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A review by turrean
The Jinn-Bot of Shantiport by Samit Basu
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
The setting for this retelling of Aladdin is clever and the world-building is expansive and rich. Bador, in particular, is a delightful character, and I enjoyed his WWE-style battles very much.
However, the book reads more like a script than a novel. Characters’ speeches sometimes go on for ages. At times, in exchanges between two characters, I lost track of who was speaking, without even a “Lina said…” or “her mother said…” to guide me. At the midpoint of the novel, there are pages and pages of debate over optimal jinn wishes, along the lines of “Self governance, optimal representation and participation, nonviolence, sustainability, and operational expertise are non-negotiable.”
The presence of Moku as the prime narrator also puts the main action at arms-length. He is an all-seeing narrator, but not an all-knowing one. He gives us just the facts, ma’am, only realizing near the end of the book that he’s been missing the crucial clues of history, nonverbal cues, and psychology to really understand what he is seeing. It was very difficult to get to know Lina or Bador only through Moku’s view.
However, the book reads more like a script than a novel. Characters’ speeches sometimes go on for ages. At times, in exchanges between two characters, I lost track of who was speaking, without even a “Lina said…” or “her mother said…” to guide me. At the midpoint of the novel, there are pages and pages of debate over optimal jinn wishes, along the lines of “Self governance, optimal representation and participation, nonviolence, sustainability, and operational expertise are non-negotiable.”
The presence of Moku as the prime narrator also puts the main action at arms-length. He is an all-seeing narrator, but not an all-knowing one. He gives us just the facts, ma’am, only realizing near the end of the book that he’s been missing the crucial clues of history, nonverbal cues, and psychology to really understand what he is seeing. It was very difficult to get to know Lina or Bador only through Moku’s view.