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depleti 's review for:
The Alchemyst
by Michael Scott
Most of the time when I buy just the first book in a series I kick myself later for not just getting all or most of the rest of the books already published. Usually the first book is really good, enough to continue reading at least.
This was, surprisingly, not one of those times.
I've been seeing this series on bookstore shelves for a long time and was always intrigued simply because I like the cover treatment. For some reason I never picked it up until a couple weekends ago while on vacation. I read it and have no strong desire to continue the series. I'm not sure why; it's not a bad book (I'd like to give it 2.5 stars really). It's written very well and there's plenty of action and it has a neat premise.
I think the my lack of interest is because of the characters. I had absolutely no strong connection to any of them. Not the main characters, not the supporting ones, not the antagonist. None. I didn't care all that much what I was reading or who I was reading about. This book had a very strong omniscient presence, flittering around from character to character. Sometimes the description spoke of a specific character's thoughts in one paragraph and the next it was someone else's. It didn't really focus on one character per chapter, it focused on all of them at once, which left me feeling disconnected. There weren't a lot of secrets to motivation, I can already imagine where the rest of the books go in their plots.
I can't help but compare this to Rick Riordan's writings because they both use an influx of mythology mixed with modern day situations and characters. But I care so much more for Riordan's characters, and I think it's because he focuses on them closely. The Percy Jackson books were all first person, from Percy's point of view, so the reader really gets to know him. The Kane Chronicles are also written in first person, but every other chapter or so they switch between the two main characters (which can get confusing). The Heroes of Olympus books have one chapter per main character. Riordan's used all sorts of different ways to tell his stories, and his style is different from Scott's, but he didn't scatter internal monologues all over the place. He didn't focus on Percy and his thoughts in one paragraph and then on Annabeth's feelings in the next.
Sometimes I can forgive a cliche or weak plot if the characters are fun to read about, so much so I'll continue along in a series. Such is not the case here.
This was, surprisingly, not one of those times.
I've been seeing this series on bookstore shelves for a long time and was always intrigued simply because I like the cover treatment. For some reason I never picked it up until a couple weekends ago while on vacation. I read it and have no strong desire to continue the series. I'm not sure why; it's not a bad book (I'd like to give it 2.5 stars really). It's written very well and there's plenty of action and it has a neat premise.
I think the my lack of interest is because of the characters. I had absolutely no strong connection to any of them. Not the main characters, not the supporting ones, not the antagonist. None. I didn't care all that much what I was reading or who I was reading about. This book had a very strong omniscient presence, flittering around from character to character. Sometimes the description spoke of a specific character's thoughts in one paragraph and the next it was someone else's. It didn't really focus on one character per chapter, it focused on all of them at once, which left me feeling disconnected. There weren't a lot of secrets to motivation, I can already imagine where the rest of the books go in their plots.
I can't help but compare this to Rick Riordan's writings because they both use an influx of mythology mixed with modern day situations and characters. But I care so much more for Riordan's characters, and I think it's because he focuses on them closely. The Percy Jackson books were all first person, from Percy's point of view, so the reader really gets to know him. The Kane Chronicles are also written in first person, but every other chapter or so they switch between the two main characters (which can get confusing). The Heroes of Olympus books have one chapter per main character. Riordan's used all sorts of different ways to tell his stories, and his style is different from Scott's, but he didn't scatter internal monologues all over the place. He didn't focus on Percy and his thoughts in one paragraph and then on Annabeth's feelings in the next.
Sometimes I can forgive a cliche or weak plot if the characters are fun to read about, so much so I'll continue along in a series. Such is not the case here.