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adamjcalhoun 's review for:
Spoonbenders
by Daryl Gregory
3.5 stars
What happens in the real world when you have magic? Like actual psychic powers - not unlimited, but powers non-the-less? Spoonbenders tries to answer this question by following a family spawned by a grifter who all have some level of psychic powers - the son who can see the future, the son who can move things with his mind, the daughter who knows when someone is lying, the grandson who can travel outside of his body.
The biggest strength of the book is the way the different characters are woven together, shifting backward and forward in time to try to understand why everyone is the way they are, and how their lives in the present day are a mess because of their gifts. This story is propelled by a plot that we mostly care about because we are invested in the characters and want to see how it ends.
The downside is that a lot of the characters are cliches and where they are in the present day feels forced; where they are in life seems somewhat unrelated to their psychic powers even if the 'present day' story keeps trying to explain their decisions entirely through that lens. And a lot of the supporting characters (especially Malice) seem there solely to be what the plot needs them to be at the moment.
The most interesting characters could have used much more time, especially the mother who never gets her own chapter but is the only character in the family who isn't totally screwed up by their father! Also three cheers for the son who can see the future but can't really tell whether he is in the present or the future or the past, so has to travel through life constantly trying to figure out where he is and what his memories say that he is supposed to be doing.
The book was fun and quick. I enjoyed it, but wish the characters were more original.
What happens in the real world when you have magic? Like actual psychic powers - not unlimited, but powers non-the-less? Spoonbenders tries to answer this question by following a family spawned by a grifter who all have some level of psychic powers - the son who can see the future, the son who can move things with his mind, the daughter who knows when someone is lying, the grandson who can travel outside of his body.
The biggest strength of the book is the way the different characters are woven together, shifting backward and forward in time to try to understand why everyone is the way they are, and how their lives in the present day are a mess because of their gifts. This story is propelled by a plot that we mostly care about because we are invested in the characters and want to see how it ends.
The downside is that a lot of the characters are cliches and where they are in the present day feels forced; where they are in life seems somewhat unrelated to their psychic powers even if the 'present day' story keeps trying to explain their decisions entirely through that lens. And a lot of the supporting characters (especially Malice) seem there solely to be what the plot needs them to be at the moment.
The most interesting characters could have used much more time, especially the mother who never gets her own chapter but is the only character in the family who isn't totally screwed up by their father! Also three cheers for the son who can see the future but can't really tell whether he is in the present or the future or the past, so has to travel through life constantly trying to figure out where he is and what his memories say that he is supposed to be doing.
The book was fun and quick. I enjoyed it, but wish the characters were more original.