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Where the first book was surprisingly energetic and pacey pulp fiction, enriched by a Victorian setting and a love-it-or-hate-it chummy narration, the second book falls very, very flat.
Set in modern times in an alternative London, the creepy secret organisations and Lovecraftian monstrosities never really convince. A lot of overly dramatic statements are made, to the point where they become ludicrous. The suspension of disbelief, willingly given for the Victorian setting, becomes impossible in the modern setting. Meanwhile, the author's mischievous and quirky ideas have turned stale and bleak for the sequel.
By the end, every chapter became a chore to read, every further plot development a frustrating experience. ]]>
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Victorian London. Steampunk. Brass robots. Zombies. A detective who is a professor with an interest in the supernatural, and an assistant who is a plucky young woman.
Sounds quite enticing, doesn't it? The Affinity Bridge is the kind of book which would make for a rollicking, pretty movie. Unfortunately, as a written story, it falls strangely flat. If I had to put my finger on a cause, it is the way the story seems to be soulless, drawn by numbers, rather than energetic, innovative fare. It feels like the author knew every scene before he started writing it - which is a feasible way of writing, provided it does not show. Sometimes, it feels like the author was slightly bored by his own story.
Meanwhile, the reader is way ahead of the characters for most of the time, and the book never really tries to lead you astray. It is very linear: It hints at something, and then the characters discover something, and then the something turns out to be true. The mystery is solved by the reader before the heroes have their second of many cups of Earl Grey.
The plotting by numbers and somewhat stuffy heroes give the entire book a lazy feel. Comparing this with The Somnambulist, it is clear to me that the latter was the more enjoyable to read. True, it had a much more passive, less autonomous hero, while this one features a cast at least resolving the mystery themselves, but it also had a much more playful streak, a much more enticing narrative voice, a much braver (and love-it-or-hate-it) way of writing.
In the end, the Affinity Bridge is not bad. It just isn't particularly good, either. A slightly bland, vaguely readable romp of little consequence. ]]>
A stranger buy a run-down mill in a small Finnish town. He refurbishes it and repairs it. Meanwhile, the townspeople notice that he is a little strange. Soon enough, they start to persecute him.
The howling miller is a fairly easy novel to read. The Finnish names do add an element of quirkiness purely on account of being Finnish, but the novel itself, a fable/parable is reasonably interesting. Throughout the book, the hero turns out to be not much more crazy, or perhaps even rather less so, than his contemporaries. At the same time, they look at him with different eyes. Perhaps it is because they don't have mirrors and cannot see themselves.
Some things in the story are a bit baffling. The passing of time is often poorly indicated - he must have lived in the village for several months between the first and second chapters etc. - which can be a bit confusing. Some of the characters seem to be there for a purpose that is not their own. The love interest seems little more than windowdressing - she exists only because the story needs her, not because she is ever a convincing character in her own right.
In other words, this book is not flawless. It did, however, hold my attention, and it was a reasonably enjoyable read. The final chapter seems a little rushed (and I would have ended the story differently), but on the whole, it's worth a read. ]]>
Robert Holbach
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