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A review by queenoftoads
The Sound of Seas by Gillian Anderson, Jeff Rovin
3.0
It was a hard slog getting through this final book in the Earth End Saga. It tried so very hard to be clever. The writing was accessible, though repetitive. It isn't that the idea wasn't fun, it was. I was compelled to get to the end to see where it went, if it really was aliens or some other clever twist. It was just a lot of hard work to get there. A lot of the time I wished that the three books had been compressed into one bigger one, or even two.
Some of the problems, as I see them, from the beginning of the series are:
The characters made some impossible leaps of logic. From the beginning of book one the characters would make connections that were impossible. I'm not a linguist, but Ben seemed to be able to learn an entire language from a few words and a couple of google searches. That there is only the beginning. Some of the leaps were akin to going, 'oh, hey, there's a butterfly on that there rose, so that means walruses are the reason for global warming!'.
Caitlin. Caitlin is a b***h. She's arrogant, rude, and entitled. There are moments when Ben, the guy she has dragged along behind her like a sad puppy for years, tries to speak to her, and she flat out ignores him. He could say 'hello' and she'd look at him like he was an idiot. She would run away on humanitarian missions at the drop of the hat and expect her parents to just be there for her (honey, you've got the money, get a nanny). And yet when her mother is there for her at the end she dismisses her like troublesome child. She never listens to anyone else. Oh, and then
They all believed too readily. The only moment of self doubt Caitlin had was right towards the end, and by that point it didn't make any sense. She'd been to another time, learned a strange language, performed magicky stuff... Much of this witnessed by other people. But when her shrink says during the last quarter of the book that she might be nuts, she has five minutes of self doubt. Had it taken place in book one or two, then perhaps it would have made sense. Not then, not at the end.
That ending. Without going into spoilers, the end was telegraphed from the beginning. There were no surprises about Gaalderkhan, not even who put the tiles there. That wouldn't be a problem, except for the sudden new-agey, oh my goodness how did string theory come into this, climax...
Using others words as though they're original thought. I get that a part of this was that life is cyclical, but when you say that a poet from a gazillion years ago wrote that 'nothing is ever truly lost, so long as it is remembered' as though it is an original thought, that's just frustrating. There are numerous examples of this.
It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it was pretty frustrating. 2 1/2 stars.
Some of the problems, as I see them, from the beginning of the series are:
The characters made some impossible leaps of logic. From the beginning of book one the characters would make connections that were impossible. I'm not a linguist, but Ben seemed to be able to learn an entire language from a few words and a couple of google searches. That there is only the beginning. Some of the leaps were akin to going, 'oh, hey, there's a butterfly on that there rose, so that means walruses are the reason for global warming!'.
Caitlin. Caitlin is a b***h. She's arrogant, rude, and entitled. There are moments when Ben, the guy she has dragged along behind her like a sad puppy for years, tries to speak to her, and she flat out ignores him. He could say 'hello' and she'd look at him like he was an idiot. She would run away on humanitarian missions at the drop of the hat and expect her parents to just be there for her (honey, you've got the money, get a nanny). And yet when her mother is there for her at the end she dismisses her like troublesome child. She never listens to anyone else. Oh, and then
Spoiler
to make her an (almost) deity? Ugh, like she needs the ego boost.They all believed too readily. The only moment of self doubt Caitlin had was right towards the end, and by that point it didn't make any sense. She'd been to another time, learned a strange language, performed magicky stuff... Much of this witnessed by other people. But when her shrink says during the last quarter of the book that she might be nuts, she has five minutes of self doubt. Had it taken place in book one or two, then perhaps it would have made sense. Not then, not at the end.
That ending. Without going into spoilers, the end was telegraphed from the beginning. There were no surprises about Gaalderkhan, not even who put the tiles there. That wouldn't be a problem, except for the sudden new-agey, oh my goodness how did string theory come into this, climax...
Using others words as though they're original thought. I get that a part of this was that life is cyclical, but when you say that a poet from a gazillion years ago wrote that 'nothing is ever truly lost, so long as it is remembered' as though it is an original thought, that's just frustrating. There are numerous examples of this.
Spoiler
That kiss. Talk about pointless. I mean, really? Are we supposed to assume from this ridiculous insta-love scenario that Caitlin has finally realised that she has no interest in Ben? Or that it was destiny to convince the pilot to leave the continent and save the race? It was utterly unnecessary and completely galling.It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it was pretty frustrating. 2 1/2 stars.