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What are you reading at the moment? Recommendations welcome
- Thread starter Julie
- Start date
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James Marinero
Basic
Today I finished 'Prague Fatale' by Philip Kerr. Superb! Set in the period 1939-1942 in Berlin and Prague, it's a detective story woven in to the life and death of Reinhard Heydrich, one of the architects of the Holocaust. The plot is set during Heydrich's period as the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia (Czechoslovakia).
The central character is the detective Bernie Gunther (I'd come across him previously in a couple of Kerr's post-war period novels). He's very anti-Nazi and trying walk the line between doing the right thing and trying to survive. It may be hard to believe but there were plenty of LOL moments for me - his wit is sardonic. Don't be put off by the darkness of the period, it's a hugely entertaining read and was, for me, educational.
The central character is the detective Bernie Gunther (I'd come across him previously in a couple of Kerr's post-war period novels). He's very anti-Nazi and trying walk the line between doing the right thing and trying to survive. It may be hard to believe but there were plenty of LOL moments for me - his wit is sardonic. Don't be put off by the darkness of the period, it's a hugely entertaining read and was, for me, educational.
Thanks @James Marinero, I've a boy who is fascinated by that period of history and I'm looking for books to buy him for Christmas 
Sounds like just his thing!
Sounds like just his thing!
Paul Whybrow
Full Member
After enjoying the delightful and quirky Timothy's book: notes of an English country tortoise, by Verlyn Klinkenborg, I noticed that he’d written a book on writing, so I bought a copy of Several short sentences about writing.
Several Short Sentences About Writing
Klinkenborg is a firm believer in cutting out waffle—that short pithy sentences do the job—cutting clutter is the most common advice from writing gurus and he’s an expert.
The structure of the guide is unusual, in that there are no chapters and the layout of Klinkenborg’s sentences is one of stacked, connected thoughts, rather than paragraphs, like this:
Most of the sentences you make will need to be killed.
The rest will need to be fixed.
This will be true for a long time.
The hard part now is deciding which to kill and which to fix and how to fix them.
This will get much, much easier, but the decision making will never end.
A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences,
The relentless exploration of possibilities,
The effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say
The possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.
It’s a book that can be dipped into at any point for good advice; it’s unnecessary to read it from start to end.
I’ve bought about 100 writing guides in the last eight years, and Klinkenborg’s is among the best.
As the New York Journal of Books said in their review:
“No other book, old or new, is as well reasoned as this, as entertaining or as wise...Best book on writing. Ever.”
Several Short Sentences About Writing
Klinkenborg is a firm believer in cutting out waffle—that short pithy sentences do the job—cutting clutter is the most common advice from writing gurus and he’s an expert.
The structure of the guide is unusual, in that there are no chapters and the layout of Klinkenborg’s sentences is one of stacked, connected thoughts, rather than paragraphs, like this:
Most of the sentences you make will need to be killed.
The rest will need to be fixed.
This will be true for a long time.
The hard part now is deciding which to kill and which to fix and how to fix them.
This will get much, much easier, but the decision making will never end.
A writer’s real work is the endless winnowing of sentences,
The relentless exploration of possibilities,
The effort, over and over again, to see in what you started out to say
The possibility of saying something you didn’t know you could.
It’s a book that can be dipped into at any point for good advice; it’s unnecessary to read it from start to end.
I’ve bought about 100 writing guides in the last eight years, and Klinkenborg’s is among the best.
As the New York Journal of Books said in their review:
“No other book, old or new, is as well reasoned as this, as entertaining or as wise...Best book on writing. Ever.”
Hannah F
Full Member
PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke.
I was dubious at first, my brain becoming overloaded with Statues and Halls (mainly Halls), but I stuck with it and very glad I did. It becomes more and more gripping as the story unfolds. It's a kind of crime/mystery packaged inside a weird yet compelling world. The writing clutches at your curiosity and drives you deeper and deeper. There are parallels in the real world. Lots of food for thought. I highly recommend this book.
I was dubious at first, my brain becoming overloaded with Statues and Halls (mainly Halls), but I stuck with it and very glad I did. It becomes more and more gripping as the story unfolds. It's a kind of crime/mystery packaged inside a weird yet compelling world. The writing clutches at your curiosity and drives you deeper and deeper. There are parallels in the real world. Lots of food for thought. I highly recommend this book.
Attachments
Maybe you know this , but the law suit that was the catalyst for Dickens began here. Tintern Abbey | Heritage Ireland. It so impoverished the old family that when the last elderly lady was finally removed (in the 70's I think) there was nothing left but genteel squalor.
Exciting news. I figured Susanna Clark had to deliver somehow. Her voice is too unique not to. I'll schedule picking it up again for Boxing Day.
Have you read Mary Stewart, before Crystal Cave? The Ivy Tree for example evokes English Spring and Summer so lovingly. I like DuMaurier, but find her sometimes a bit difficult to wade through. Stewart is so visual it's no wonder so many of her books were made into movies in the 60's. Like the Disney film Moonspinners with Hailey Mills. The first film that made a 7 year old think Romance might not be boring.
I enjoyed Circe. Interesting take on Telemachus. Miller's informing my research on Hecate at the moment. The women classicists do seem to be able to switch to modern fiction very well. I enjoyed The Maidens, Alex Michaelides but wished it was more of a stand alone. MORE Greek classics, please.Fun, fun!!!
I'm partway through Circe by Madeline Miller. Love the voice
Re-reading Peter S Beagle, Tamsin. His Last Unicorn is one of my forever favourites. Also started Peter Straub, Ghost Story. I bought Firefall for my SciFi son. I've been trying to read it before I wrap it as a gift. Saw it mentioned on Pop ups, by Head of Zeus publisher. I'd have to echo his words. I don't understand anything but it is fascinating. Unfortunately that makes it a bit put-down-able. Last Christmas I bought the Three Body Problem Trilogy by Liu Cixin. if you want a book that everyone will be snatching from one another to read-that's your book. It was like when there was a new Harry Potter or Terry Pratchett at Christmas. Un-put-down-able, especially the first 2 books.
Has that come to England now too? I saw teaching to the exam takeover in the US. In the 90's one young American came over to stay with us in England. At a Norman castle she asked about King Norman.... She had been valedictorian of her High School class and couldn't understand why everyone thought she was so stupid in England. She wasn't. She was ignorant having only been taught to regurgitate exam answers. Heartbreaking to see.
On Audible: Owls of the Eastern Ice, Long Ships, Rats, Bats and Vats which now is keeping me company in the kitchen as I bake. Totally agree with the reviews. Shakespeare himself wouldn't have a posh accent. And the Irish ones are ...... unspeakably American. Hows this for a blurb.
"Chip Connolly was a conscripted grunt in trouble. Here he was, stuck behind enemy lines with a bunch of cyber-uplifted rats and bats. Rats with human speech, but with rat values. Rats that knew what was worth fighting for: sex, food, and strong drink.
True, they were holed up on a ruined wine-farm with enough brandy to swim in. Trouble was, there wasn't much food. And with shrew-metabolism the rats had to eat. He was next on the menu. The bats were no help: they were crazy revolutionaries planning to throw off the yoke of human enslavement with high explosive.
As if that wasn't bad enough, there was the girl they'd rescued. Rich. Beautiful. With a passionate crush on her heroic rescuer. She came with added extras: a screwball alien tutor, and a cyber-uplifted pet galagoa tiny little lemur-like-critter with a big mouth and delusions about being the worlds greatest lover.
So: he'd volunteered for a suicide mission. Of course things only got worse. The whole crew decided to come along. Seven rats, five bats, a galago, two humans, a sea-urchin-like alien and an elderly vineyard tractor without brakes...against several million inimical aliens. He was going to die. Mind you, not dying could be even more terrible. That girl might get him."
"Chip Connolly was a conscripted grunt in trouble. Here he was, stuck behind enemy lines with a bunch of cyber-uplifted rats and bats. Rats with human speech, but with rat values. Rats that knew what was worth fighting for: sex, food, and strong drink.
True, they were holed up on a ruined wine-farm with enough brandy to swim in. Trouble was, there wasn't much food. And with shrew-metabolism the rats had to eat. He was next on the menu. The bats were no help: they were crazy revolutionaries planning to throw off the yoke of human enslavement with high explosive.
As if that wasn't bad enough, there was the girl they'd rescued. Rich. Beautiful. With a passionate crush on her heroic rescuer. She came with added extras: a screwball alien tutor, and a cyber-uplifted pet galagoa tiny little lemur-like-critter with a big mouth and delusions about being the worlds greatest lover.
So: he'd volunteered for a suicide mission. Of course things only got worse. The whole crew decided to come along. Seven rats, five bats, a galago, two humans, a sea-urchin-like alien and an elderly vineyard tractor without brakes...against several million inimical aliens. He was going to die. Mind you, not dying could be even more terrible. That girl might get him."
Last edited:
Julie
Basic
- Thread starter
- #284
It’s been part of the system for years. Also, as a SATs mark and an examiner for AQA, I was well-versed or brainwashed depending on one’s perspective, into understanding what was required of students purely in terms of attaining grades.
In my life, growing up, books were incredibly important and I read voraciously and purely as a joyous activity. At uni, I learned to interrogate texts, but I still retain a balance between the two.
I saw a lot of students turned off from literature because everything was condensed and in a timeframe. I do believe there were some poets who didn’t want to be in AQA’s GCSE poetry anthology because they couldn’t stand the thought that their poems were going to be over-analysed and that teachers were going to impress their own meaning upon them.
Hope this makes sense - I’m in middle of icing cakes, but didn’t want to ignore you.
Btw, you mentioning Mary Stewart’s books took me way back to my youth!
Ooh, that's a great recommendation! I love something that makes me want to put the world on hold and just read.
*makes note*
Absolutely agree. The deconstruction that made a college English degree so depressing came to High School. I wonder if we would have homeschooled our kids even if they weren't dyslexic. When they did finally go to school it was in Switzerland where learning to learn is still the point of school. The Wald Schule would have been perfect for the boys if we'd just known about them. Kids go into the woods and learn stuff from age 2 until 7 when their brains are considered mature enough to sit and learn by listening instead of doing. Then they start school. In a way that is what our homeschooling was. I was marking time keeping their love of books and learning alive until I could find a way past the damage in their brains. I'm so lucky I found Lindamood Bell. Icing cakes sounds so elegant. You can ignore me. Sometimes though I like things to think about when I'm baking/cooking. Did you ever watch Box of Delights? 80's BBC production. Amazon product ASIN B00067IEGY
If you are constructing a world listening to Owls of the Eastern Ice Johnathon C Slaght could be helpful. The world he enters looking for the last Russian Eagle Owls is bound by cultural rituals, set in a landscape so alien as to be almost incomprehensible to a reader comfortable in a warm chair. Just the act of relieving yourself could mean the loss of a testicle to a baby eaglet fallen from the nest. A real event that resulted in a hunter almost destroying the last population of giant fishing eagles of Russia. Nonfiction as exciting as any fiction story.
Paul Mackay
Basic
Just finished The Light of Impossible Stars by Gareth L Powell. I don't normally read sci fi but this is really good. Highly recommended for everyone, not just sci fi buffs. Just started I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottur. It's translated from Icelandic so reads a bit funny in places but it's a really promising start. Looks like a proper old school ghost story.
E G Logan
Full Member
"Just started I Remember You by Yrsa Sigurdardottur. It's translated from Icelandic so reads a bit funny in places but it's a really promising start. Looks like a proper old school ghost story."
Agreed. I slept with the light on after reading that. I guarantee if you hear your floor creak, the hair on the back of your neck will stand on end.
I've read all her books. Her output is a little patchy. She can be very dark indeed.
I think her very best are where there is obviously a ghostly explanation but also an everyday 'normal' explanation, too. But with the kind-of 'nudge, nudge' from writer to reader of "Well, WE know how it really was..." I'm thinking Someone to Watch Over Me, but especially I Remember You. Recommended.
Agreed. I slept with the light on after reading that. I guarantee if you hear your floor creak, the hair on the back of your neck will stand on end.
I've read all her books. Her output is a little patchy. She can be very dark indeed.
I think her very best are where there is obviously a ghostly explanation but also an everyday 'normal' explanation, too. But with the kind-of 'nudge, nudge' from writer to reader of "Well, WE know how it really was..." I'm thinking Someone to Watch Over Me, but especially I Remember You. Recommended.
E G Logan
Full Member
Just finished The Appeal by Janice Hallett, which gives a very modern twist on the 'whodunit'.
Interesting for us to look at because of how she chooses to convey the story:
the text of her book is made up almost entirely of electronic messages of one sort or other, mainly emails.
The correspondence is incomplete – though more comes along later – and one, fairly important, character does not contribute at all. It reads like the results of a word game, played at a party. A bit like our November Flash competition.
And it is a guessing game of sorts, rather than a novel. Readers have to try to work out, first, why the two young trainee lawyers have been given this mountain of material to review, with the book's title as one of the extremely numerous clues.
I found it absolutely compulsive. At the same time, there were a couple of points where I thought: "If she doesn't give a bit more meat here, instead of the endless red herrings, I'm going to sling this book across the room." Then, just when I might have given up (for a bit), there came a real-time interjection from another character...
The author came to novel writing via play writing, which can be clearly traced here. She is very good at plots, and her view of human nature is not very charitable – which makes for a book where absolutely everyone can be a suspect. It will be interesting to see how she approaches her next one...
Interesting for us to look at because of how she chooses to convey the story:
the text of her book is made up almost entirely of electronic messages of one sort or other, mainly emails.
The correspondence is incomplete – though more comes along later – and one, fairly important, character does not contribute at all. It reads like the results of a word game, played at a party. A bit like our November Flash competition.
And it is a guessing game of sorts, rather than a novel. Readers have to try to work out, first, why the two young trainee lawyers have been given this mountain of material to review, with the book's title as one of the extremely numerous clues.
I found it absolutely compulsive. At the same time, there were a couple of points where I thought: "If she doesn't give a bit more meat here, instead of the endless red herrings, I'm going to sling this book across the room." Then, just when I might have given up (for a bit), there came a real-time interjection from another character...
The author came to novel writing via play writing, which can be clearly traced here. She is very good at plots, and her view of human nature is not very charitable – which makes for a book where absolutely everyone can be a suspect. It will be interesting to see how she approaches her next one...
Hannah F
Full Member
I highly recommend ALL OUR HIDDEN GIFTS by Caroline O'Donoghue.
YA contemporary urban fantasy. Great YA voice. Great concept, masterfully executed. If you like tarot cards and magic, you'll love this book. If you're Irish, you'll love this book even more, and if, like me, you attended an Irish Catholic fee-paying girls school, you could be in this book! (Amazed to find my surname in this book!). A real page-turner of a story.
YA contemporary urban fantasy. Great YA voice. Great concept, masterfully executed. If you like tarot cards and magic, you'll love this book. If you're Irish, you'll love this book even more, and if, like me, you attended an Irish Catholic fee-paying girls school, you could be in this book! (Amazed to find my surname in this book!). A real page-turner of a story.
I get this totally. Can still remember how excited I was, very young, and pregnant, stopping to have a drink at Jamaica Inn.
Currently reading Perestroïka in Paris by Jane Smiley. Her masterful omniscient POV captures the city as seen by a horse, a raven, a dog, two ducks and rats. Fairy tale feel with a bit of Amélie Poulain.
I've just finished We Begin at The End, by Chris Whitaker, and loved it.
The beginning was a bit ... chewy ... and over written (he needs to join a Huddle), and the first third felt a bit long and could do with being condensed, BUT ... stick with it. It picks up, has a strong voice, mood, it holds you with the characters. The structure/plotting is a tad visible but I've put that down to me reading as a writer. I guessed who the killer is pretty soon but maybe I again because I was reading as a writer. I did wonder about the POV at times (third felt a bit distant) but in hindsight I think it was the right choice. Cleverly written with some wonderful phrases. What I loved the most was the way he made the characters come alive. I spent much of the last third feeling very moved. And i liked that is wasn't the usual, cut out and paste crime novel, but a character driven read that happened to have a murder to solve.
I can recommend it. It won some award of sort and for a good reason.
The beginning was a bit ... chewy ... and over written (he needs to join a Huddle), and the first third felt a bit long and could do with being condensed, BUT ... stick with it. It picks up, has a strong voice, mood, it holds you with the characters. The structure/plotting is a tad visible but I've put that down to me reading as a writer. I guessed who the killer is pretty soon but maybe I again because I was reading as a writer. I did wonder about the POV at times (third felt a bit distant) but in hindsight I think it was the right choice. Cleverly written with some wonderful phrases. What I loved the most was the way he made the characters come alive. I spent much of the last third feeling very moved. And i liked that is wasn't the usual, cut out and paste crime novel, but a character driven read that happened to have a murder to solve.
I can recommend it. It won some award of sort and for a good reason.
E G Logan
Full Member
Just discovered Sweetpea and In Bloom by CJ Skuse.
Described as "The darkly comic serial killer thriller you won’t be able to put down", they've cost me days of my life, reading them compulsively, back to back.
The first is more comic than the second; they are pretty dark and may offend some people. If there was a third, I'd be reading it now.
Described as "The darkly comic serial killer thriller you won’t be able to put down", they've cost me days of my life, reading them compulsively, back to back.
The first is more comic than the second; they are pretty dark and may offend some people. If there was a third, I'd be reading it now.
Katester
Basic
I'm reading The Promise, by Damon Gadget, for my bookclub. I am always on the lookout for well-executed omniscient POV and this novel definitely qualifies.
I'm listening to Lifespan by Dr Davind Sinclair and Matthew LaPlante - it's free on Audible in Australia for January - absolutely fascinating - pushing the science behind ageing.
I "read" the audiobook Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James over the Holidays and was not impressed. Here's my contrarian review...
Let's get this out of the way...this is NOT "Game of Thrones". This is more like "The Odyssey". Yet instead of Odysseus, we have Tracker as the main character. He relates the story of his adventures to an "inquisitor". I never figured out who that was. Yet for all intent, it's the reader.
I purchased the audiobook of "Black Leopard, Red Wolf". A largely spoiler-free review follows.
Unlike GoT (or the Odyssey for that matter), we stay within a single point of view. We know what Tracker relates to us, and nothing more.
It didn't take long for me to forget Tracker was telling us a story. We are immersed into his world of pre-colonial Africa. I'm not sure exactly when, but my best guess would be around 600 years ago. There is magic in this world. There are also fantastical beings - both human and not. Many of these will be new to anyone unfamiliar with African folklore.
Tracker is an expert fighter and hunter. "It's been said he has a nose." He is able to follow the scent of anyone across nearly any distance, and can recognize smells left behind from long ago.
A large cast of characters populate the narrative. Each has a distinct voice and temperament. Most are very well drawn. The dialogue is believable and intelligent when it needs to be. Audiobook listeners will actually hear the differences among the characters. Nearly all of the voices - male and female - are expertly performed (my favorite is Leopard).
Scenes of wicked brutality pop up throughout the story. Here is a similarity to GoT I can agree with. Some of the violence is pretty disturbing. There's cannibalism and torture. Children are enslaved, raped, and murdered. This is grimdark within a historical context. A lot of this stuff actually happened given the time and place. Kingdoms are at war. No quarter is expected, and none is given.
Expect colorful swearing and lots of it. There are detailed descriptions of body parts and bodily functions. Nothing is off limits.
Some of the characters are in gay relationships. The sex scenes don't always fade to black. If you're not comfortable with that, don't buy the (audio)book.
Tracker spends much of the novel searching for a kidnapped boy. His main sidekick is Leopard (a shapeshifter who can take human or feline form). Other people are also looking for the boy, because he's more than just a boy. Some partner with Tracker; others compete with him. The search is truly epic. It spans several years, and there are many detours along the way.
So why only three stars? Let's start with those detours. Sure...some are real page-turners, others provide good backstory. However, there are just so many of them. By the time the we reach the end, I didn't care about the boy anymore. I understand this is a character-driven story. Yet plot matters, too. If an author loses the plot so badly that the reader no longer cares, it's a problem.
The endgame was a bucket of meh. There is an 800-pound gorilla in the room that the story does not address until the last TWENTY MINUTES of the audiobook. And the way it's addressed largely invalidates Tracker's epic journey. I felt cheated because all of the suffering and loss really meant nothing.
Tracker further diminishes the ending by casting doubt on the story he told us. We're the characters real, or simply real to Tracker? Does it even matter? Well...it matters to me. "Life of Pi" did something like this - yet it did it better in less than half the space.
Another plot issue is discontinuity. There are several gaps in the narrative; a few appear to cover a year or more. It's frustrating to invest time in a character, only to have him or her drop out suddenly and return whenever. Meanwhile, the reader misses out on what took place in the character's life during the interim.
Verbal sparring is fun to read but too much of it grates after awhile. Tracker is a quick wit, as are many of the people he meets. None of them appear to have an off switch, but Tracker is the worst. The players often talk in riddles and constantly trade clever insults. The one-upsmanship is tiring.
Finally, there is there is the audiobook voicing of Tracker. His character was given an accent that's difficult to understand. The voice is also too deep and low at times, which made automobile listening more trouble than it needed to be. It's unfortunate that the character with the most microphone time gets this treatment.
The dialogue of BLRW is very good - even if the author is a bit too clever sometimes. Still...deep characters aren't enough to maintain interest in muddy plot that goes on far too long.
There is a sequel to BLRW; I won't be reading it.
3.0 stars.
*****
Let's get this out of the way...this is NOT "Game of Thrones". This is more like "The Odyssey". Yet instead of Odysseus, we have Tracker as the main character. He relates the story of his adventures to an "inquisitor". I never figured out who that was. Yet for all intent, it's the reader.
I purchased the audiobook of "Black Leopard, Red Wolf". A largely spoiler-free review follows.
Unlike GoT (or the Odyssey for that matter), we stay within a single point of view. We know what Tracker relates to us, and nothing more.
It didn't take long for me to forget Tracker was telling us a story. We are immersed into his world of pre-colonial Africa. I'm not sure exactly when, but my best guess would be around 600 years ago. There is magic in this world. There are also fantastical beings - both human and not. Many of these will be new to anyone unfamiliar with African folklore.
Tracker is an expert fighter and hunter. "It's been said he has a nose." He is able to follow the scent of anyone across nearly any distance, and can recognize smells left behind from long ago.
A large cast of characters populate the narrative. Each has a distinct voice and temperament. Most are very well drawn. The dialogue is believable and intelligent when it needs to be. Audiobook listeners will actually hear the differences among the characters. Nearly all of the voices - male and female - are expertly performed (my favorite is Leopard).
Scenes of wicked brutality pop up throughout the story. Here is a similarity to GoT I can agree with. Some of the violence is pretty disturbing. There's cannibalism and torture. Children are enslaved, raped, and murdered. This is grimdark within a historical context. A lot of this stuff actually happened given the time and place. Kingdoms are at war. No quarter is expected, and none is given.
Expect colorful swearing and lots of it. There are detailed descriptions of body parts and bodily functions. Nothing is off limits.
Some of the characters are in gay relationships. The sex scenes don't always fade to black. If you're not comfortable with that, don't buy the (audio)book.
Tracker spends much of the novel searching for a kidnapped boy. His main sidekick is Leopard (a shapeshifter who can take human or feline form). Other people are also looking for the boy, because he's more than just a boy. Some partner with Tracker; others compete with him. The search is truly epic. It spans several years, and there are many detours along the way.
So why only three stars? Let's start with those detours. Sure...some are real page-turners, others provide good backstory. However, there are just so many of them. By the time the we reach the end, I didn't care about the boy anymore. I understand this is a character-driven story. Yet plot matters, too. If an author loses the plot so badly that the reader no longer cares, it's a problem.
The endgame was a bucket of meh. There is an 800-pound gorilla in the room that the story does not address until the last TWENTY MINUTES of the audiobook. And the way it's addressed largely invalidates Tracker's epic journey. I felt cheated because all of the suffering and loss really meant nothing.
Tracker further diminishes the ending by casting doubt on the story he told us. We're the characters real, or simply real to Tracker? Does it even matter? Well...it matters to me. "Life of Pi" did something like this - yet it did it better in less than half the space.
Another plot issue is discontinuity. There are several gaps in the narrative; a few appear to cover a year or more. It's frustrating to invest time in a character, only to have him or her drop out suddenly and return whenever. Meanwhile, the reader misses out on what took place in the character's life during the interim.
Verbal sparring is fun to read but too much of it grates after awhile. Tracker is a quick wit, as are many of the people he meets. None of them appear to have an off switch, but Tracker is the worst. The players often talk in riddles and constantly trade clever insults. The one-upsmanship is tiring.
Finally, there is there is the audiobook voicing of Tracker. His character was given an accent that's difficult to understand. The voice is also too deep and low at times, which made automobile listening more trouble than it needed to be. It's unfortunate that the character with the most microphone time gets this treatment.
The dialogue of BLRW is very good - even if the author is a bit too clever sometimes. Still...deep characters aren't enough to maintain interest in muddy plot that goes on far too long.
There is a sequel to BLRW; I won't be reading it.
3.0 stars.
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