DoC: A dissonant word

[Paulo]

I see most of the people that are posting here on Goodreads are somewhat disliking this months pick.

I'm halfway through the book, and despite its flaws, there are some qualities that I'd like to point out here.

OK, so everyone resorts to killing instead of talking, characters are flat - from Thren ("power is all that matter") to Aaron ("I'm shy but I'm a killer") and the guards die so easily they should be all wearing red shirts.

However, the plot surprised me, in a good way. This should be the story about Aaron growing up, but instead, it is a complex war between thieves and merchants, with the additional complication of two neutral parties, the King and the Priests. There are plenty of characters which may or may not become important in the future. The result is a bubbling pot that makes me uncertain about what is going to happen.

I can't say it is a masterpiece, but I'm having fun with it, and sometimes this is what really matters.

Does anyone else feel this way about the book? Or am I just in a good mood?

[Adelaide]

I had fun with it. And you're right, sometimes that's all you need.

[Rob]

Yeah I mean the plot when you lay it out in the abstract does sound great, which is why I'm going to give it a second go when term paper season is over. It seems like in general those who made it all the way to end tended to like the book reasonably well,

[Sky]

I read this one a while ago, and I pretty much felt the same way.

I don't need every book I read to be a deep, insightful look into the human condition, filled with hyper-realistic characters and set in a world the likes of which I've never imagined.

Sometimes it's fun to just pick up a generic fantasy book about a kid who's good at killing people but maybe doesn't like doing it.

And to be perfectly honest, I found this book many times more readable than Among Others or The Einstein Intersection.

[terpkristin]

I agree, and wrote as much in my review. I considered the book a popcorn book...and frankly, I need popcorn books in my life! :)

[Sean]

I had fun with it. Yeah, it took a while to get going, but I didn't really hate it. I think it's more that the people who didn't like it were more vocal. Plus there was that whole discussion of "grimdark" fantasy.

[Kristina]

Over all I liked it also. There were some realy cool ideas in the book ( the ladies in the masks, that paladin, the merchants parking on the hill to avoid the tax). I wish some things were explored more, but over all it was a quick action-y read.

[Pixie]

What I find interesting is the thought that maybe Dalglish is trying to write a fantasy political thriller. There's half a dozen different factions, all trying to out-maneuver each other for a larger piece of the pie. Some attention is given to the internal workings of each of the organizations, who the power players are, and how their decisions & the structure of their organization affect the bigger picture. (Caveat: I'm not really familiar with the political thriller genre, so I'm just guessing.)

I don't think he quite pulls it off, though. I suspect that to really sell the stakes, the political thriller genre depends on a solid grounding in the real world - or at least, in a very down-to-earth, solidly-built world. In a political thriller, high-level decisions have street-level consequences. That does seem to happen in "Cloaks" in the abstract, but the cause-and-effect chain is fuzzier. This is partly because the "generic fantasy" setting doesn't give us a very clear view as to what's going on politically, and also because the main characters are such powerful combatants that it blurs the line between high-level and street-level. In a good political thriller, the specifics of action & consequence are all-important. It's all about who knows what, who did what, and who responded.

I give Dalglish points for the attempt, though. It seems like it would be a hard thing to pull off.

[Maclurker]

I like the idea of DoC being a political thriller. With some fully fleshed-out characters and more than a hint of magic, that would have been very cool in that setting. And there are some potentially interesting ideas here. But I just couldn't get past the incessant violence. That's really why I lemmed it.

[Paulo]

Sky wrote:

And to be perfectly honest, I found this book many times more readable than Among Others or The Einstein Intersection.

I couldn't agree more! I'd have slept all the way if Among Others were a movie.

[Pixie]

Paulo wrote: "Sky wrote:

And to be perfectly honest, I found this book many times more readable than Among Others or The Einstein Intersection.

I couldn't agree more! I'd have slept all the way if Among Others..."

I disagree vehemently, but that's OK; that's what book groups are for. :)

[Sean]

Timothy wrote: "Im also about halfway. I think the thing that urks me most is the strange way the author hints at a broader more interesting world. Magic, elves, giants? Come on why are none of THESE elements in T..."

Well, this is the first part of a prologue series - Dalglish explains that in his author's note at the end. Which kinda makes me wonder why we weren't reading the original series instead, but whatever.

[Buzz]

I agree that Einstein Intersection wasn't particularly great (I never read Among Others), but this book was just painful. I didn't bother reading he authors afterword because I was so glad to be finished with the book!