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A review by naree1301
Blood Engines by Tim Pratt, T.A. Pratt
3.0
This was a weird one. All the way through I was irritated by the lack of depth the characters seemed to show but every now and again there was a taste of something more to Marla, though it didn't stop me thinking of her as horrendously hypocritical. She will go on and on about how she kills without remorse but then mention in passing one of her enemies being despicable for having no morals. The cloak was a good example; she tells of how she kills, uses and controls people for her own ends and then says something about how the cloak makes you inhuman. But those glimpses of her I think were just enough to persuade me. Especially the parts when she regrets and action or is proved that there is a way that she didn't consider. For me it would have worked better if there were more about her reasons for acting like a homicidal dictator. She controls Felport because she believes it would be worse off without her, is it? Or is she just another power-mad fruitcake with a god complex? I have to say, in the first half of the book I was hoping that Susan would win but by the end I am curious about her as a character and I'm reasonably glad I kept reading.
I don't know whether I'll read the next one. The reviews and the snippet in the back of Blood Engines suggest that Mr Pratt's writing has grown a lot between books but whether or not it's my sort of thing I don't know. One of the most irritating things about this book was the way they'd go on. A lot of the dialogue seemed unnaturally long as if they were in a school play where they'd half turn toward the audience and explain outside the narrative. The other thing that bugged me was how the narrator would keep secrets. Marla kept going on about this terrible spell that would take her city away but never mention anything about it. Without knowing how it could possibly happen I just didn't care, it didn't seem to be real even to the characters. It also happened in conversations the characters were having, they'd sort of both have a lightbulb moment and then start whispering behind their hands, "I've just had a brilliant idea!" "I know, I just thought of the exact same thing!" Riiiiiiight. Or maybe I'm bitter because it never works for me, I can be all "Oooo I have a brilliant idea!" *we could get pizza* and my sister can be all "Oooo I have a brilliant idea" *let's go bungee jumping* and three hours later I'll be standing on a bridge with nothing between me and a splat but a bit of bouncy rope and all I wanted was a pizza.
Oh and every time someone did something nasty like raping dead people or eating dead people (better than live people?) they asked "Do you disapprove?" and then she went off on one about how it was weird but how she understood. She could just have said "No." and justified in her head. I have no idea why her talking so much bugs me but it does. It also bugged me how (I think) they both said 'disapprove' it's just such a weak word for things like rape and cannibalism. Though that's probably personal; I can't be doing with taking rape casually, which Marla seemed to do, but bearing in mind what the lass gets up to while 'protecting' the city it is at least in character.
Maybe I'll see how much the next book is....
I don't know whether I'll read the next one. The reviews and the snippet in the back of Blood Engines suggest that Mr Pratt's writing has grown a lot between books but whether or not it's my sort of thing I don't know. One of the most irritating things about this book was the way they'd go on. A lot of the dialogue seemed unnaturally long as if they were in a school play where they'd half turn toward the audience and explain outside the narrative. The other thing that bugged me was how the narrator would keep secrets. Marla kept going on about this terrible spell that would take her city away but never mention anything about it. Without knowing how it could possibly happen I just didn't care, it didn't seem to be real even to the characters. It also happened in conversations the characters were having, they'd sort of both have a lightbulb moment and then start whispering behind their hands, "I've just had a brilliant idea!" "I know, I just thought of the exact same thing!" Riiiiiiight. Or maybe I'm bitter because it never works for me, I can be all "Oooo I have a brilliant idea!" *we could get pizza* and my sister can be all "Oooo I have a brilliant idea" *let's go bungee jumping* and three hours later I'll be standing on a bridge with nothing between me and a splat but a bit of bouncy rope and all I wanted was a pizza.
Oh and every time someone did something nasty like raping dead people or eating dead people (better than live people?) they asked "Do you disapprove?" and then she went off on one about how it was weird but how she understood. She could just have said "No." and justified in her head. I have no idea why her talking so much bugs me but it does. It also bugged me how (I think) they both said 'disapprove' it's just such a weak word for things like rape and cannibalism. Though that's probably personal; I can't be doing with taking rape casually, which Marla seemed to do, but bearing in mind what the lass gets up to while 'protecting' the city it is at least in character.
Maybe I'll see how much the next book is....