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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An enjoyable romp
I wasn't quite sure about the first in this series but I decided to give it a go and I'm glad I did. I think perhaps it took a little getting used to the style of the books but I knew what t expect with this one and thought it was a grand old romp. I love the fact that Box is a shag anything that moves so long as they're attractive type of guy and I found one of the heterosexual sex scenes quite sexy which doesn't usually happen! I recommend it and I shall go on and buy the third in the series.
A British spy novel set in the 1920s. Written in 2006 and yet so much offensiveness! Also gory and violent and somehow boring while also having too much happening? Also focused on Christianity type magic which isn’t very interesting to me. 2 stars instead of 1 because I did finish and also the main character is bisexual which I appreciate although he’s mostly filling out stereotypes of being overly sexed and using people so maybe not actually a good thing?
# 2 of the Lucifer Box trilogy, it takes place twenty years after the Edwardian adventures of #1.
Lucifer is now middle aged, traumatised by the Great War, and under the pump from a new generation of secret agents. Of course, he remains as beautiful lithe as ever – and informs us on a regular basis – but seems a little less cocksure and a little more vulnerable than the earlier tale.
Without giving too much away, the story is a little darker as Lucifer battles a horrible gang of Fascists with a bent for Satanism. It is not quite the romp of the first, and the maudlin tone of the interwar period is well captured.
Lucifer is now middle aged, traumatised by the Great War, and under the pump from a new generation of secret agents. Of course, he remains as beautiful lithe as ever – and informs us on a regular basis – but seems a little less cocksure and a little more vulnerable than the earlier tale.
Without giving too much away, the story is a little darker as Lucifer battles a horrible gang of Fascists with a bent for Satanism. It is not quite the romp of the first, and the maudlin tone of the interwar period is well captured.
You'd have to call this a "romp", I think. It's pure entertainment - by which I mean there's nothing highbrow or intellectual about it, it simply is what it is; an adventure story, think Raiders of the Lost Ark meets James Bond, except James Bond is a slightly camp bisexual and Indiana Jones is the same slightly camp bisexual.
It has everything the above implies: spies, nazis, the devil, guns, kidnapping, sex, crossings and double-crossings, giant henchmen, framings, multiple escapes... even cable cars and Swiss chateaus. In fact, the only thing missing is a casino. Sort it out, Gatiss.
There is an inconsistency that I wondered about; this character of Box is unashamedly homosexual in the first half of the book, but to fit in with this "Lamb of God" storyline he has to become romantically interested in a female character, and all the campness that seemed to be the novel's USP in the beginning goes out of the window. It's almost like Gatiss came up with a great idea for a plot for this pre-existing Box character, but to really make it work he needed a character called Agnes Daye (agnus dei), and... well, we're just going to have to plough ahead with it.
It's also a bit disappointing when it turns out that everything that happens has been manipulated by the malevolent forces in the story, so essentially your hero has achieved and affected nothing at all, and doesn't do so until right at the end. He's merely a pawn in someone else's dangerous game of power, which would be fine, but how many times have you seen stories that are like, "a-ha! I've got you now!"
"No, you haven't! I in fact arranged for you to be here! And I arranged everything else that happened, including all your escapes, trysts and escapades, just because you are the most important part, and you didn't even know it!"
Yeah, bit lame.
So... it's nothing you haven't read anywhere before so I think you just need to ask yourself: do you want to spend a few hours reading this kind of story? I only ended up with it because I was interested in a book in a charity shop, and they told me it was four books for a pound. Being a League of Gentlemen fan, this was one of the ones I picked to make up the numbers. And I'm quite heavily into reading at the moment, so I'm apt to try anything.
I wouldn't say it was particularly funny. There were some jokes in there that were vaguely amusing, but - and I'm not sure whether this is my fault or the fault of the writing - there were times when I was halfway through the next sentence before I realised I'd just read a joke, and I thought, "if I'd been going slower, would I have found that funny?" Was I reading too fast, or did the writing fail to plant the joke in my mind before I'd moved on? I rarely find true humour in the written word (outside of satirical, political writing), so perhaps it is me.
Anyway, I don't think I'll bother trying the first book in this series, or any future ones because I would probably have rather been reading something else, though it didn't take too much of my time.
Make of that what you will.
It has everything the above implies: spies, nazis, the devil, guns, kidnapping, sex, crossings and double-crossings, giant henchmen, framings, multiple escapes... even cable cars and Swiss chateaus. In fact, the only thing missing is a casino. Sort it out, Gatiss.
There is an inconsistency that I wondered about; this character of Box is unashamedly homosexual in the first half of the book, but to fit in with this "Lamb of God" storyline he has to become romantically interested in a female character, and all the campness that seemed to be the novel's USP in the beginning goes out of the window. It's almost like Gatiss came up with a great idea for a plot for this pre-existing Box character, but to really make it work he needed a character called Agnes Daye (agnus dei), and... well, we're just going to have to plough ahead with it.
It's also a bit disappointing when it turns out that everything that happens has been manipulated by the malevolent forces in the story, so essentially your hero has achieved and affected nothing at all, and doesn't do so until right at the end. He's merely a pawn in someone else's dangerous game of power, which would be fine, but how many times have you seen stories that are like, "a-ha! I've got you now!"
"No, you haven't! I in fact arranged for you to be here! And I arranged everything else that happened, including all your escapes, trysts and escapades, just because you are the most important part, and you didn't even know it!"
Yeah, bit lame.
So... it's nothing you haven't read anywhere before so I think you just need to ask yourself: do you want to spend a few hours reading this kind of story? I only ended up with it because I was interested in a book in a charity shop, and they told me it was four books for a pound. Being a League of Gentlemen fan, this was one of the ones I picked to make up the numbers. And I'm quite heavily into reading at the moment, so I'm apt to try anything.
I wouldn't say it was particularly funny. There were some jokes in there that were vaguely amusing, but - and I'm not sure whether this is my fault or the fault of the writing - there were times when I was halfway through the next sentence before I realised I'd just read a joke, and I thought, "if I'd been going slower, would I have found that funny?" Was I reading too fast, or did the writing fail to plant the joke in my mind before I'd moved on? I rarely find true humour in the written word (outside of satirical, political writing), so perhaps it is me.
Anyway, I don't think I'll bother trying the first book in this series, or any future ones because I would probably have rather been reading something else, though it didn't take too much of my time.
Make of that what you will.
OH MEIN GOTT, WHY IS THIS NOT YET A FILM/PLAY/SHORT FILM/FAKE TRAILER.
I thought this was an ok read, a follow up to The Vesuvius Club, although its more forgettable. The characters are fun and there are some witty moments in terms of the plot but I didn't feel it was as exciting as the previous story. An ok read.
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's a silly period romp involving 1920s dandies and satanism. not really my cup of tea but a quick read
Just as good as the first, in some areas better. this had an emotional kick to it that i felt more relation to than in the first book