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and now, a book review
Jan. 12th, 2008 04:41 pmI just finished reading the Secret Country trilogy by Pamela Dean. I'd only learned of the books recently when I was reading through some historical wanks at fandom_wank. The trilogy figures prominently in a Cassandra Clare plagiarism affair. Intrigued, I ordered and read the books.
I'm not sure what to think. It's a really interesting premise: five children playing a fantasy game find themselves in the world and stories that they thought were their own creation. I liked the story quite a bit, but I can't help feeling that it needed a pass from a really strong editor. The author's writing style is a little distracting. Ironically (to me) it has some of the excesses that I'm prone to myself: rambling sentences and comparative descriptions that left me feeling like she was trying too hard. There were a number of times that I had to go back and reread sentences just to parse what she was actually saying. And sometimes the descriptions sounded a bit self-indulgent, like she was a little too pleased to have come up with whatever comparison she was using. Sometimes a really elegant turn of phrase creates just the right mood for the story, or, at least leaves me pleased to read have read the clever wording. Too often, I was pulled out of the story by her turns of phrase. Reading it was actually wound up being an instructive exercise for me in what I like and don't like in writing styles.
All of the above is not to say that I feel like I wasted my time in reading the books. It is a good story and I was happy to keep reading to find out how it would all turn out. I just feel like it just missed being as good as it could have been. And that's a little disappointing. I'd give it two and a half or three out of five stars.
I'm not sure what to think. It's a really interesting premise: five children playing a fantasy game find themselves in the world and stories that they thought were their own creation. I liked the story quite a bit, but I can't help feeling that it needed a pass from a really strong editor. The author's writing style is a little distracting. Ironically (to me) it has some of the excesses that I'm prone to myself: rambling sentences and comparative descriptions that left me feeling like she was trying too hard. There were a number of times that I had to go back and reread sentences just to parse what she was actually saying. And sometimes the descriptions sounded a bit self-indulgent, like she was a little too pleased to have come up with whatever comparison she was using. Sometimes a really elegant turn of phrase creates just the right mood for the story, or, at least leaves me pleased to read have read the clever wording. Too often, I was pulled out of the story by her turns of phrase. Reading it was actually wound up being an instructive exercise for me in what I like and don't like in writing styles.
All of the above is not to say that I feel like I wasted my time in reading the books. It is a good story and I was happy to keep reading to find out how it would all turn out. I just feel like it just missed being as good as it could have been. And that's a little disappointing. I'd give it two and a half or three out of five stars.
