventurous
challenging
informative
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
You know how they say the movies that most deserve remakes are the ones that had so much potential but ultimately didn’t totally live up to it? That’s my feelings on this book. I love the entire concept; it’s the execution that really dings it. Zelazny’s writing is kind of bland. Every conversations is just:
‘How are you?’
‘Good, and yourself?’
‘Not bad. Did you hear what happened?’
‘No. What?’
And on and on. You can literally have almost a page of back and forth dialog without and supplemental text and — maybe this is just a me thing — it’s easy to lose track of who’s doing the talking. Occasionally hitting reset by doing a “‘Joe Bob was killed last night’ Graymalk revealed.” would refresh the reader (me) on who was doing the talking in this tennis match of dialogue. I found myself frequently going back up the page and counting every other line: Graymalk, Snuff, Graymalk, Snuff, etc etc, just to remember which character was saying which thing, ‘cause there were no sign posts. And also, so many of the characters and their familiars get muddled together.
And so much of the book is just…straightforward. It feels like there’s very little flavor text, or character development, and the ending is so abrupt and doesn’t actually say what happens to a number of characters. It’s almost like it’s written as a children’s book, if not for the occasional graphic content and the fact that it was sometimes confusing to this 36 y/o man.
“But you’re giving it 4 (3.5) stars!” I hear you say. Yeah, cause it’s a really fun idea. It’s like The Monster Squad: super cool to see so many characters sharing a world, interacting, and dealing with Lovecraftian elements.
The concept is a 5, the execution is a 2, so I’m splitting the difference at a 3.5 rounded up. I want this book to be remade but just with more. More flavor text. More world-building. More details and descriptions and immersion and follow-through.
‘How are you?’
‘Good, and yourself?’
‘Not bad. Did you hear what happened?’
‘No. What?’
And on and on. You can literally have almost a page of back and forth dialog without and supplemental text and — maybe this is just a me thing — it’s easy to lose track of who’s doing the talking. Occasionally hitting reset by doing a “‘Joe Bob was killed last night’ Graymalk revealed.” would refresh the reader (me) on who was doing the talking in this tennis match of dialogue. I found myself frequently going back up the page and counting every other line: Graymalk, Snuff, Graymalk, Snuff, etc etc, just to remember which character was saying which thing, ‘cause there were no sign posts. And also, so many of the characters and their familiars get muddled together.
And so much of the book is just…straightforward. It feels like there’s very little flavor text, or character development, and the ending is so abrupt and doesn’t actually say what happens to a number of characters. It’s almost like it’s written as a children’s book, if not for the occasional graphic content and the fact that it was sometimes confusing to this 36 y/o man.
“But you’re giving it 4 (3.5) stars!” I hear you say. Yeah, cause it’s a really fun idea. It’s like The Monster Squad: super cool to see so many characters sharing a world, interacting, and dealing with Lovecraftian elements.
The concept is a 5, the execution is a 2, so I’m splitting the difference at a 3.5 rounded up. I want this book to be remade but just with more. More flavor text. More world-building. More details and descriptions and immersion and follow-through.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This isn’t my type of book and I couldn’t always stay focused. But it fulfilled an UBN2025 category (holiday). Overall only one very disturbing, graphic scene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty