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threemonkeysI had to google Justina Robson just to make sure that she was one person and not a collaboration. The reason is that I just read Keeping it Real, the first in her Quantum Gravity series. The wasn't any need to do such an investigation for her previous books, all of which I enjoyed, but this one felt like it was written by two different people.
The first part was wonderful. Robson attempted one of those genre fusion deals. Taking cyberpunk, high fantasy, contemporary fantasy and rock 'n' roll and mixing them together into a high paced story. The fusion itself gives extra energy. It is fun but with a real story and characters developing. Since the energy from the setting cannot sustain a whole novel, it is important that an author makes sure that those essential elements are still brought along. This seemed to be the case here - it was all coming along nicely.
Then the scene changed. It moved from a more or less contemporary Earth to an elf realm. All big trees and magic. What is more, most of the supporting characters that were being built up disappear. The main character now has new companions and a new mission. Instead of action, the book becomes all convoluted talk. What action there is is arbitrary. From fun and engaging it is tedious.
What makes an author do this? I'm sure there was a reason but it isn't obvious to me. One thought is that this is presumably the first volume of a trilogy and this world is set over six realms. That is half a book per realm. Perhaps the idea is to have a different style in each realm. If that is the reason, I just wish that the two parts had been integrated better. So, should I read the next book in the series? At this point I'm saying "no - wait for another standalone book".
The first part was wonderful. Robson attempted one of those genre fusion deals. Taking cyberpunk, high fantasy, contemporary fantasy and rock 'n' roll and mixing them together into a high paced story. The fusion itself gives extra energy. It is fun but with a real story and characters developing. Since the energy from the setting cannot sustain a whole novel, it is important that an author makes sure that those essential elements are still brought along. This seemed to be the case here - it was all coming along nicely.
Then the scene changed. It moved from a more or less contemporary Earth to an elf realm. All big trees and magic. What is more, most of the supporting characters that were being built up disappear. The main character now has new companions and a new mission. Instead of action, the book becomes all convoluted talk. What action there is is arbitrary. From fun and engaging it is tedious.
What makes an author do this? I'm sure there was a reason but it isn't obvious to me. One thought is that this is presumably the first volume of a trilogy and this world is set over six realms. That is half a book per realm. Perhaps the idea is to have a different style in each realm. If that is the reason, I just wish that the two parts had been integrated better. So, should I read the next book in the series? At this point I'm saying "no - wait for another standalone book".