February 2022 Group Read #2, THE LUMINOUS DEAD, Caitlin Starling

[Jacqueline]

Yes lots of filler!

[JasonA]

Badseedgirl wrote: "

Quick, somebody give me a space zombie book!"

Only one that comes to mind is 2389 by Iain Rob Wright, but it wasn't very good.

[Dollie]

LTJ wrote: "Dollie: About to hit 40% in and yeah, agree with you in that so far, I've seen a lot of filler and repeating things/comments that are getting a bit boring. I'm hoping it picks up soon as I'm spendi..."

Be prepared for more of the same, LTJ. I am always determined to finish any book I start. This one I couldn't wait to finish.

[Daniel]

It’s holding my interest at 37% - the repetition so far is working to convey that the activity is a grind, but it sounds like there’s more to come. Being a slow reader I’m a little worried I’ll be the one to grind - to a halt!

[LTJ]

@Dollie: Oh boy, I will definitely finish this but at the 48% mark and I really want things to pick up already...

@Daniel: LoL exactly the case here, once I start a book, I finish it no matter how it is but so far, this is barely a 2 and I'm almost halfway through it. This could be a 1 at the rate it's going.

[Laura]

LTJ wrote: "@Dollie: Oh boy, I will definitely finish this but at the 48% mark and I really want things to pick up already...

@Daniel: LoL exactly the case here, once I start a book, I finish it no matter how..."

It started off promising. As someone pointed out it is a slog-fest in the middle. I am at 75% now and cannot wait to be done with this. It is so repetitive and I just do not care about any of the characters anymore. It is shaping up to be a 1.

[LTJ]

@Laura: I'm starting to feel like that but my own personal golden rule is once I start a book... I finish it but agree, this is just not getting me excited or scared as I approach the 50% mark. Definitely see things being repeated and it's becoming fluff at this point but I'm hopeful this picks up

[Sara]

It does pick up. But it happens a bit too late for my tastes.

[LTJ]

Just hit a little over 60% and I'm not stopping until I finally finish this today/tonight. Unfortunately, I'm not enjoying this one at all. I will finish it and give my thoughts but wow, this is taking so long to get to some juicy, scary, creepy stuff!

[LTJ]

I just finished this and did not like it at all. I gave it a 1/5 as it was a complete and utter slogfest for me. The ending was unsatisfying and I could not wait for this to be over because it was that bad. This wasn't scary at all for me as it felt more about a story of a caver between two characters with endless dialogue that goes back and forth until it ends.

LoL I'm happy for those that enjoyed this but I see that this was Caitlin Starling's first-ever novel. I'm hoping her future work is a lot scarier if she wants to be in the horror genre as this didn't justify being labeled as such in my opinion. I just don't see how this was considered a horror novel? I know there are some scenes that were meant to be scary/creepy but they just didn't deliver at all for me.

[Daniel]

I’m at just under 70% - don’t know if It’s because I’m naturally a slow reader and it isn’t any harder to get through than other books, but I’m not finding it as hard a read as a lot of other people. Not much is going on and I’m having some trouble visualizing the details, though. The little that does go on is a consistent trickle so I keep reading… I have to laugh at myself because I’m annoyed that Gyre’s headlamp seems to use more than an insignificant amount of energy compared to the motors in her powered suit - in the weeny bit of hobby robotics I’ve done the motors are the big drain. So I know I don’t really know what I’m talking about but it still feels wrong! Brains are silly things…

[LTJ]

@Daniel: LoL yeah, I also felt that didn't make much sense either with Gyre's headlamp. I just felt this novel wasn't all that realistic even when it tries to be...

[Daniel]

I liked the little bit of world building to set up the caving scenario - the tech of the suit was fun. It seems like pretty near future tech and felt out of place with the backdrop of far future interstellar exploration, but artistic license and all. The writing was direct but not dull - the word serviceable comes to mind. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t get a lot out of it - the writing or the story as a whole.

(view spoiler)[Random issues for me: I couldn’t help thinking robots would do this kind of work and when Em takes over the suit to save Gyre I had a bit of an “I told you so” moment - Gyre was just dead weight! As for the confrontation with the tunneler: tiny doomed human turns fierce against the massive beast, screams something like “come and get me” and the beast, stunned by this lunatic heroism, keels over and dies. It’s a bit cliche. Ghosts? I don’t know if the ghosts were real or if Gyre was hallucinating. I like clear answers in my fiction; real life has more than enough ambiguity. I agreed with Gyre that risking lives to recover bodies is unjustifiable, but I wasn’t sure, in the end, if Em was hoping her mother was alive. But then a large scale rescue mission would have been justified… so I couldn’t fit the pieces.

To me, it’s a love/hate romance between two broken people as they develop a bond in the heat of danger, sharing their inner struggles as the action progresses. I didn’t feel it though, and I’m not sure why; I’m not immune to love stories and I appreciate a good broken psyche. Another mystery for me to solve... (hide spoiler)]

[Laura]

LTJ wrote: "I just finished this and did not like it at all. I gave it a 1/5 as it was a complete and utter slogfest for me. The ending was unsatisfying and I could not wait for this to be over because it was ..."

I am absolutely with you LTJ! It was just awful for me. I toughed it out, but it was a tedious read. I need to find something truly frightening to read now to get my horror fix asap!

[LTJ]

@Laura: Oh yes, tedious read indeed! I'm going to read "Misery" by Stephen King before jumping into the next group reads for March to just balance things out as this wasn't a scary enough novel at all for me.

[Denise]

Daniel wrote: "I liked the little bit of world building to set up the caving scenario - the tech of the suit was fun. It seems like pretty near future tech and felt out of place with the backdrop of far future in..."

I agree with your points in the spoiler--especially the ambiguity.

[Daniel]

Thanks Denise. I totally forgot to mention the high point for me: the scene where… (view spoiler)[Gyre has the suit cut her arm off! That the suit was designed to do that was horrific in itself - I mean, who would think of it? It totally worked! (hide spoiler)]

[Denise]

Daniel wrote: "Thanks Denise. I totally forgot to mention the high point for me: the scene where… [spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[That was cool, but I was the one expecting some kind of space zombie. So the fact that there weren't even ghosts for sure drove me bonkers. Were there or weren't there?! (hide spoiler)]

[LTJ]

@Denise: LoL that's exactly what I thought... I still don't even know and finished this one yesterday. I didn't like it at all!

[Emilie]

This was utterly not for me at all. In fact- I actually might have enjoyed it a wee bit more had it been a short story or novella. This had way too much repetitiveness for me to enjoy it.

[LTJ]

@Emilie: Oh for sure and I completely agree. I think if this was 100 pages fewer, it MIGHT have been decent but I still wouldn't consider it a true horror novel. It's mostly repetitive dialogue at the end of the day, I was reading and wondering when will something actually happen?

[Kasia]

I dunno, repetitive dialogue can be horror. :P

[LTJ]

@Kasia: LoL this is true, I remember this is how I felt when I read "House of Leaves" where I just wanted it to end. I felt the same here and that can also be terrifying...

WHEN WILL IT END?!?!?!

[Kasia]

You made me think of Gmork from The NeverEnding Story for some reason lol. Big fan btw!

[LTJ]

@Kasia: LOL!!! ZOMG I grew up and love The NeverEnding Story :-D

[Kasia]

It's so good, never gets old :)

[Patrick]

This book had all the ingredients for a story that I'd love. Sci-fi mixed some horror and a little creature feature, I really wanted to like it but I just didn't.

Firstly it's far too long, 100 pages could easily have been trimmed off it. It was incredibly difficult at times to picture what was going on in the caves, I think some sections were needlessly complicated and actually took me out of the story.

And finally the big one, I really disliked the interactions between Em and Gyre. There was too much back and forth and it played out like a melo-drama.

Such a disappointing read.