Scan barcode
A review by cupiscent
The Fallen Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
2.0
Meh.
Actually, this is an interesting book to try and talk about, because my emotional response when reading was "this is just lacking" but once I actually try and think about "how to fix it", I become puzzled as to why it doesn't work. It seems to have everything it should - a pretty tight story focused around a collection of interlocking characters with high stakes. Also vampires, werewolves, magick and swooning maidens.
Why doesn't it work?
For me, it's because I'm just not feeling it, and that's probably down to a couple of big factors about the way it's told. One: the story is tight, but the telling of it is all over the place. It jumps between narrators without balance (one guy's only used in the first third of the book, one guy only used in the middle third, the final third is almost exclusively from the "hero's" POV without break). It jumps around in time without giving you any clear indication until you get a couple of pages into the new chapter, and thus confusion abounds (not assisted by his drama-over-clarity style, especially in the meta-story patches). And Two: it talks a lot about the big emotions the characters are feeling - which drive their actions - but I rarely saw or felt the justification for them. This was especially bad for love, which all of the characters feel passionately for one or more of the other characters, usually not the one who feels that way about them - I had no idea what any of them were talking about, because there rarely seemed to be any basis for that love, and certainly few of them acted like they genuinely cared about that person. (Particular extra-special face-pulling for Tycho and Giulietta, who meet for scant moments and are bound by love henceforth. Bleurgh.) In general, I just didn't care much for any of the characters (a little for Atilo; a little for Desdaio; both of these withered as the book progressed) and thus I just plain didn't care.
Anyway, when you have and I'm BORED, you're doing something wrong.
Actually, this is an interesting book to try and talk about, because my emotional response when reading was "this is just lacking" but once I actually try and think about "how to fix it", I become puzzled as to why it doesn't work. It seems to have everything it should - a pretty tight story focused around a collection of interlocking characters with high stakes. Also vampires, werewolves, magick and swooning maidens.
Why doesn't it work?
For me, it's because I'm just not feeling it, and that's probably down to a couple of big factors about the way it's told. One: the story is tight, but the telling of it is all over the place. It jumps between narrators without balance (one guy's only used in the first third of the book, one guy only used in the middle third, the final third is almost exclusively from the "hero's" POV without break). It jumps around in time without giving you any clear indication until you get a couple of pages into the new chapter, and thus confusion abounds (not assisted by his drama-over-clarity style, especially in the meta-story patches). And Two: it talks a lot about the big emotions the characters are feeling - which drive their actions - but I rarely saw or felt the justification for them. This was especially bad for love, which all of the characters feel passionately for one or more of the other characters, usually not the one who feels that way about them - I had no idea what any of them were talking about, because there rarely seemed to be any basis for that love, and certainly few of them acted like they genuinely cared about that person. (Particular extra-special face-pulling for Tycho and Giulietta, who meet for scant moments and are bound by love henceforth. Bleurgh.) In general, I just didn't care much for any of the characters (a little for Atilo; a little for Desdaio; both of these withered as the book progressed) and thus I just plain didn't care.
Anyway, when you have