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stefhyena 's review for:
Kingdom of the Wicked
by Derek Landy
The fast pace and witty dialogue made this in many ways an enjoyable read despite its flaws. Like nearly all 600 page books it was too long and in parts it seemed like the author was being self-indulgent however there print is spaced far apart for easy reading and the pacing of the story itself means that most of the time the pages practically turn themselves. The long and lingering descriptions of violence and huge proportion of the book seen through the perspective of various sort of villains and psychopaths was not only disturbing but after a while wearing and almost repetitive. I do think the extremely violent, individualistic and unrelievedly cynical tenor of the book does not make it idea for it's target audience (middle-school children).
While there are many female characters, all in various ways exercising agency and power- and the ratios are much better than average for an action-type book they are still a minority as though the author keeps having to remind himself to include women and men just come more naturally to his mind perhaps. Still, kudos for how many and varied they are. There is still an overemphasis in the females on appearance...beauty or lack thereof seems to be a main concern however this is a relatively minor gripe in terms of the complex motivations. The cynicism around how self-interested and untrustworthy people are is sort of reminiscent of Game of Thrones (unlike nearly everyone I am not a fan) and by this point in the series were are expecting every back-stabbing twist.
It's a bleak sort of view of good that has Darquesse and Vile stored away as sort of nuclear weapons to be used in extreme circumstances and I think it is problematic to make it both inevitable, necessary and successful/safe to have done so. I am all for moral complexity but it doesn;t really go well with cartoon style violence and super-hero/super-villain scenes. Also Valkerie could do with some female friendships that actually work. Tanith was perfect but by now she seems to be in the unredeemable basket- who knows how that will unravel in the end but she has certainly not been there as a friend for a few books. I feel there was a lot to be said for the first book and maybe the second but slowly Landy has allowed it to just become a celebration of everything that is dark, violent and destructive. I no longer have the hope or deep care factor about the characters from book to book.
Also much as I wanted to punch irritating Kitana and her goons for most of the book I think it was abysmal that some of the "good guys" actually did this. Much as the violence is too much I think the constant humiliations in the book get to me even more although there are some rays of light in this, like Elsie asserting her personhood and slowly growing into something (that doesn't blindly follow Valkerie's role-modelling either). There is an overemphasis on individual choice, action and deficit that I don't like, conversely the way Landy treats his characters as all having agency and every single one of them motivated rather than just stereotypes is commendable. He seems committed to each and every one of his characters which in terms of equity is great but does make for a cluttered plot.
There's a lot of good wit, complexity of plot and character and decent use of language here. I think if Landy ever got over his overly celebratory attitude to violence and darkness and perhaps restrained his impulse to share every idea of every characters side-story, I would be thrilled with him as a writer. As it is I think- Ok in some ways but not one I will continue to recommend for children (as I did with the first book).
While there are many female characters, all in various ways exercising agency and power- and the ratios are much better than average for an action-type book they are still a minority as though the author keeps having to remind himself to include women and men just come more naturally to his mind perhaps. Still, kudos for how many and varied they are. There is still an overemphasis in the females on appearance...beauty or lack thereof seems to be a main concern however this is a relatively minor gripe in terms of the complex motivations. The cynicism around how self-interested and untrustworthy people are is sort of reminiscent of Game of Thrones (unlike nearly everyone I am not a fan) and by this point in the series were are expecting every back-stabbing twist.
It's a bleak sort of view of good that has Darquesse and Vile stored away as sort of nuclear weapons to be used in extreme circumstances and I think it is problematic to make it both inevitable, necessary and successful/safe to have done so. I am all for moral complexity but it doesn;t really go well with cartoon style violence and super-hero/super-villain scenes. Also Valkerie could do with some female friendships that actually work. Tanith was perfect but by now she seems to be in the unredeemable basket- who knows how that will unravel in the end but she has certainly not been there as a friend for a few books. I feel there was a lot to be said for the first book and maybe the second but slowly Landy has allowed it to just become a celebration of everything that is dark, violent and destructive. I no longer have the hope or deep care factor about the characters from book to book.
Also much as I wanted to punch irritating Kitana and her goons for most of the book I think it was abysmal that some of the "good guys" actually did this. Much as the violence is too much I think the constant humiliations in the book get to me even more although there are some rays of light in this, like Elsie asserting her personhood and slowly growing into something (that doesn't blindly follow Valkerie's role-modelling either). There is an overemphasis on individual choice, action and deficit that I don't like, conversely the way Landy treats his characters as all having agency and every single one of them motivated rather than just stereotypes is commendable. He seems committed to each and every one of his characters which in terms of equity is great but does make for a cluttered plot.
There's a lot of good wit, complexity of plot and character and decent use of language here. I think if Landy ever got over his overly celebratory attitude to violence and darkness and perhaps restrained his impulse to share every idea of every characters side-story, I would be thrilled with him as a writer. As it is I think- Ok in some ways but not one I will continue to recommend for children (as I did with the first book).