A review by lukerik
The Ink Black Heart by Robert Galbraith

dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

First I’d like to whinge about the ebook version. I had to get this because since the lockdowns I no longer have the upper body strength for the hardback. Part of the novel takes place online and there are mocked-up screen shot style illustrations of in-game chat, sometimes with three channels open at once. These illustrations have been imported to the epub as image files, which is a nice touch. Unfortunately they are too small to be seen by the human eye, which is what I am equipped with. To counter this, the images are transcribed afterwards in normal ebook text. There are some formatting errors: sometimes the first line of the transcription is in a larger font. Also, the three conversations are sort of run on and jumbled up with each other which is extremely confusing. I recognise that this is a formatter’s nightmare, but we’re dealing here with one of the top authors of one of the largest publishing houses in the world and I’m sure better solutions were available. In the worst sin, one short part of the text does not appear in the transcription at all. I had to get my Compact OED microscope to read the screen. At this point, after an awful lot of mucking around, I was able to find settings that brought the text with the range of vision, but I don’t think this will be possible with all ereaders nor all eyes. Perhaps Hachette will deign to push out emended files to their customers. While they’re at it they can correct the spelling error in one of the chapter headings and add the word ‘had’ which is missing from one of the novel’s many sentences. 

So the novel takes place partly online. A massive risk. It could have gone terribly wrong, but somehow Rowling pulls it off. It’s generally an accomplished novel, with tight control over the great sprawl of it. If anything I think it’s these sections of the novel which will best bear re-reading as the central mystery is the real-world identities behind the handles. And they’re fully integrated into the themes of the novel with consists of contradictory counterparts. On the one hand you have the anonymity of the online life and it’s strange intimacy with people who may not be who they seem. Contrasted with this is the relationship of Strike and Robin whose lives are so intimately entwined, yet they never say what they really feel, often not even to themselves. Also it’s a very funny book, the humour contrasted with the grottiness of London life. 
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