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kurenai's review
Dropped mid-way through. Interested in the first couple author's versions but the change in tone and writing transitions were not and there were a couple authors I just couldn't get into.
batesbarb's review
4.0
Like any multi-author serial. There were better parts and weaker parts to this whole, but the story and the characters were absorbing and interesting enough to keep me going through the whole thing. I'll likely pick up the subsequent seasons soon.
una_10bananas's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
carol26388's review
2.0
Book Burners is an urban fantasy series about a five-person team that works to recover dangerous magical artifacts and lock them away beneath the Vatican. The brainchild of Max Gladstone, author of the fabulous Craft series, it is one of the main titles for Serial Box, an online publisher/distributor that "brings everything that’s awesome about TV (easily digestible episodes, team written, new content every week) to what was already cool about books," selling the weekly installments for a small price. Like a tv show, there's a overarching plot that is moved incrementally along as the cast fights weekly battles. Think the tv show Supernatural, or as other reviewers note, Warehouse 13. Let the Serial Box advert serve as warning: Book Burners shares some of the weaknesses of the television format without capturing the strengths.
Five main characters make upThe Avengers the team: Detective Sally, police officer; Liam, computer dude; Grace, kick-ass fighter; Asanti, researcher; and Father Menchú, priest and leader. The first story uses Sal as as stand in for the naive reader, building the world and introducing the team and its mission. Sal's a NYPD police officer whose younger brother shows up at her apartment, looking for a place to crash. The team is following him, and when weird things happen, Sal ends up working with them to help her brother.
The collected edition has all 16 episodes of the first season in one tome, and definitely feels too similar about halfway through. Undoubtedly, reading will work better following the serial pacing, not binging. Each episode is about 50 pages. The four authors are able to achieve a relatively uniform tone, although I felt like Gladstone's style tended to stand out slightly. Most follow the standard tv format of short victim viewpoint followed by team-focused problem solving and action mode. Lafferty's sections had welcome flourishes of humor although it was misplaced when she did one of the final horror-filled installments. The pacing is well done, with each installment having a plot that starts and finishes, usually without resorting to cliffhangers. A small romance plot makes an appearance at one point, but overall it is paranormal romance-free.
However, the uniform tone is at the expense of in-depth world and personality-building. One way the authors deal with the challenge is to have a couple of episodes focus on backstories. Sal, the police officer and Grace, the fighting expert from China (go ahead; I sighed too) both get some history, but most episodes are the 'monster of the week' variety. Eventually, arch-villains are discovered who will provide background opposition through multiple stories.
Honestly, as a read it was only mildly entertaining. I don't think I've ever read anything that felt more like a television script, bare on details that would likely be fleshed out in a visual medium. Writing was often choppy, making me nostalgic for the work of writers more comfortable with short-story format. Characters felt largely stereotypical, with only the rare transcendent moment. There isn't too much that gets into the philosophical underpinnings of how team members reconcile the dichotomy of having magical support/knowledge/access/skills at the same time they are confiscating magical artifacts.
Overall, not a bad book, and I wouldn't rule out reading more in the world to see if the group gains their footing. It's just wasn't as fun as I was expecting (especially with the tv-like focus) and the choppy writing made it a bit of a chore as I progressed through the installments. Definitely made me want to go watch Supernatural.
Two and a half books.
The installments, broken out:
Badge, Book, and Candle (Gladstone): Sal meets the team
Anywhere but Here (Slattery): an Italian apartment and a pair of missing girls
Fair Weather (Dunlap): an explosion at a book shop leads to a yacht
A Sorcerer's Apprentice (Lafferty): Asanti heads to Scotland for her mentor's funeral, Sal is back-up
The Market Arcanum (Dunlap): Sal and Menchu attend the annual flea market for practitioners
Big Sky (Slattery): tornadoes are out of control in an Oklahoma town
Now and Then (Gladstone): Sal tracks down Grace and learns her story
Under My Skin (Lafferty): the team heads to Vegas to solve a problem with a tattoo artist reality show
Ancient Wonders (Dunlap): the team goes to Delphi to listen to the Oracle
Shore Leave (Lafferty): Grace and Sal enjoy Grace's day off while the team tries to manage a timepiece
Codex Umbra (Gladstone): recovering a magical book from a guarded fortress
Puppets (Slattery): dealing with demons
Keeping Friends Close (Lafferty): demons and books
An Excellent Day for an Exorcism (Slattery): Sal goes visiting
Things Lost (Dunlap)
Seige (Gladstone)
Five main characters make up
The collected edition has all 16 episodes of the first season in one tome, and definitely feels too similar about halfway through. Undoubtedly, reading will work better following the serial pacing, not binging. Each episode is about 50 pages. The four authors are able to achieve a relatively uniform tone, although I felt like Gladstone's style tended to stand out slightly. Most follow the standard tv format of short victim viewpoint followed by team-focused problem solving and action mode. Lafferty's sections had welcome flourishes of humor although it was misplaced when she did one of the final horror-filled installments. The pacing is well done, with each installment having a plot that starts and finishes, usually without resorting to cliffhangers. A small romance plot makes an appearance at one point, but overall it is paranormal romance-free.
However, the uniform tone is at the expense of in-depth world and personality-building. One way the authors deal with the challenge is to have a couple of episodes focus on backstories. Sal, the police officer and Grace, the fighting expert from China (go ahead; I sighed too) both get some history, but most episodes are the 'monster of the week' variety. Eventually, arch-villains are discovered who will provide background opposition through multiple stories.
Honestly, as a read it was only mildly entertaining. I don't think I've ever read anything that felt more like a television script, bare on details that would likely be fleshed out in a visual medium. Writing was often choppy, making me nostalgic for the work of writers more comfortable with short-story format. Characters felt largely stereotypical, with only the rare transcendent moment. There isn't too much that gets into the philosophical underpinnings of how team members reconcile the dichotomy of having magical support/knowledge/access/skills at the same time they are confiscating magical artifacts.
Overall, not a bad book, and I wouldn't rule out reading more in the world to see if the group gains their footing. It's just wasn't as fun as I was expecting (especially with the tv-like focus) and the choppy writing made it a bit of a chore as I progressed through the installments. Definitely made me want to go watch Supernatural.
Two and a half books.
The installments, broken out:
Badge, Book, and Candle (Gladstone): Sal meets the team
Anywhere but Here (Slattery): an Italian apartment and a pair of missing girls
Fair Weather (Dunlap): an explosion at a book shop leads to a yacht
A Sorcerer's Apprentice (Lafferty): Asanti heads to Scotland for her mentor's funeral, Sal is back-up
The Market Arcanum (Dunlap): Sal and Menchu attend the annual flea market for practitioners
Big Sky (Slattery): tornadoes are out of control in an Oklahoma town
Now and Then (Gladstone): Sal tracks down Grace and learns her story
Under My Skin (Lafferty): the team heads to Vegas to solve a problem with a tattoo artist reality show
Ancient Wonders (Dunlap): the team goes to Delphi to listen to the Oracle
Shore Leave (Lafferty): Grace and Sal enjoy Grace's day off while the team tries to manage a timepiece
Codex Umbra (Gladstone): recovering a magical book from a guarded fortress
Puppets (Slattery): dealing with demons
Keeping Friends Close (Lafferty): demons and books
An Excellent Day for an Exorcism (Slattery): Sal goes visiting
Things Lost (Dunlap)
Seige (Gladstone)
adelaidebijou's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
jameseckman's review
3.0
Another urban fantasy with a team and not one main character. While written by multiple authors I didn't see any stylistic or continuity issues. I did find it draggy in spots, but a otherwise decent, good debuts for the two new authors.
petermedeiros1988's review
5.0
I cannot say if Bookburners was the best book I've read this year, but it was definitely the most no-holds-barried fun I've had reading this year, and that's saying something. The "episodic" format, adapted from the audio, makes it highly readable (and also good as something you can sit down, read part of, and then come back to later) and the 800 pages go by MUCH faster than you'd expect. The premise: police officer Sal gets recruited by Vatican-sponsored anti-magic team after her brother is possessed by a demon. And go.
One thing the book does REALLY well, both because of its format and its length, is that it lets these characters have high-stakes adventures AND reasonable "downtime" in which they learn more about each other and grow because of it. Normally, when I say that a book is "like a show" or "like a game," I mean it as an insult; I firmly believe books should capitalize on the affordances of text, not to sound pretentious. But this book has great writing AND all the GOOD things about contemporary TV, in terms of pacing and character development. It gives you the time you need to learn about these characters, slowly, so that when you put down the book you can't even figure out exactly when you started to fall in love with Sal and everybody else. If you're a fan of Bioware video games, I think this manages to capture the particularly feel of those games, but with all the best parts of a good dark fantasy book--imagination (and some things left to the imagination), the occasional searing metaphor, an array of compelling POVs--undercut with moments of humor and genuine pathos. It's terrific.
One thing the book does REALLY well, both because of its format and its length, is that it lets these characters have high-stakes adventures AND reasonable "downtime" in which they learn more about each other and grow because of it. Normally, when I say that a book is "like a show" or "like a game," I mean it as an insult; I firmly believe books should capitalize on the affordances of text, not to sound pretentious. But this book has great writing AND all the GOOD things about contemporary TV, in terms of pacing and character development. It gives you the time you need to learn about these characters, slowly, so that when you put down the book you can't even figure out exactly when you started to fall in love with Sal and everybody else. If you're a fan of Bioware video games, I think this manages to capture the particularly feel of those games, but with all the best parts of a good dark fantasy book--imagination (and some things left to the imagination), the occasional searing metaphor, an array of compelling POVs--undercut with moments of humor and genuine pathos. It's terrific.
greymalkin's review
4.0
Enjoyable read generally, though I definitely liked some authors more than others. There's something about Max Gladstone's writing that I love. The way his characters think and speak, the pacing of the plots, it makes sense to my brain.
I adore Grace (even before her backstory episode which made her even more awesome) and Menchu and I was surprised to find I really liked Sal.
I'm mostly indifferent to Liam, I want to like him more because I have a fondness for hackers, but he's so whiny and judgmental that he's hard to really connect to.
I really dislike Asanti. Her character always felt the most variable from author to author and yet I disliked every version of her. She would be talked up as this researcher and archivist and yet she'd be so terrible at both things. She was called "the glue that held the team together" and yet no one seemed to really like or understand her, and she was distant and weird to the team members. She was old and experienced and yet she'd make really shortsighted mistakes.
The Monster of the Week stuff was still pretty fun, especially as it was clear it was ramping up for a showdown. I'm pleased that the Mr. Norse stuff was not the main event, and I felt that the ending was satisfying.
I'm really astonished at how well the whole thing hung together being coordinated with four authors. Not an easy feat and they did a fantastic job.
I adore Grace (even before her backstory episode which made her even more awesome) and Menchu and I was surprised to find I really liked Sal.
I'm mostly indifferent to Liam, I want to like him more because I have a fondness for hackers, but he's so whiny and judgmental that he's hard to really connect to.
I really dislike Asanti. Her character always felt the most variable from author to author and yet I disliked every version of her. She would be talked up as this researcher and archivist and yet she'd be so terrible at both things. She was called "the glue that held the team together" and yet no one seemed to really like or understand her, and she was distant and weird to the team members. She was old and experienced and yet she'd make really shortsighted mistakes.
The Monster of the Week stuff was still pretty fun, especially as it was clear it was ramping up for a showdown. I'm pleased that the Mr. Norse stuff was not the main event, and I felt that the ending was satisfying.
I'm really astonished at how well the whole thing hung together being coordinated with four authors. Not an easy feat and they did a fantastic job.
thequilltolive's review
4.0
Full review at The Quill to Live: https://thequilltolive.com/2017/05/02/bookburners-you-will-burn-through-it/
I haven’t had a lot of experience with books written in groups, but what little experience I have had has been good. When I think of the staggering amount of work that went into a group paper in college, I can only imagine that it is even harder to organize a group of people to write a 600 page novel. However, I am always impressed with how smooth the group books I have read come out, and Bookburners, by Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery, is no exception.
Bookburners was published as a serial novel, with each chapter a self contained story that plays out like a TV episode. This is my first time reading a story of this nature, and I found I really liked the experience. While the book did feel like the pacing suffered compared to traditional books, the overall story translated well into half hour chapters – and it makes the book really easy to put down and pick back up. The group of authors did a great job unifying their voice, and while I could pick out which of them wrote a chapter by their writing, the tone and the feel of the book always remained consistent. In the end it did give me the experience of reading the same way I watch a TV show and it was a lot of fun. But what is this show about?
Bookburners follows the story of a team of Vatican specialists as they travel the world and deal with rogue books and artifacts that contain demons. Our protagonist is an American cop whose brother is possessed by a book in the opening chapter. Once her brother’s situation is “dealt with” (avoiding spoilers) she ends up joining Team Three of the Vatican special forces. Team Three’s job is the study and retrieval of artifacts, Team Two are essentially PR, and Team One are the big guns that move in when a book/artifact gets out of control. If I had to pick one sentence to describe it to someone I would say that it feels like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Warehouse 13. Team Three is made up of five members, Sal (our POV), Menchu, Grace, Asanti, and Liam. Each of them has an interesting, and of course tragic, backstory that got them into this line of work and I loved them all. The characters in this story are all fun, from the protagonists to the villains, but if I had to pick a favorite it would have to be Grace. She is a small Asian woman, and the team’s heavy muscle, and her backstory is one of the most unique and interesting things I have read recently.
One thing I will say is that while I love the world, I think the series could use a little more world building. When reading Bookburners I constantly felt like I did not have enough information about the world they work in. It often felt like we did not get information about their work until moments before we needed it, and this can occasionally make the book’s world feel a little shallow. However, to be fair I think this is something that was bound to happen due to the style of episodic writing. While the world in Bookburners felt a little thin compared to other books in the genre, it still felt much deeper than your traditional TV show. In addition, the moments where we do get worldbuilding really shine. My favorite chapter/episode was one in which the team goes to a supernatural black market and you get to meet all the major players in the magical world.
Overall I really liked Bookburners and I am definitely going to continue following the series. I purchased the first season in the omnibus, and then tried following some of season two as it was published episodically. I have found that I much prefer bingeing the story in one sitting to reading a chapter every so often, so I will be waiting for the seasons to finish to read them all at once. The book is a really fun take on fantasy writing, and if you are looking for something new to keep your reading experience fresh it does quite nicely. I really hope that the team can keep it going for many seasons to come and I can’t wait to see what is in store for Team Three next.
Rating: Bookburners: Season 1 – 8.0/10
I haven’t had a lot of experience with books written in groups, but what little experience I have had has been good. When I think of the staggering amount of work that went into a group paper in college, I can only imagine that it is even harder to organize a group of people to write a 600 page novel. However, I am always impressed with how smooth the group books I have read come out, and Bookburners, by Max Gladstone, Margaret Dunlap, Mur Lafferty, and Brian Francis Slattery, is no exception.
Bookburners was published as a serial novel, with each chapter a self contained story that plays out like a TV episode. This is my first time reading a story of this nature, and I found I really liked the experience. While the book did feel like the pacing suffered compared to traditional books, the overall story translated well into half hour chapters – and it makes the book really easy to put down and pick back up. The group of authors did a great job unifying their voice, and while I could pick out which of them wrote a chapter by their writing, the tone and the feel of the book always remained consistent. In the end it did give me the experience of reading the same way I watch a TV show and it was a lot of fun. But what is this show about?
Bookburners follows the story of a team of Vatican specialists as they travel the world and deal with rogue books and artifacts that contain demons. Our protagonist is an American cop whose brother is possessed by a book in the opening chapter. Once her brother’s situation is “dealt with” (avoiding spoilers) she ends up joining Team Three of the Vatican special forces. Team Three’s job is the study and retrieval of artifacts, Team Two are essentially PR, and Team One are the big guns that move in when a book/artifact gets out of control. If I had to pick one sentence to describe it to someone I would say that it feels like Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Warehouse 13. Team Three is made up of five members, Sal (our POV), Menchu, Grace, Asanti, and Liam. Each of them has an interesting, and of course tragic, backstory that got them into this line of work and I loved them all. The characters in this story are all fun, from the protagonists to the villains, but if I had to pick a favorite it would have to be Grace. She is a small Asian woman, and the team’s heavy muscle, and her backstory is one of the most unique and interesting things I have read recently.
One thing I will say is that while I love the world, I think the series could use a little more world building. When reading Bookburners I constantly felt like I did not have enough information about the world they work in. It often felt like we did not get information about their work until moments before we needed it, and this can occasionally make the book’s world feel a little shallow. However, to be fair I think this is something that was bound to happen due to the style of episodic writing. While the world in Bookburners felt a little thin compared to other books in the genre, it still felt much deeper than your traditional TV show. In addition, the moments where we do get worldbuilding really shine. My favorite chapter/episode was one in which the team goes to a supernatural black market and you get to meet all the major players in the magical world.
Overall I really liked Bookburners and I am definitely going to continue following the series. I purchased the first season in the omnibus, and then tried following some of season two as it was published episodically. I have found that I much prefer bingeing the story in one sitting to reading a chapter every so often, so I will be waiting for the seasons to finish to read them all at once. The book is a really fun take on fantasy writing, and if you are looking for something new to keep your reading experience fresh it does quite nicely. I really hope that the team can keep it going for many seasons to come and I can’t wait to see what is in store for Team Three next.
Rating: Bookburners: Season 1 – 8.0/10