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A review by ianbanks
Enter Wildthyme by Paul Magrs
3.0
I've read a couple of Paul Magrs books before and was really looking forward to this one. Coupled with the fact that it's about a character he created for the Doctor Who range of novels in the 90s and is partly set in a bookstore I thought this would be right up my alley.
The Good: There is a wildly convoluted plot that only occasionally seems to get out of control. There a whole bunch of characters whom you might not like but are able to get a handle on at the very least. There are a wide variety of settings and ideas that keep the story sparking. It's well-written for the most part, feeling more than a little like Douglas Adams.
The Bad: After a while you get a little exhausted by the vast range of settings and characters that are thrown at you. I love a book in which nothing happens without a reason but Magrs throws so much at you that it can be difficult to keep up. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING, THOUGH! I just felt that here it got a little unwieldy. I also felt that some parts of the book were much better than others. Not an unnatural reaction, you say. Of course not, but it follows that there are some parts of the book that are worse than others. And - in this reviewers opinion - there were more than seemed usual in a book: the scenes in 1890s France, for example, just seemed a little superfluous as did the scenes at the Vincent Cosmo concert in 1973. Actually, they felt more rushed than anything: this is that rare book that perhaps could have dealt well with being a bit longer or split into two...
... which leads to my last grouse. This book ends with a very clear ending, but the story is in no way complete: villains are still at large, quests are unfinished, questions unanswered... this doesn't bother me except for the fact that at no point in the blurb, cover, title page is it made clear that this is Volume 1 in an ongoing series... which really does bother me because it changes my expectations of what I was getting out of this book. I may very well read future volumes of this, but I was more than a little miffed to discover that I'm not getting the end of this story. However, Mr Magrs is not the only author guilty of this so my overall rating and review are not affected.
The Good: There is a wildly convoluted plot that only occasionally seems to get out of control. There a whole bunch of characters whom you might not like but are able to get a handle on at the very least. There are a wide variety of settings and ideas that keep the story sparking. It's well-written for the most part, feeling more than a little like Douglas Adams.
The Bad: After a while you get a little exhausted by the vast range of settings and characters that are thrown at you. I love a book in which nothing happens without a reason but Magrs throws so much at you that it can be difficult to keep up. THIS IS NOT A BAD THING, THOUGH! I just felt that here it got a little unwieldy. I also felt that some parts of the book were much better than others. Not an unnatural reaction, you say. Of course not, but it follows that there are some parts of the book that are worse than others. And - in this reviewers opinion - there were more than seemed usual in a book: the scenes in 1890s France, for example, just seemed a little superfluous as did the scenes at the Vincent Cosmo concert in 1973. Actually, they felt more rushed than anything: this is that rare book that perhaps could have dealt well with being a bit longer or split into two...
... which leads to my last grouse. This book ends with a very clear ending, but the story is in no way complete: villains are still at large, quests are unfinished, questions unanswered... this doesn't bother me except for the fact that at no point in the blurb, cover, title page is it made clear that this is Volume 1 in an ongoing series... which really does bother me because it changes my expectations of what I was getting out of this book. I may very well read future volumes of this, but I was more than a little miffed to discover that I'm not getting the end of this story. However, Mr Magrs is not the only author guilty of this so my overall rating and review are not affected.