threemonkeys (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
threemonkeys) wrote2005-04-10 03:39 pm
threemonkeys) wrote2005-04-10 03:39 pm
How not to read a Sean McMullen book
I have finally finished Shadowmoon by Sean McMullen. This has taken me some time to achieve this because I started reading it before I went on holiday and I didn't take it with me. I know there was, what seemed, a good reason at the time but I cannot reproduce the logic that got me to that state.
The problems is that Sean's books have rather complex plots and lots of characters. Once I restarted reading I kept tripping across characters that I didn't remember - it took about 100 pages to pick up all the threads again. It made reading it much harder than it should have been.
It does seem to me that Sean continues to improve his wordcraft. If you will forgive the rather vague nature of the phrase, this book seems the best written one yet. On the other side of the coin, the subject matter is not up to the previous standards. In the past the thing that really made his work stand out was the unique nature of the settings and story. This time it is a little more predictable.
The problems is that Sean's books have rather complex plots and lots of characters. Once I restarted reading I kept tripping across characters that I didn't remember - it took about 100 pages to pick up all the threads again. It made reading it much harder than it should have been.
It does seem to me that Sean continues to improve his wordcraft. If you will forgive the rather vague nature of the phrase, this book seems the best written one yet. On the other side of the coin, the subject matter is not up to the previous standards. In the past the thing that really made his work stand out was the unique nature of the settings and story. This time it is a little more predictable.