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A review by shotgunmage
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm writing this not as a review for a single book but as a review for a whole series. Some people are afraid to invest in a series that starts well but ultimately lets people down. Some people even say that this is one of those series, as is the case with Chloe Frizzle, a small critic on YouTube who loved the series right up until the second-to-last book, often considered the absolute weakest in the series. I'll get to that later in this review.
I've seen some concern over how powerful the protagonist, James Stark, is in the first installment. He can read minds. He can see in the dark. He has a powerful knife that isn't only able to cut anything, but also has a magic trick where it can unlock any kind of security device. He has a magic key that lets him walk through shadows into a mystical room, the Room of Thirteen Doors, that then allows him to go into any place in the entire universe, whether that'd be Hell, Heaven, the limbo where the Kishi were exiled to, or even to bypass Los Angeles's massive sprawl and freeway traffic. Even his scars are magical as they grant him immunity to that injury. And he has superhuman healing.
There is also concern over the violence in this series. Yes. This series is violent. Decapitations, torture, shootings, mutilation, and all that fun stuff are common in the series. Richard Kadrey does not hide the idea that this is a violent book.
If you are used to only seeing protagonists getting more powerful and are worried that Stark will only get even stronger than that, don't worry. Over the series, Stark loses his powers. His scars begin to fade away, along with their magic protection. Some abilities are forgotten, like Stark's ability to read minds. Or throughout the series, because of one circumstance or another, Stark no longer has access to that ability. Either way, when it comes to his powers and skills, this book is where Stark is most powerful.
Still, Stark himself does grow as a character. Over time, he's had to face the consequences of his impulses and poorly thought-out plans, so he is less impulsive and more considerate of his friends and the people around him. Though there are some times he acts like an asshole to some others for no real reason.
What I like (not a comprehensive list):
The setting. Los Angeles isn't just a place. It's a character in its own right. The people, the virtues, the vices, the attractions, the hole-in-the-walls, the tourists, and Hollywood. Kadrey spends a lot of time making you feel right there. He combines the real LA seamlessly with his worldbuilding by making it a magical nexus, a massive power spot, because of LA's outward influence on the world's economy and culture. Characters and magic items often directly tie into Los Angeles and its history.
Stark himself makes for an excellent main character. He's edgy, but not necissarily an edgelord. And he grows throughout the series.
The mysteries—maybe they aren't too deep, but they fit perfectly with the theme, tone, and setting, and Kadrey is skilled at making them imaginative.
I am not much of a movie buff, but the references to old Hollywood classics added flavor.
What I didn't like:
This is a minor spoiler, but I will try to reveal as little as possible. In this series, even with the heavy magic of skilled magicians in a location filled with ancient heavy magic, death cannot be reversed, except when it does happen and is done so with a deus ex machina.
Los Angeles got great worldbuilding, and Hell also got great worldbuilding as an "anti-LA." Considering the significance of Heaven, I would have expected similar treatment there, too. But it was hardly touched. And there was a major war there that spanned nearly the entire series and directly influenced the events in both LA and Hell throughout the series.
Ballistic Kiss was not as bad as many who had read or listened to it believe it was, but it could have been better written. King Bullet did salvage most of it, in my opinion.
Most of the characters were good. Kasabian was not one—Whiney, entitled, insufferable.
Kadrey focused on LA's punk rock scene and Hollywood, but LA has much more than that. He would have created interesting interactions if he had also added LA's world-famous Chicano scene, its Rap culture, and so much more. Still, this could be a question of scope creep.
I've seen some concern over how powerful the protagonist, James Stark, is in the first installment. He can read minds. He can see in the dark. He has a powerful knife that isn't only able to cut anything, but also has a magic trick where it can unlock any kind of security device. He has a magic key that lets him walk through shadows into a mystical room, the Room of Thirteen Doors, that then allows him to go into any place in the entire universe, whether that'd be Hell, Heaven, the limbo where the Kishi were exiled to, or even to bypass Los Angeles's massive sprawl and freeway traffic. Even his scars are magical as they grant him immunity to that injury. And he has superhuman healing.
There is also concern over the violence in this series. Yes. This series is violent. Decapitations, torture, shootings, mutilation, and all that fun stuff are common in the series. Richard Kadrey does not hide the idea that this is a violent book.
If you are used to only seeing protagonists getting more powerful and are worried that Stark will only get even stronger than that, don't worry. Over the series, Stark loses his powers. His scars begin to fade away, along with their magic protection. Some abilities are forgotten, like Stark's ability to read minds. Or throughout the series, because of one circumstance or another, Stark no longer has access to that ability. Either way, when it comes to his powers and skills, this book is where Stark is most powerful.
Still, Stark himself does grow as a character. Over time, he's had to face the consequences of his impulses and poorly thought-out plans, so he is less impulsive and more considerate of his friends and the people around him. Though there are some times he acts like an asshole to some others for no real reason.
What I like (not a comprehensive list):
The setting. Los Angeles isn't just a place. It's a character in its own right. The people, the virtues, the vices, the attractions, the hole-in-the-walls, the tourists, and Hollywood. Kadrey spends a lot of time making you feel right there. He combines the real LA seamlessly with his worldbuilding by making it a magical nexus, a massive power spot, because of LA's outward influence on the world's economy and culture. Characters and magic items often directly tie into Los Angeles and its history.
Stark himself makes for an excellent main character. He's edgy, but not necissarily an edgelord. And he grows throughout the series.
The mysteries—maybe they aren't too deep, but they fit perfectly with the theme, tone, and setting, and Kadrey is skilled at making them imaginative.
I am not much of a movie buff, but the references to old Hollywood classics added flavor.
What I didn't like:
This is a minor spoiler, but I will try to reveal as little as possible. In this series, even with the heavy magic of skilled magicians in a location filled with ancient heavy magic, death cannot be reversed, except when it does happen and is done so with a deus ex machina.
Los Angeles got great worldbuilding, and Hell also got great worldbuilding as an "anti-LA." Considering the significance of Heaven, I would have expected similar treatment there, too. But it was hardly touched. And there was a major war there that spanned nearly the entire series and directly influenced the events in both LA and Hell throughout the series.
Ballistic Kiss was not as bad as many who had read or listened to it believe it was, but it could have been better written. King Bullet did salvage most of it, in my opinion.
Most of the characters were good. Kasabian was not one—Whiney, entitled, insufferable.
Kadrey focused on LA's punk rock scene and Hollywood, but LA has much more than that. He would have created interesting interactions if he had also added LA's world-famous Chicano scene, its Rap culture, and so much more. Still, this could be a question of scope creep.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Rape, Violence, Car accident