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(I actually culled most of these months ago, but thought I’d do more and got distracted repeatedly.)
The Nukular Age by Brian Clevinger - If my notes are to be believed, this has been sitting on my shelf since somewhere around 2004; which makes sense, because Clevinger is best known as the author of the delightful webcomic 8-bit Theater, which was running at the time. This…is not that. This is 600 pages of extremely episodic superhero-parody mood-whiplash jokes (often moderately offensive ones) in a style that would play much better as a comic strip than in prose. Actually, it’s 450 pages of that, then a supervillain shows up and starts actually murdering everyone on Earth and there’s angst and depression and a ridiculous tone-shift. (And then an endnote apology from Clevinger because he thought the best jokes are the ones played on the reader.) I was put off by the prose (and the wildly-oscillating intelligence of every character) when I first picked this up a decade and a half ago, and that was without knowing how it ended. The years haven’t improved it. Oh, well.
Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell - I managed four chapters of this (apparently twice what Jethrien did) before giving up, because it should have been titled “A series of embarrassing events that aren’t as funny as I hoped.” I kinda see what he’s going for, but it doesn’t really work. (I suspect his autobiography is better, as hopefully that includes more real ridiculous events and fewer than he made up for laughs.)
The Darkness of the Light by Peter David - This one has been on my shelf since 2010 or thereabouts; it’s Peter David’s attempt at a full-on brand-new-world fantasy novel. Just like in most of his writing, the action sequences feel like superhero stories. Also like in most of his writing, there are terrible puns built up into worldbuilding—though the fact that this book takes itself seriously is at odds with (for example) the land of blind where a one-eyed man is king. I think the combination of my general dislike of fantasy novels and the lack of genuine humor made this too hard a sell for me, despite liking most of David’s work.
The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson – A long, plodding series of examinations of the lives of various immortals. These lives, however, were not interesting enough to hold my attention for what would clearly be hundreds of pages of setup and, I fear, nothing resembling a worthwhile payoff.
One-Eyed Jack by Elizabeth Bear - This is Bear’s take on American Gods, where particular areas in the US (and elsewhere) have their own gods who run around causing trouble. It seems like a great concept, but I’ve tried to start it three times over the last five years and bounced off it each time. I don’t think I’m actually interested enough to stick to it.
The Nukular Age by Brian Clevinger - If my notes are to be believed, this has been sitting on my shelf since somewhere around 2004; which makes sense, because Clevinger is best known as the author of the delightful webcomic 8-bit Theater, which was running at the time. This…is not that. This is 600 pages of extremely episodic superhero-parody mood-whiplash jokes (often moderately offensive ones) in a style that would play much better as a comic strip than in prose. Actually, it’s 450 pages of that, then a supervillain shows up and starts actually murdering everyone on Earth and there’s angst and depression and a ridiculous tone-shift. (And then an endnote apology from Clevinger because he thought the best jokes are the ones played on the reader.) I was put off by the prose (and the wildly-oscillating intelligence of every character) when I first picked this up a decade and a half ago, and that was without knowing how it ended. The years haven’t improved it. Oh, well.
Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell - I managed four chapters of this (apparently twice what Jethrien did) before giving up, because it should have been titled “A series of embarrassing events that aren’t as funny as I hoped.” I kinda see what he’s going for, but it doesn’t really work. (I suspect his autobiography is better, as hopefully that includes more real ridiculous events and fewer than he made up for laughs.)
The Darkness of the Light by Peter David - This one has been on my shelf since 2010 or thereabouts; it’s Peter David’s attempt at a full-on brand-new-world fantasy novel. Just like in most of his writing, the action sequences feel like superhero stories. Also like in most of his writing, there are terrible puns built up into worldbuilding—though the fact that this book takes itself seriously is at odds with (for example) the land of blind where a one-eyed man is king. I think the combination of my general dislike of fantasy novels and the lack of genuine humor made this too hard a sell for me, despite liking most of David’s work.
The Boat of a Million Years by Poul Anderson – A long, plodding series of examinations of the lives of various immortals. These lives, however, were not interesting enough to hold my attention for what would clearly be hundreds of pages of setup and, I fear, nothing resembling a worthwhile payoff.
One-Eyed Jack by Elizabeth Bear - This is Bear’s take on American Gods, where particular areas in the US (and elsewhere) have their own gods who run around causing trouble. It seems like a great concept, but I’ve tried to start it three times over the last five years and bounced off it each time. I don’t think I’m actually interested enough to stick to it.
