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2010-01 TO REIGN IN HELL Finished reading *spoilers*
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Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)
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Jan 06, 2010 09:01AM
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I finished it last night:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
While I enjoyed it very much, the ending came across as rather abrupt to me, especially after the build up that happens all the way through.
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I know that the whole idea was to highlight how naive they all were, having never encountered deceit or violence, but I still found it frustrating how trusting they all were! I tend to get very attached to characters in the books that I read and sometimes I get too empathetic, LOL. So this story was a bit upsetting to me because I was a little too involved! That said, I did enjoy the book and I'm glad I read it. It was the first Brust I'd read that was not a Dragaera book so it was nice to see what else he can do besides Vlad & Khaavren!
Oh, and I loved that Beelzebub was locked into the form of a golden retriever! He was definitely my favorite character :)
Thanks, Shel. I agree with your frustrations of the characters' naivete. But I guess I wasn't as attached to the characters since Brust kept the whole thing very lighthearted and almost tongue-in-cheek.I loved Beelzebub too. He certainly exhibited the loyalty of a golden retriever.
I loved his line near the end, "My Lord, get thee behind me." Heh...
I finished this morning (click here for my review). While I liked Beelzebub, Harut was probably my favorite character.
The ending took a decidedly quick turn to darkness and absoluteness, cutting off any hopes for reconciliation, collaboration or peace.
I finished it. I never devloped any interest in the characters. I did not find the conceit amusing as I suppose it was supposed to be. not my cup of tea.
Here's me, late into the game... *grins*Like Shel, I was mostly saddened as I read this book. I didn't really get a lot of the light-heartedness or humor. I guess I didn't see it suddenly turn dark, because, to me, it was sort of sad as soon as Abdiel started meddling, and it just got progressively worse.
I suppose I also didn't have much hope for reconcilliation, since we all know how the story ends.
I was expecting a lot more whit and snarkiness. Instead of a waffling Satan, I think I was expecting a sort of Al Pacino in 'Devil's Advocate' or Lucifer from 'Sandman' and/or 'Lucifer'. Still a sympathetic character, but one who brazonly chooses rebellion, not one who's forced into it.
I did like that he distinguished between Satan, Lucifer and Beelzebub since a lot of stories sort of conflate the names, and that always kind of irritates me.
So, yeah, I was mostly sad... but I was also happy when Yeshua was destroyed, because he was almost as big a douche as Abdiel. I also sort of wish that the falling out happened more honestly, without all the behind-the-scenes machinations. Even if Satan wasn't a willing rebel, it would've been nice if he disagreed with Yahweh, and Yahweh pitched a fit, and then it dissolved from there. I would've preferred to have both sides be sort of wrong and sort of right on their own, without all the string-pulling. It sort of cheapened the story, somehow.
Oh, though I was glad that Michael stood on some sort of principle at the end, since he disagreed with Yahweh a lot but went along with it, anyway.
I was expecting a bit more wit, more snark, more sass... and mostly I was left feeling kind of sad and disheartened. That said, it was a quick read and a bit of a page-turner, so I can't say it was bad - it just wasn't what I'd bargained for.
blackrose wrote: "So, yeah, I was mostly sad... but I was also happy when Yeshua was destroyed, because he was almost as big a douche as Abdiel...."hehe...I agreed with that.....
