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A while back I was speculating about pageturnability. That quality of books that keeps you reading on and on even when there is nothing else that is obviously of merit. You could break it down into story structure, pacing, crisis cycles, language usages and so forth. However, in the end, it is a "know it when you see it" kind of thing.
In the past I would probably have said that Kage Baker had a lot more going her work. But The Machine's Child is pretty much devoid of the usual qualities from earlier "Company" books and there are a rather large number of those by now. But it sure has pageturnability. The story may not really go anywhere - it is more setup than story and the most commonly focussed on characters may be the least sympathetic (i.e irritating) of the "Company" set. Despite that I pretty much read it in one go - one page at a time. One turn after another.
In the past I would probably have said that Kage Baker had a lot more going her work. But The Machine's Child is pretty much devoid of the usual qualities from earlier "Company" books and there are a rather large number of those by now. But it sure has pageturnability. The story may not really go anywhere - it is more setup than story and the most commonly focussed on characters may be the least sympathetic (i.e irritating) of the "Company" set. Despite that I pretty much read it in one go - one page at a time. One turn after another.