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The Man Who #1-3
The Reed Stephens Novels: The Man Who Risked His Partner , The Man Who Killed His Brother , The Man
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 16, 2022
The Reed Stephens Novels collects the first three of speculative fiction author Stephen R. Donaldson’s The Man Who series (originally published under the pseudonym of the title): The Man Who Killed His Brother, The Man Who Risked His Partner and The Man Who Tried to Get Away.
I was first introduced to Donaldson years ago, when a friend recommended The Thomas Covenant books - which turned out to be one of the best fantasy series I’d ever read. Years later, when I picked up The Gap Cycle, I wasn’t sure what to expect, being that it was science fiction and I’d only ever read SRD’s fantasy writing. After reading it, I found it, too, to be one of the best of its genre. Now, here I am in the same boat (SRD writing in the mystery genre?!) - you’d think I’d know by now.
Just like with the previous genre change, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but once again I found that my misgivings were unfounded. I won’t say it’s one of the best of the genre, but Donaldson’s writing is high quality as usual. His mysteries aren’t so much about trying to solve a puzzle as much as they are about the characters. Gritty, real-world characters, putting in the good fight (despite their personal failings) in a sleaze-bag, crime ridden city. Good stuff. The third book of this collection, wasn’t as good as the first two, and even felt a little convoluted, plot-wise. Still a solid 4 stars for this collection!
I was first introduced to Donaldson years ago, when a friend recommended The Thomas Covenant books - which turned out to be one of the best fantasy series I’d ever read. Years later, when I picked up The Gap Cycle, I wasn’t sure what to expect, being that it was science fiction and I’d only ever read SRD’s fantasy writing. After reading it, I found it, too, to be one of the best of its genre. Now, here I am in the same boat (SRD writing in the mystery genre?!) - you’d think I’d know by now.
Just like with the previous genre change, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but once again I found that my misgivings were unfounded. I won’t say it’s one of the best of the genre, but Donaldson’s writing is high quality as usual. His mysteries aren’t so much about trying to solve a puzzle as much as they are about the characters. Gritty, real-world characters, putting in the good fight (despite their personal failings) in a sleaze-bag, crime ridden city. Good stuff. The third book of this collection, wasn’t as good as the first two, and even felt a little convoluted, plot-wise. Still a solid 4 stars for this collection!
April 24, 2011
This is a strange book ( or rather books, as it's an omnibus, even though timeline wise, they follow straight on... ), though I wonder if that's more because I'm aware that they are written by Stephen Donaldson, and more used to his fantasy work than detective/thriller novels. Even so, it was an enjoyable read.....
May 18, 2018
Donaldson’s prose and the passionate self flagellation of his unconscious heroes never fails to engage; however, as a mystery, the murderer was pretty obvious from about the first third to half of the book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews