05-25-2022, 01:58 PM
The Last Exit by Max Gladstone
I was halfway through this book when I just wish it was over with. But I plowed through it hoping it would come around, but no. The book felt really well written. The depictions and characterizations were thorough, but I didn't care what he was describing. I could care less about the characters and what they were doing. All of them were miserable. But they loved each other when they didn't hate each other. Ugh.
Five college students learn about magic and that there are alternative worlds out there. But each one is worse than ours. And the root cause is something called the rot. The students tried ten years ago to solve the problem and failed. Now, they have one last chance to try again. So, they do. There's a lot of driving through desolate lands and fighting horrible creatures when they aren't busy having long diatribes about what life means or having flashbacks to what screwed them up in the first place.
There is a strong Stephen King vibe to the book. In many places it feels like a missing novel in The Dark Tower sequence. There is a mysterious figure in a cowboy hat and no face who dogs them at every step.
Hard pass. And I like Gladstone. His god sequence is phenomenal. But these last two books have made me want to reassess.
I was halfway through this book when I just wish it was over with. But I plowed through it hoping it would come around, but no. The book felt really well written. The depictions and characterizations were thorough, but I didn't care what he was describing. I could care less about the characters and what they were doing. All of them were miserable. But they loved each other when they didn't hate each other. Ugh.
Five college students learn about magic and that there are alternative worlds out there. But each one is worse than ours. And the root cause is something called the rot. The students tried ten years ago to solve the problem and failed. Now, they have one last chance to try again. So, they do. There's a lot of driving through desolate lands and fighting horrible creatures when they aren't busy having long diatribes about what life means or having flashbacks to what screwed them up in the first place.
There is a strong Stephen King vibe to the book. In many places it feels like a missing novel in The Dark Tower sequence. There is a mysterious figure in a cowboy hat and no face who dogs them at every step.
Hard pass. And I like Gladstone. His god sequence is phenomenal. But these last two books have made me want to reassess.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm