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tobyyy's review
4.0
3.5*
Doppel was a unique story, told by sections of espionage transmissions from "Agent Keystone" (the protagonist, for lack of a better word), "Frere" (his "keeper" - the person keeping track of his movements while undercover), and "Nanny" (Special Executive Office, to whom Agent Keystone reports). It takes place during WWII, except there are some supernatural/dark fantasy elements that I loved reading about in conjunction with WWII and the SS.
The writing, again, was amazing. At least to me. Maybe instead of the "what the fuck am I reading" kick I was on earlier this year and part of last year, I'm now on a "wow this prose is amazing" kick... I don't know. I'd like to think I'm more objective than that, but so far the short stories/novelettes I've read from Tor.com have not disappointed me at all, especially regarding the writing styles.
That ending, though. Man.
I would love to see this become a series or at least a full-length book. I think Doppel definitely has enough of a plot to it for it to become a book, if not a full-fledged series.
Definitely do recommend. :) And as mentioned above, Doppel is available on Tor.com under the original fiction section. (Also, it is a bit macabre, for those who shy away from stories/books under that heading.)
* Oh - right. Why did I rate this a 3.5 instead of a 4 or a 4.5, since I gave it such a good review? Well, because if you didn't pay super close attention, even (and perhaps especially) to things that seemed unimportant, you'd miss a lot of the actual story. I'm not used to having to focus so much on a story in order to make sure I don't miss elements, and it was (and is!) definitely worth it, but that was a struggle I did have with it.
ETA: And surprise, surprise! Lindsay Smith also wrote Sekret, which has been on my TBR list for a very very long time. :) Definitely will need to check that out now!!
Doppel was a unique story, told by sections of espionage transmissions from "Agent Keystone" (the protagonist, for lack of a better word), "Frere" (his "keeper" - the person keeping track of his movements while undercover), and "Nanny" (Special Executive Office, to whom Agent Keystone reports). It takes place during WWII, except there are some supernatural/dark fantasy elements that I loved reading about in conjunction with WWII and the SS.
The writing, again, was amazing. At least to me. Maybe instead of the "what the fuck am I reading" kick I was on earlier this year and part of last year, I'm now on a "wow this prose is amazing" kick... I don't know. I'd like to think I'm more objective than that, but so far the short stories/novelettes I've read from Tor.com have not disappointed me at all, especially regarding the writing styles.
That ending, though. Man.
I would love to see this become a series or at least a full-length book. I think Doppel definitely has enough of a plot to it for it to become a book, if not a full-fledged series.
Definitely do recommend. :) And as mentioned above, Doppel is available on Tor.com under the original fiction section. (Also, it is a bit macabre, for those who shy away from stories/books under that heading.)
* Oh - right. Why did I rate this a 3.5 instead of a 4 or a 4.5, since I gave it such a good review? Well, because if you didn't pay super close attention, even (and perhaps especially) to things that seemed unimportant, you'd miss a lot of the actual story. I'm not used to having to focus so much on a story in order to make sure I don't miss elements, and it was (and is!) definitely worth it, but that was a struggle I did have with it.
ETA: And surprise, surprise! Lindsay Smith also wrote Sekret, which has been on my TBR list for a very very long time. :) Definitely will need to check that out now!!
libraryleopard's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 out of five.
Oh my gosh that was creepy. Not quite as scary as I remember, but it still made me shiver, and that ending is a real cliffhanger. Very unique format of transcripts between an undercover spy in Nazi-ruled Germany and his handlers, especially for a short story, even if it was sometimes a little hard to keep track of all the names. It was also quite interesting to reread now that I know a bit more about WWII. I could definitely see it being expanded into something longer, and I'd read it.
But seriously. That ending.
Oh my gosh that was creepy. Not quite as scary as I remember, but it still made me shiver, and that ending is a real cliffhanger. Very unique format of transcripts between an undercover spy in Nazi-ruled Germany and his handlers, especially for a short story, even if it was sometimes a little hard to keep track of all the names. It was also quite interesting to reread now that I know a bit more about WWII. I could definitely see it being expanded into something longer, and I'd read it.
But seriously. That ending.
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