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A review by bluebooked
I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan
3.0
2 1/2 stars.
I'm going to say right here that this rating is a bit skewed because it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realized I'd begun it with the wrong expectations. Unfortunately, I hadn't enjoyed what I'd read up to that point to start over again. (I was recommended this book on the basis that I'd liked Good Omens and I kept expecting a more light-hearted tone for 100+ pages.)
Now, I'm certain this book is for some people out there, it just wasn't for ME. My main problem was the sheer volume of prose. I can appreciate prose! I love a good metaphor... but when every single sentence inspires three pages of plotless comparisons, I get a little exhausted.
And that's not even the full paragraph. It keeps going! Granted, Lucifer chalks it all up to the mind of the man he's possessing, Declan Gunn, who's a failed author with a suspiciously similar flaw. But... eventually overplayed trope turns into the real thing and it's tiring to struggle through. This 272 page book took me days to finish when a book of equal length should only take 2 sittings.
I enjoyed the characters and premise, but overall the execution let me down immensely.
I'm going to say right here that this rating is a bit skewed because it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realized I'd begun it with the wrong expectations. Unfortunately, I hadn't enjoyed what I'd read up to that point to start over again. (I was recommended this book on the basis that I'd liked Good Omens and I kept expecting a more light-hearted tone for 100+ pages.)
Now, I'm certain this book is for some people out there, it just wasn't for ME. My main problem was the sheer volume of prose. I can appreciate prose! I love a good metaphor... but when every single sentence inspires three pages of plotless comparisons, I get a little exhausted.
You know what Eden was? I'll tell you. Edenic. Susurrating trees reached out fingers of frothy foliage to catch the languid landings of turquoise birds. Opalescent streams exhaled the sweet scene of sewage-free water. Red and silver fish jeweled obsidian meres. Succulent grass appeared and let green really show itself. (That grass and that green, they were made for each other.)
And that's not even the full paragraph. It keeps going! Granted, Lucifer chalks it all up to the mind of the man he's possessing, Declan Gunn, who's a failed author with a suspiciously similar flaw. But... eventually overplayed trope turns into the real thing and it's tiring to struggle through. This 272 page book took me days to finish when a book of equal length should only take 2 sittings.
I enjoyed the characters and premise, but overall the execution let me down immensely.