See, I post complaints and then feel guilty - I am making snap judgements based on tiny portions of prose! - so by the time I got your comment I was 180 pages through Un Lun Dun and attempting to think charitable thoughts about the near complete lack of personality displayed by most of the characters (I did like Curdle). Having ploughed on to the finish anyway, I also liked the "7 quest objects? Let's just skip straight to the last one", but the deconstruction of the fated saviour whatsit didn't work for me, largely because Deeba behaves almost exactly like every other portal fantasy protagonist, charging around through assorted scenic encounters while being aided and abetted by a bunch of cheerful freaky sidekicks, who will willingly sacrifice themselves for her as necessary.
I think the bit that pushed me over the edge in this respect was in Webminster Abbey, where Rosa's already been snatched by a Black Window (to remarkably little grieving) and, while trying to trap the right window, Deeba and the others see a window with a woman trapped behind it, desperately trying to escape. And ignore her. It pissed me off immensely. Which is a shame, because I would like to read something that challenged the Prophesised Hero archetype, but this wasn't it.
A Shadow in Summer - well, I'll probably end up giving this another go as well, but I read the prologue and all the dialogue was so intent on shoving the world-building down my throat that it didn't ever feel like anything anyone would actually say. And I can like those sort of "passing the test by failing" set-ups - Sylvia Engdahl's Heritage of the Star (which I suspect has a different US title) does this brilliantly - but it helps if I a) am concerned about the characters and b) do not feel so obviously manipulated.
I am enjoying other books! It just takes me much longer to write up the ones I like, and there's something quite cathartic about bitching about the bad ones :)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
carisma_sensei
no subject
Date: 2008-09-05 10:17 am (UTC)I think the bit that pushed me over the edge in this respect was in Webminster Abbey, where Rosa's already been snatched by a Black Window (to remarkably little grieving) and, while trying to trap the right window, Deeba and the others see a window with a woman trapped behind it, desperately trying to escape. And ignore her. It pissed me off immensely. Which is a shame, because I would like to read something that challenged the Prophesised Hero archetype, but this wasn't it.
A Shadow in Summer - well, I'll probably end up giving this another go as well, but I read the prologue and all the dialogue was so intent on shoving the world-building down my throat that it didn't ever feel like anything anyone would actually say. And I can like those sort of "passing the test by failing" set-ups - Sylvia Engdahl's Heritage of the Star (which I suspect has a different US title) does this brilliantly - but it helps if I a) am concerned about the characters and b) do not feel so obviously manipulated.
I am enjoying other books! It just takes me much longer to write up the ones I like, and there's something quite cathartic about bitching about the bad ones :)