Laurie King's The Game
Mar. 28th, 2004 04:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lagilmanOkay, so I jumped into this book, expectations high because, well, it's Laurie King. It's a Mary Russell book.
And, for the most part, those expectations were fulfilled.
The language is beautiful (her descriptions of India of the time are quite moving and totally believable), the character interactions are totally human and just rough enough to give the proper three dimensionality, and although the pacing starts slow it, you realize soon enough, does so intentionally, and picks up where it needs to. And the scene of the pig-sticking was quite dead-on, from what I've read of that sport. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
And yet, from the very first scene I had hestitations. And when I read the last page, those hesitations were still with me. There wasn't any real sub-plot at all, which made the book seem slighter than it should have been (and there were a number of places where a subplot could have been developed out of the material available), and while reading I was too aware of the tricks of the trade, making me feel like a music fan who, instead of listening to the incredible voice of the singer, is instead fascinated by the mechanics of her breath control.
Too, I was able to predict quite easily where the plot was going, although I was uncertain about the loyalties of one character until the last five chapters.
Overall, I'd give it an 8 of 10, with the assumption that her publisher wanted another Mary Russell book, damn it, and she was under the deadline gun. Still an excellent book, and once again I'm glad that I buy her in hardcover, and don't wait for the paperback.
Okay, I shall now wait for those of you who think otherwise to step up to the plate with rebuttals...
And, for the most part, those expectations were fulfilled.
The language is beautiful (her descriptions of India of the time are quite moving and totally believable), the character interactions are totally human and just rough enough to give the proper three dimensionality, and although the pacing starts slow it, you realize soon enough, does so intentionally, and picks up where it needs to. And the scene of the pig-sticking was quite dead-on, from what I've read of that sport. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
And yet, from the very first scene I had hestitations. And when I read the last page, those hesitations were still with me. There wasn't any real sub-plot at all, which made the book seem slighter than it should have been (and there were a number of places where a subplot could have been developed out of the material available), and while reading I was too aware of the tricks of the trade, making me feel like a music fan who, instead of listening to the incredible voice of the singer, is instead fascinated by the mechanics of her breath control.
Too, I was able to predict quite easily where the plot was going, although I was uncertain about the loyalties of one character until the last five chapters.
Overall, I'd give it an 8 of 10, with the assumption that her publisher wanted another Mary Russell book, damn it, and she was under the deadline gun. Still an excellent book, and once again I'm glad that I buy her in hardcover, and don't wait for the paperback.
Okay, I shall now wait for those of you who think otherwise to step up to the plate with rebuttals...
