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A review by highlanderajax
Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.5
Dude. Daniel. Mr. Abraham. Sir. What the fuck, mate.
Dagger & Coin is great, so I know you can write fantasy. The Expanse is fantastic too, so I know you have a grip on settings other than pure fantasy. You can definitely write amazing characters, crazy-detailed worlds that feel genuinely authentic, smooth fluid plots that keep the reader engaged the whole way through, with things happening all the time, even if they're not big things the world is constantly and realistically in motion.
So what kind of pressures were you under that made this book so shit?
Worldbuilding - slim to none. I have very little idea where the magic in this book comes from, how it works, what the history of the world is, where these things come from, or really how anything going on meshes together. "Hanover" tried to place a story in the actual world, and instead of his usual exceptional detail has just painted a faint sheen of fantasy on top of standard-issue Denver. It's weak. It's flimsy. It's boring. Throwing in Kabbalist and Islamic terms and magic ideas is great - IF you actually have the mythology as a whole playing a half-decent role in the story. Just the terms ain't shit, it feels sloppy and bland. Hell, the Iron Druid series did this better.
Character work - what character work. Outside of the protagonist, the characters are skin-deep at best. Vague suggestions at backstories, motivations, personalities, but almost no actual substance. One or two lines dropped here and there without follow-up. Characters don't even DO much, so they're not even fun cut-outs there to serve the plot by doing cool shit, they just kinda...are. Even the protagonist is pretty bland - half the time spent as an audience surrogate, the other half with the most plain and insipid internal dialog.
Plot - eh. Things happen. There are bad guys. They're bad because they are. Here's some weird shit that should freak you out. No character questions this for more than 5 minutes. Main character has new skills, these are never properly explained and only vaguely described. Conflict is next to zero. Characters stand around and discuss things a little but don't really say much. Eventually there's a climax, without much setup or intrigue. It happens, pretty straightforwardly. The book ends. Done. Meh.
I won't lie, there's not really much positive to say here. It's a weak offering and it doesn't have anything particularly going for it. It beats out my lowest books of the year by virtue of not feeling like I was wading through treacle to read it, I didn't actively dislike it while reading, and I can vaguely see some potential in the wider story, but as it is there's just so little meat to any aspect. Absolutely nothing here is developed or fleshed out - outline characters in a world given a lacklustre urban fantasy paint job, going through a bare-bones plot.
Poor book. Not good. Would not recommend.
Dagger & Coin is great, so I know you can write fantasy. The Expanse is fantastic too, so I know you have a grip on settings other than pure fantasy. You can definitely write amazing characters, crazy-detailed worlds that feel genuinely authentic, smooth fluid plots that keep the reader engaged the whole way through, with things happening all the time, even if they're not big things the world is constantly and realistically in motion.
So what kind of pressures were you under that made this book so shit?
Worldbuilding - slim to none. I have very little idea where the magic in this book comes from, how it works, what the history of the world is, where these things come from, or really how anything going on meshes together. "Hanover" tried to place a story in the actual world, and instead of his usual exceptional detail has just painted a faint sheen of fantasy on top of standard-issue Denver. It's weak. It's flimsy. It's boring. Throwing in Kabbalist and Islamic terms and magic ideas is great - IF you actually have the mythology as a whole playing a half-decent role in the story. Just the terms ain't shit, it feels sloppy and bland. Hell, the Iron Druid series did this better.
Character work - what character work. Outside of the protagonist, the characters are skin-deep at best. Vague suggestions at backstories, motivations, personalities, but almost no actual substance. One or two lines dropped here and there without follow-up. Characters don't even DO much, so they're not even fun cut-outs there to serve the plot by doing cool shit, they just kinda...are. Even the protagonist is pretty bland - half the time spent as an audience surrogate, the other half with the most plain and insipid internal dialog.
Plot - eh. Things happen. There are bad guys. They're bad because they are. Here's some weird shit that should freak you out. No character questions this for more than 5 minutes. Main character has new skills, these are never properly explained and only vaguely described. Conflict is next to zero. Characters stand around and discuss things a little but don't really say much. Eventually there's a climax, without much setup or intrigue. It happens, pretty straightforwardly. The book ends. Done. Meh.
I won't lie, there's not really much positive to say here. It's a weak offering and it doesn't have anything particularly going for it. It beats out my lowest books of the year by virtue of not feeling like I was wading through treacle to read it, I didn't actively dislike it while reading, and I can vaguely see some potential in the wider story, but as it is there's just so little meat to any aspect. Absolutely nothing here is developed or fleshed out - outline characters in a world given a lacklustre urban fantasy paint job, going through a bare-bones plot.
Poor book. Not good. Would not recommend.