Scan barcode
A review by grimread
Thunderer by Felix Gilman
2.0
This is a tough one. Another re-read of the book so that I can continue the series and remember what happened in this one. Although I don't think it's a badly written book I will leave the 2 star rating because of one fatal flaw. The main characters, good or bad, in this book just have no real meaning. It almost seems like their existence adds nothing to the story.
In the beginning you get to know them and get exciting to see how they will all meet. Then somewhere in the middle when the "revolution" starts they all get somehow lost in the city. What ever they do has no impact on the story or the city. And then the ending has to resolve something so we get back to Arjun and Jack and in 4 pages they manage to fix the vengeful-god-problem and getting the city back to normal, something that hasn't really been tried for the last third of the book.
A portion of this book is dedicated to trying to build them into something but then when the part of Ararat is in action (raids, fire, angry god) they become completely impotent, drifting somewhere in the sidelines. Arjun follows Holbach because he just can't seem to think for himself, Jack leads his Thunderers into pointless fights that don't really make sense, Arlandes is moping in his office. Arlandes is probably the most wasted character in the book. The way Gilman writes it you expect for Arlandes to pull through in some daring stunt with the Thunderer, but there is nothing in the book to make him be a loved or hated character. He is the most annoying self pitying waste of paper I have seen.
It also seems that it is written for every character that in the end they do the exact opposite of what they were saying. Olympia and Holback wanted to stay but they left the city; Arjun wanted to leave but stayed; Arlandes wanted to fight for the Countess but then he leaves her for the ship; Jack is probably the only one who achieved his goal. He wanted to be free.
I think this lack of keeping the reader interested in the characters is what made me choose such low rating.
In the beginning you get to know them and get exciting to see how they will all meet. Then somewhere in the middle when the "revolution" starts they all get somehow lost in the city. What ever they do has no impact on the story or the city. And then the ending has to resolve something so we get back to Arjun and Jack and in 4 pages they manage to fix the vengeful-god-problem and getting the city back to normal, something that hasn't really been tried for the last third of the book.
A portion of this book is dedicated to trying to build them into something but then when the part of Ararat is in action (raids, fire, angry god) they become completely impotent, drifting somewhere in the sidelines. Arjun follows Holbach because he just can't seem to think for himself, Jack leads his Thunderers into pointless fights that don't really make sense, Arlandes is moping in his office. Arlandes is probably the most wasted character in the book. The way Gilman writes it you expect for Arlandes to pull through in some daring stunt with the Thunderer, but there is nothing in the book to make him be a loved or hated character. He is the most annoying self pitying waste of paper I have seen.
It also seems that it is written for every character that in the end they do the exact opposite of what they were saying. Olympia and Holback wanted to stay but they left the city; Arjun wanted to leave but stayed; Arlandes wanted to fight for the Countess but then he leaves her for the ship; Jack is probably the only one who achieved his goal. He wanted to be free.
I think this lack of keeping the reader interested in the characters is what made me choose such low rating.