I try to avoid bad books. I check out reviews and try to get the book from the library if I'm not sure. But we got this book the last time we went to the bookstore. The cover art has been calling out to me for a while and the story elements appealed to me, so I took a chance.
Not going to do that again anytime soon.
The book was one of those that starts out great. These are the worst kind of bad book. They pass the first page test in the bookstore and get your hopes up for the first hundred promising pages.
Then the author runs out of steam and you can tell the editor did too, because suddenly pansies are being described in a manner completely un-pansy-like. Without a lively story to distract the reader, other wrong details start to pop out (a twelfth century person says, "Okay!") and make you question even the correct details. "Does Bushmill's actually make a single malt?" The plot points begin to depend on the protagonist abruptly becoming a real dumbass. The Big Surprise is totally obvious. Triteness happens. Or worse.
In this book, during a massacre of some (nice) heretics by some (mean) Catholics, "heads were severed from limbs." That is an exact quote. These nice heretics were evidently mutants with their heads growing out of their arms and legs!
Did the editors think no one would get that far?
I wonder.
I read it to the end just to see the full scope of the stupidity. I wish the acknowledgements included the names of everyone involved with this book so I could use that information as a warning label.
(Wow, the moon looks really close tonight.)
289 words | July 21, 2007 11:31 PM | Writer's blockOkayyy,.... and the name and author of this abysmal tome would be.... what, exactly? :-) To prevent the rest of us from wasting precious hours?
J
Well, I usually leave out the name of the book I'm complaining about if I'm not making a considered review. But seeing as how I was able to articulate clearly what made the book bad to me, I may as well provide a complete warning.
It's Labyrinth by Kate Mosse.
Posted by: 100 word minimum at July 23, 2007 08:52 AMAh! ... And hm. Not a writer I've ever heard of, I assume this Kate is not related to the fashion model, but if she IS, that would explain the book's lack of quality. At any rate, thanks for revealing the name. ... and after a peak at the book's web site, a coincidence:my best friend from college came from Carcassone. (shrug). Just thought I'd toss that out that little non sequitur!
J.
Posted by: Janice at July 30, 2007 10:49 PMCarcassonne is part of the reason why I bought the book! Back in high school, my French class watched a documentary on it and I've been wanting to visit ever since. TV Japan ran a special on it a few months ago and my fascination was renewed. The architecture in particular caught my eye. Typically you never see round Roman arches mixed with pointy gothic arches. The art of the round arch was lost in the Middle Ages and wasn't rediscovered until a few centuries ago. In Carcassonne, the round arches are left over from the original Roman fortifications. So interesting if you're a total dweeb like me. Another thing we noticed was how the historian they interviewed looked like he walked out of a medieval tapestry. You know, those old things where you think that the representation of humans is weirdly stylized, then you see the descendants of the people depicted and you realize that the "style" was basically photo-realism. I see that a lot with Japanese woodblock prints too.
Posted by: 100 word minimum at July 30, 2007 11:46 PM