BS: Slow going, but stick with it

[Lindsay]

I took four days to read this one, and that's extremely slow going for me. (I normally read 5-6 books this size in a week).

I had trouble sticking with it early on because of a combination of unlikable* characters (bitter, taciturn mother and feckless teenager) and the painstakingly detailed world-building of the city inside the wall.

However, for me at least, around the 75-80% mark it all just clicked and the remainder of the book was a rollicking read.

So, if you're struggling, be assured the payoff is worth it.

I'm glad it came up on the book club; it's been on my to-read list for ages, but steampunk isn't really a plus for me and zombies are a big minus, but overall I enjoyed it enough that I'll be picking up the sequels. Particularly looking forward to the third book as the main character is one of the more interesting ones from this book.


* They start out as unlikable at least - the encounter between them at the start of the book did more to turn me off the book then spark my interest in either of the main characters.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

I've heard others say they found this a difficult read, which really surprises me. I gulped this delight down in just two days, which is really quick for me. Glad you still enjoyed it in the end.

[Rob, Roberator]

I've enjoyed the first 20% or so more than I've expected. Haven't found it slow so far.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

I found it a quick, fun read.

After Demolition Man, which I almost had to force myself to finish, this was a pleasure to pick up and read each time.

[Kristina]

I really liked it. I felt like it was slow getting started, but overall a good story that kept me guessing.

[Thane]

It's been a while since I read it, but I seem to remember a lot of concepts being introduced. I don't recall it being slow, though.

I didn't care for the kid much, but was ok with the mother.

All in all, I think it tied up nicely at the end.

[Daran]

I think I read this book in under 24 hours. I love the setting, the way the backstory is structured, and I loved the main characters.

One thing that I think tends to throw f&sf readers is that, aside from the steampunk elements, it's a western. That has been one of the things I've liked most about this series.

I'm really glad we're reading this, and I'm looking forward to discussing it. I think I'll even reread it for the occasion.

[AndrewP]

I am just over 100 pages in and not finding it slow at all. The book gets into the story right away and fills in the background of the world and characters as it goes along.

This seems to be my preferred story telling/reading technique. I can handle info-dumps if they are meaningful, but can't handle meaningless character dumps.

[Tiffany]

I'm only 30% of the way in and I haven't found it slow-going at all. I felt that it got right into the action pretty quickly and I'm thoroughly enjoying the world-building and character development so far.

[David Sven]

27% in and enjoying it. I think it's paced well as far as plot advancement goes.

[Mpauli]

Same here. 25% in and I don't have the feeling that it's going slow.
After the first 2 chapters I thought we would spend way more time, before the setting changes, but that happened fairly quickly.
So far, I'm enjoying myself a lot. :)

[Joshua]

Its been slow for me too. Its finally starting to pick up some around 45%. The development of the story seems a little to slow but overall has been interesting.

[Dara]

I tried reading this two previous times and stopped because it was so slow. I'm gonna try to stick with it when I start it some time next week though, just because it's a pick.

[Beth]

I think the key is to keep your action expectations low. I read a lot of the goodreads reviews before starting it (horrible habit), but there were so many negative reviews that I expected it to be super slow. It's really not, but I can imagine how some people would pick it up and think "WHOA! Zombies, air pirates, poisonous gas, awesome weapons, evil scientist, oh my!" It does have all of those things, but everything is sort of subtle... not at all a book Blockbuster, though I'm sure someone will make it into a movie blockbuster one day. I think it's also a book that you really appreciate after reading it. The slow parts kind of fade into the background while you remember the super cool parts montage fashion.

[Pamela]

I found the first chapter or so to be slow; I thought that the story picked up once the characters were in Seattle. I found myself reading Zeke's chapters super fast, because I wanted to get back to Briar.

I didn't find the pacing to be a problematic. When I think of zombie books/movies, they are filled with quick action sequences and then long terror-filled waiting periods.

[T.R.]

I'm about 35% in and it still feels pretty slow to me, but I think that's more due to the characters than the story. I think that as long as the characters are growing and changing, even a slow plot can still go quickly.

So far, there hasn't been much character growth beyond Zeke = whiny kid who wants to prove something and Briar = absentee mom who feels guilty.

[Daran]

I don't think Briar changes much, mostly her past is revealed and you learn more about the person that she already is. I found that rather compelling.

[Julie]

This book was insanely slow. So much so that I started it almost a year ago and put it down after reaching ~40% and didn't pick it back up until this month. I only just noW finished it, and I found it slow until the very last little bit.

[David Sven]

Having now nearly finished I have to take back my original comment. I thought it started ok in the first quarter or so - but it does bog down a little through the middle. I think part of that is at some point the scenery stays the same - tunnels and tunnels and more tunnels. But it's not so big a book and still easy reading and I was interested and curious enough to keep going.

[Candice]

This one took me a while, despite the great plot and everything. I didn't fully get into it until near the end, and I think it's just because there was no hook that made me care about the characters. The whole way through if either of the main characters had died I would have felt pretty 'meh' about it.
But I did still like it :)

[Jeremie]

Glad to hear the ending is worth it.
I'm halfway through the book and sometimes I almost thought of lemming it.

I love the world building, but I don't really care about the characters. I'm curious about the boneshaker and the blight so I'll keep reading.

[AndrewP]

I didn't find it slow going at all. It wasn't a roller-coaster thrill ride, and there was a lack of 'edge of the seat' tension, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

For the people who thought this was slow, what did you think of some previous S&L picks? Particularly Tigana and Downbelow Station

[Lindsay]

Tigana is one of my favourite fantasy books of all time and held my attention through Devin early on and Dianora later. It's full of fascinating characters, particularly Alessan and Brandin. It does have parts that drag a little, but in terms of slowness they didn't have much effect because, for me, it was all about getting back to the good stuff. That's in sharp contrast to Boneshaker which put me off from the beginning and I just had to struggle through it until it got better.

Downbelow Station is less straight-forward because I'd actually read most of Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe first including Finity's End which is a direct sequel to Downbelow Station. So before I came to the book, I basically knew what it was all about and I'd actually already read heaps of Cherryh already.

[Daran]

Anytime I have to read a Cherry book, I approach it like I do Spinach; It's something I feel I have to do. She's influential in early fantasy ad science fiction, but compared to what is being produced today, it's just lacking.

[David Sven]

I loved Tigana. Loved the prose. Same with Kingkiller Chronicles. I don't mind slow if there are roses to smell. Blight gas, not so much. Sucking vacuum (Downbelow Station) not so much either - though I didn't mind Downbelow Station in the finish.

[Harold]

Downbelow Station, to me, is a fine meal, worthy of savoring...whereas this is a fast food combo meal from another country: light fare that should be comforting, but is different enough from what I want that it is off-putting. To push the metaphor, I find I have to grit my teeth and force myself to keep eating. It's very, very slow going. I haven't had this much trouble maintaining interest in any Sword & Laser pick ever. Don't get me wrong - I don't think it's bad - it's just absolutely not really engaging me on any level...except as an editor. I keep putting the book down to fantasize about how I would have advised her to edit had I been an early reader.

I'm delighted to hear that it picks up later in the book, though I view that with a fair bit of skepticism.

[Boerge]

75-80% seems like a really late point for a "it get's better". It could just be the reader's high, this feeling of "almost finished, just a few more pages!"

I'm currently at ~40% and a little torn up about this book. I like the setting and world building, but the writing is at times somewhat jarring to me and doesn't really pull me in.

[Dara]

I didn't read Downbelow but I loved Tigana. The prose was so beautiful that I didn't care if it was moving at a slow pace, especially the Dianora part.

[Julie]

I only got 100 pages into Downbelow Station before pulling the plug. I LOVED Tigana. I didn't find that one slow at all. Boneshaker, however, was incredibly tedious for me. If 75% of a book is boring, having a so-so finish isn't enough for me to like it.

[Adelaide]

I found this to be a painful slog to the end. Great world, but I could not get invested in the characters. I ended up skimming large portions of the second half just to get to the end without losing my mind. (I mildly enjoyed Tigana and am a huge Cherryh fan, so I don't have a problem with slow. Just could not connect with this one.)

[Brian]

This was my intro to Cherie Priest, a couple of years ago, and I plowed through the story on first reading, and enjoyed it even more when I read it right before reading Dreadnought the following year.

In general I've found Steampunk hard to get into, but Ms. Priest's writing is strong and well-informed. I especially like her characters, and I greatly appreciate her ability to write sympathetic characters that I don't particularly like.

[Bob]

Not that far in but yeah it's slow. It's not a huge book so that's a plus.

[Aaron]

I'm not finished (I know, I need to hurry up so I'm ready when my library request for Ancillary Justice comes through), but it took me about a week to get through the first third. The second third was noticeably faster paced, taking only 1-2 days. I think that change in speed also happened to pretty closely coincide with the first appearance of the rotters.

[terpkristin]

I'm about 40% through listening to the audiobook. I don't think it's particularly slow per se, though I'm not particularly drawn in. I do think some of the "wandering" around could have been cut down. For now, it's one of those things where I feel like I could listen to it or not, it's not like I'm anxiously awaiting what happens next.

[Loren]

I found this book to be a pretty quick read. Though I did have some problems with the narrative voice and tone. Some of the concepts were introduced smashingly, but I did have a problem with the use of the respirators. The big beef being that if the zombie gas was so heavy then the carbon cartridges would be bogged down after a few hours and the characters would have had to change them much more frequently than they did. But overall a pretty decent book.