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A review by elusivity
God Stalk by P.C. Hodgell
2.0
The city of Tai-tastigon, mysterious as it is, fails to draw me in. It forms no shape in my mind's eye, and slips like shadows from my dreams' landscape.
The main character, Jame, mysterious as she is, with cryptic memories sprouting like weeds from her brain, a thief incomparably skilled yet honorable, a being of as-yet-undiscovered powers, fails to form as a coherent person. Sometimes she is tortured. The next instant, she is carefree and joking. No transition between these two states.
The tone of this novel is confusing. Some passages describes darkness and misery. Others, mere fluffy everyday nonsense. It does not seem to matter that people die and gods are wrathful and houses fall and burn. These leave no mark on the characters, and I am not moved either.
Many characters have highlighted cryptic, quirky personalities, yet have no real impact on the plot line. I am left scratching my head. Why did abc spend all this time plotting cryptically, yet nothing comes out of it but...this? Why did xyz exchange long probing gazes all that time, and nothing results but...that?
Finally, and worst of all, this novel is in serious need of a single, good villain. Result: an underwhelming climax.
However, the Kencyr mythology seems quite interesting. I will move on to the next book in this series, and hope that is a better read!
The main character, Jame, mysterious as she is, with cryptic memories sprouting like weeds from her brain, a thief incomparably skilled yet honorable, a being of as-yet-undiscovered powers, fails to form as a coherent person. Sometimes she is tortured. The next instant, she is carefree and joking. No transition between these two states.
The tone of this novel is confusing. Some passages describes darkness and misery. Others, mere fluffy everyday nonsense. It does not seem to matter that people die and gods are wrathful and houses fall and burn. These leave no mark on the characters, and I am not moved either.
Many characters have highlighted cryptic, quirky personalities, yet have no real impact on the plot line. I am left scratching my head. Why did abc spend all this time plotting cryptically, yet nothing comes out of it but...this? Why did xyz exchange long probing gazes all that time, and nothing results but...that?
Finally, and worst of all, this novel is in serious need of a single, good villain. Result: an underwhelming climax.
However, the Kencyr mythology seems quite interesting. I will move on to the next book in this series, and hope that is a better read!