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A review by mackle13
Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett
3.0
2.5
Pratchett has covered a lot of ground in this trilogy: aliens and war, ghosts and our connections to our past, and time-travel and, um, war again.
Perhaps it's because, as I said in my review for [b:Johnny and the Dead|34528|Johnny and the Dead (Johnny Maxwell, #2)|Terry Pratchett|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1168566215s/34528.jpg|34499]. I would pick ghosts over aliens - or time-travel - or perhaps that story just resonated more for me for some other reason, but it as definitely my favorite of the lot. I think this one would come in second.
It didn't quite have the same level of humor or pathos has the second book, but a bit more than the first.
But, aside from all that, I think my biggest issue with this book was the introduction of Kirsty. For one thing, it never really says where she came from. She's not in the previous books, not even in passing - at least not as far as I recall - but, in this one, she seems closer to Johnny than any of his other friends who were in the last two books.
Speaking of which, I didn't feel like they were as present in this story. They were certainly relevant at times, but they felt more developed in the last book.
Anyway - Kirsty. Kirsty is a very dominant presence, to the point where she sort of overshadows Johnny, who is rather passive. Next to Kirsty, Johnny seems even more passive than in the previous books.
More to the point, though, she just never really clicked with me. She felt forced. I think she was meant to be - and she was, at times, especially when they went back in the past and she had to deal the casual sexism of the time, and also when, in conflict with Yo-less, she drops her own bit of casual racism and he has to drive the point home that she's just as bad with him and the other guys are with her... and we all learned a valuable lesson.
(And I say that only half in jest, because it is a valuable lesson, but just felt a bit heavy-handed for Pratchett, who's usually better at digging the knife in a bit more subtley. Or, at least, amusingly.)
Anyway -
It was a decent read and I liked it well enough. It had it's moments - some really funny lines, some nice moments, some cool head-warping time-travel paradoxy things - but, overall, not my favorite of his works.
ETA: I think that if I'd read this earlier, closer to its original publication date, or when I was younger, I would've been a bit more impressed with the head-bending stuff. As it is, it's something I've encountered enough times to be fairly familiar with it but, at the time of the writing, it was probably a bit fresher.
Pratchett has covered a lot of ground in this trilogy: aliens and war, ghosts and our connections to our past, and time-travel and, um, war again.
Perhaps it's because, as I said in my review for [b:Johnny and the Dead|34528|Johnny and the Dead (Johnny Maxwell, #2)|Terry Pratchett|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1168566215s/34528.jpg|34499]. I would pick ghosts over aliens - or time-travel - or perhaps that story just resonated more for me for some other reason, but it as definitely my favorite of the lot. I think this one would come in second.
It didn't quite have the same level of humor or pathos has the second book, but a bit more than the first.
But, aside from all that, I think my biggest issue with this book was the introduction of Kirsty. For one thing, it never really says where she came from. She's not in the previous books, not even in passing - at least not as far as I recall - but, in this one, she seems closer to Johnny than any of his other friends who were in the last two books.
Speaking of which, I didn't feel like they were as present in this story. They were certainly relevant at times, but they felt more developed in the last book.
Anyway - Kirsty. Kirsty is a very dominant presence, to the point where she sort of overshadows Johnny, who is rather passive. Next to Kirsty, Johnny seems even more passive than in the previous books.
More to the point, though, she just never really clicked with me. She felt forced. I think she was meant to be - and she was, at times, especially when they went back in the past and she had to deal the casual sexism of the time, and also when, in conflict with Yo-less, she drops her own bit of casual racism and he has to drive the point home that she's just as bad with him and the other guys are with her... and we all learned a valuable lesson.
(And I say that only half in jest, because it is a valuable lesson, but just felt a bit heavy-handed for Pratchett, who's usually better at digging the knife in a bit more subtley. Or, at least, amusingly.)
Anyway -
It was a decent read and I liked it well enough. It had it's moments - some really funny lines, some nice moments, some cool head-warping time-travel paradoxy things - but, overall, not my favorite of his works.
ETA: I think that if I'd read this earlier, closer to its original publication date, or when I was younger, I would've been a bit more impressed with the head-bending stuff. As it is, it's something I've encountered enough times to be fairly familiar with it but, at the time of the writing, it was probably a bit fresher.