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A review by nghia
A Bad Deal for the Whole Galaxy by Alex White
2.0
I had a vague memory of enjoying the first volume of The Salvagers -- apparently I gave it 4-stars on Goodreads, but didn't leave a detailed review. It was a mixture of Firefly and the Fast & the Furious, set in an improbable world of science fiction where everyone has magical abilities. It was a fast-paced story of outcasts engaging in heists, uncovering conspiracies, and saving the universe.
When I picked up the second book in the series, I immediately felt a bad omen. It took me 30+ pages to barely begin recalling the characters. Boots is rich? How did the happen? Is...Nilah the racer one? Not a good sign that they were so forgettable. Even later in the book they mention people like Didier (who?) and Stetson Giles (apparently the archenemy of Boots?) and the names didn't even ring a bell.
Still, I decided to power through it. That seems like the right phrase because with each page it felt more and more like a chore. I think one of the major problems is that it is just way too long for its own good. Well over 400 pages. Imagine if a Fast & Furious movie lasted 4 hours. It is just heist after heist after heist. Some of which end up having absolutely no bearing to the plot. There's a subplot about making contact with a mole and helping him escape. Which they eventually do but...nothing he tells them is used in the plot.
That kind of bad plotting is the ultimate downfall of the book. There certainly isn't anything you'd call real character development to hang your hat on. There's a trite & forced fight between lovers (which is solved by a 5-minute conversation when they actually get around to talking about it). There's some poorly developed stuff about the twins that just goes nowhere. And...I think that's it in terms of character stuff in the entire 400 page book. Everything else is just plot plot plot.
Which can be fine it is done well. Except it isn't done well, for the most part. It is too busy trying to build spectacle to make things coherent. Even if you swallow major absurdities like a bunch of what are essentially cargo-haulers pulling off a bank robbery of the most heavily guarded bank in the universe...with 24 hours of planning. Or finding that the previous guest in their hotel room left behind an eidolon crystal capable of powering a military battleship's warp drive. (Because of course people forget things like that when packing.....) Or when they are asked for the access code of their hotel room -- which is something they have! -- and instead of just saying it, they murder the half-dozen servants in the room; just to have a meaningless shoot-out. Or when they rob a guy's house, leaving witnesses behind who know where they are headed next, and then are shocked, shocked I tell you! when the guy tracks them shortly afterwards.
Salvagers is unabasedly "cinematic". But where movies know they can only throw two or three set pieces at you, Salvagers isn't satisfied until it has done it dozens of times. It isn't enough that they have to engage in a dozen heists. But also ghosts from the past! get thrown into the mix for both Boots and Orna. Because one wouldn't have been enough.
Reading the last 200 pages or so felt like a chore rather than a joy, so I won't be picking up the final volume in the series.
When I picked up the second book in the series, I immediately felt a bad omen. It took me 30+ pages to barely begin recalling the characters. Boots is rich? How did the happen? Is...Nilah the racer one? Not a good sign that they were so forgettable. Even later in the book they mention people like Didier (who?) and Stetson Giles (apparently the archenemy of Boots?) and the names didn't even ring a bell.
Still, I decided to power through it. That seems like the right phrase because with each page it felt more and more like a chore. I think one of the major problems is that it is just way too long for its own good. Well over 400 pages. Imagine if a Fast & Furious movie lasted 4 hours. It is just heist after heist after heist. Some of which end up having absolutely no bearing to the plot. There's a subplot about making contact with a mole and helping him escape. Which they eventually do but...nothing he tells them is used in the plot.
That kind of bad plotting is the ultimate downfall of the book. There certainly isn't anything you'd call real character development to hang your hat on. There's a trite & forced fight between lovers (which is solved by a 5-minute conversation when they actually get around to talking about it). There's some poorly developed stuff about the twins that just goes nowhere. And...I think that's it in terms of character stuff in the entire 400 page book. Everything else is just plot plot plot.
Which can be fine it is done well. Except it isn't done well, for the most part. It is too busy trying to build spectacle to make things coherent. Even if you swallow major absurdities like a bunch of what are essentially cargo-haulers pulling off a bank robbery of the most heavily guarded bank in the universe...with 24 hours of planning. Or finding that the previous guest in their hotel room left behind an eidolon crystal capable of powering a military battleship's warp drive. (Because of course people forget things like that when packing.....) Or when they are asked for the access code of their hotel room -- which is something they have! -- and instead of just saying it, they murder the half-dozen servants in the room; just to have a meaningless shoot-out. Or when they rob a guy's house, leaving witnesses behind who know where they are headed next, and then are shocked, shocked I tell you! when the guy tracks them shortly afterwards.
Salvagers is unabasedly "cinematic". But where movies know they can only throw two or three set pieces at you, Salvagers isn't satisfied until it has done it dozens of times. It isn't enough that they have to engage in a dozen heists. But also ghosts from the past! get thrown into the mix for both Boots and Orna. Because one wouldn't have been enough.
Reading the last 200 pages or so felt like a chore rather than a joy, so I won't be picking up the final volume in the series.