Quantum Coin
Dec. 23rd, 2012 09:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroPicking up a year after Ephraim’s adventures in Fair Coin, I can’t really say anything about what’s at stake because it would spoil the big twist in the first book. Suffice to say, it brings back the same cast and world-building for a higher-stakes adventure and a deeper delve into the backstory of this universe.
My feelings are mixed: On one hand, this book holds together as a single narrative better than the first, partially because it always knows what genre it’s in. It ties up loose ends from the first book I didn’t realize were loose. It gives a more definitive ending—and doesn’t really leave any room for another sequel. It’s a much larger scale (cosmic, fate-of-the multiverse stuff, really), which I do tend to like. And I continue to like Myers’ style, with his geeky references and realistic teenage protagonist.
On the other hand, it dedicates a lot of time to exposition (including a fake-out about what’s really going on), which covers the fact that there isn’t much that happens, really, and a lot of the emotional notes end up unbalanced. Which things people react to strongly versus which things get shrugged off (the death of a major supporting cast member from the first book gets kinda brushed aside; people change their minds about which side they’re on so easily it becomes unbelievable). I think this needed more book to fully encompass the amount of exposition in it, while at the same time adding too many more complications would make it unwieldy.
Overall: If you liked the first, you’ll like this. I think taken as a whole it’s about on par. Don’t read this first if you have any intention of reading Fair Coin.
Disclaimer: I know the author personally. He’s a cool dude.
My feelings are mixed: On one hand, this book holds together as a single narrative better than the first, partially because it always knows what genre it’s in. It ties up loose ends from the first book I didn’t realize were loose. It gives a more definitive ending—and doesn’t really leave any room for another sequel. It’s a much larger scale (cosmic, fate-of-the multiverse stuff, really), which I do tend to like. And I continue to like Myers’ style, with his geeky references and realistic teenage protagonist.
On the other hand, it dedicates a lot of time to exposition (including a fake-out about what’s really going on), which covers the fact that there isn’t much that happens, really, and a lot of the emotional notes end up unbalanced. Which things people react to strongly versus which things get shrugged off (the death of a major supporting cast member from the first book gets kinda brushed aside; people change their minds about which side they’re on so easily it becomes unbelievable). I think this needed more book to fully encompass the amount of exposition in it, while at the same time adding too many more complications would make it unwieldy.
Overall: If you liked the first, you’ll like this. I think taken as a whole it’s about on par. Don’t read this first if you have any intention of reading Fair Coin.
Disclaimer: I know the author personally. He’s a cool dude.
