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ashleylm 's review for:
The Brothers Cabal
by Jonathan L. Howard
Howard uses a slightly distancing tone which prevents one from fully empathizing with viewpoint characters--ordinarily this would knock a book down an extra star, as I'm chock-full of pent-up emotions and anxious for a good book to drag them out of me--but he's such a clever writer, and the turns of phrases are so frequently so wonderful, that the substitution of wit for warmth works.
So often when reading the run-of-the-mill book, it appears the author has been perfectly satisfied with their first draft, so long as it correctly describes the event. Those authors would be content to describe a scene where Horst and Alicia are walking, with Johannes in the middle, as: "Johannes Cabal walked in the middle." Howard's rendition, however, is "Johannes Cabal walked in the middle with a poorly concealed air of impatience about him, like a father given charge of a pair of overactive children who had cleared out a sweet jar an hour before." If you prefer the shorter version, this book is not for you, and you should read something from the fine people at Baen Books, I expect. If you prefer the longer version, you will enjoy this (and likely the work of Matthew Hughes, or Jack Vance). But start with the first one!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
So often when reading the run-of-the-mill book, it appears the author has been perfectly satisfied with their first draft, so long as it correctly describes the event. Those authors would be content to describe a scene where Horst and Alicia are walking, with Johannes in the middle, as: "Johannes Cabal walked in the middle." Howard's rendition, however, is "Johannes Cabal walked in the middle with a poorly concealed air of impatience about him, like a father given charge of a pair of overactive children who had cleared out a sweet jar an hour before." If you prefer the shorter version, this book is not for you, and you should read something from the fine people at Baen Books, I expect. If you prefer the longer version, you will enjoy this (and likely the work of Matthew Hughes, or Jack Vance). But start with the first one!
(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).