Review: Abney Park's "Wrath of Fate"
Feb. 18th, 2012 07:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bad_pennyI do have to be honest here, I didn't finish Wrath of Fate yet, because I got distracted by better written Sherlock fanfiction.
I love Abney Park. I've loved the band since "From Dreams or Angels" came out, and I happily followed them into the then-budding Steampunk movement. I generally like reading Captain Robert's tweets and posts, and, when the first few paragraphs of narration was posted on the AP website with some background music a long while back, I fell in love with the idea of a narrative about the more fantastical origin of the band.
But it's not a good read.
Oh, it functions just fine as a first narrative, but other than the fact that I like the band, I have no emotional draw to any of the characters. It's an "and then" style of story. "This happened, and then this happened, and then this..."
There's nothing to anchor me in the story or really lead me through. Why should I care that they started stealing stuff and turned pirate? There's nothing really telling me that they weren't doing that before the story started, now they just have an airship. And, for a man raised with the Chronofax and the set-in-stone nature of archaeology and history all around him, this Captain Robert isn't that bright when it comes to the grand adventure. Yes, there's doing what's "right" by way of fixing wrongs made by humanity, and you can easily argue that of course you're not going to stop and think about repercussions if a time-travelling airship was just dropped into your lap. But seriously? There's no hint of reluctance or acknowledgement early on that fucking with time might change a few things down the road. And since the story's in a past-narrative voice, there's not even a "what fools we were" idea floating about when the heroics start.
And, for god's sake, Lilith is among the most annoying characters I have ever read. I look at the book on my Kobo, waiting to go back to finish it off, and I think of how that moron is still running around and just... no. Can't. I can't read about her, I don't like her-- and that may be the point, but she is a truly unpleasant, irritating character, and I have no emotional investment in the other characters. At least, I don't have enough emotional investment yet (and my ereader says I'm 84% finished) to want to see how the heroes overcome in the end.
It would have worked as a "captain's log" style of thing, and had it all play out in narrative "as it happens" style. Or just fleshed the fuck out. Actually do more than just tell me what's going on, tell me why I should care, or give me a reason other than "I like your music, so I'll support your other endeavours". I'm nearly done this book, and it's just not interesting enough for me to want to pick it up again.
It's an interesting concept, the idea is brilliant, the inspiration is there. The execution falls flat. It's a first book, and it shows. It may as well be a first draft.
I love Abney Park. I've loved the band since "From Dreams or Angels" came out, and I happily followed them into the then-budding Steampunk movement. I generally like reading Captain Robert's tweets and posts, and, when the first few paragraphs of narration was posted on the AP website with some background music a long while back, I fell in love with the idea of a narrative about the more fantastical origin of the band.
But it's not a good read.
Oh, it functions just fine as a first narrative, but other than the fact that I like the band, I have no emotional draw to any of the characters. It's an "and then" style of story. "This happened, and then this happened, and then this..."
There's nothing to anchor me in the story or really lead me through. Why should I care that they started stealing stuff and turned pirate? There's nothing really telling me that they weren't doing that before the story started, now they just have an airship. And, for a man raised with the Chronofax and the set-in-stone nature of archaeology and history all around him, this Captain Robert isn't that bright when it comes to the grand adventure. Yes, there's doing what's "right" by way of fixing wrongs made by humanity, and you can easily argue that of course you're not going to stop and think about repercussions if a time-travelling airship was just dropped into your lap. But seriously? There's no hint of reluctance or acknowledgement early on that fucking with time might change a few things down the road. And since the story's in a past-narrative voice, there's not even a "what fools we were" idea floating about when the heroics start.
And, for god's sake, Lilith is among the most annoying characters I have ever read. I look at the book on my Kobo, waiting to go back to finish it off, and I think of how that moron is still running around and just... no. Can't. I can't read about her, I don't like her-- and that may be the point, but she is a truly unpleasant, irritating character, and I have no emotional investment in the other characters. At least, I don't have enough emotional investment yet (and my ereader says I'm 84% finished) to want to see how the heroes overcome in the end.
It would have worked as a "captain's log" style of thing, and had it all play out in narrative "as it happens" style. Or just fleshed the fuck out. Actually do more than just tell me what's going on, tell me why I should care, or give me a reason other than "I like your music, so I'll support your other endeavours". I'm nearly done this book, and it's just not interesting enough for me to want to pick it up again.
It's an interesting concept, the idea is brilliant, the inspiration is there. The execution falls flat. It's a first book, and it shows. It may as well be a first draft.
