Reviews

The Obsidian Chamber by Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

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dsheffield206's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

lmjeffiers601's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

If you’ve followed this series from the beginning you know what to expect by now. Nothing groundbreaking here but still a book I enjoyed, it’s always nice to read a new take on an old theme. If you’re looking for something original you should probably try a new series at this point. But if you’re happy to settle down with some familiar faces and see what crazy sequence of events Preston and Child can cook up then pull up a chair and enjoy the ride.

If you’re new to the Pendergast novels I would suggest starting at the beginning...

rcstewa's review against another edition

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3.0

Yeesh. The worst by far.

librarian09's review

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5.0

I am a Pendergast fanatic. Read them all and LOVE them. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as Pendergast doesn't feature as much as normal. Constance is very active and one of Pendergast's enemies has returned. Overall, the story was unsatisfying to me. Not one of the best Pendergast books. I still have no idea why the book is even named "the obsidian chamber." There is an Obsidian chamber in the book but it hardly makes up much of the story. The Epilogue was the best part of the whole book and you feel read sadness reading it. I only took off one star because, well, PENDERGAST, but it really ought to be a three star book. Die hard fans will not want to miss it but people who haven't read many of the Pendergast books should see my note below.

(possible spoiler below)

People who haven't read many of the Pendergast books will definitely want to have read the Diogenes Trilogy to have any understanding of what is happening and why.

I received an advance copy from Netgalley.

organchordsandlightning's review against another edition

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3.0

One-sentence summary: With Pendergast presumed dead and Proctor missing, Diogenes aims to take Constance as his wife on a deserted island.

Obsidian Chamber was a swing and a miss for me, but even when I dislike a Pendergast, I still enjoy the time spent reading it. The main issue here is that there isn't actually a lot that happens in this book, and what does happen isn't really fun.

- A large portion is taken up by a giant fake-out with Proctor that was actually just a set-up to strand him in the middle of the jungle.
- Constance is ready to go full-on Victorian widow and either kill herself or lock herself in her rooms forever because her guardian/not-boyfriend died. It's exhausting, especially because this is not the longest time nor the first time that Pendergast "died".
- Diogenes sudden change of heart is sort of boring, when it comes down to it. We already saw it once with Alban, and we can clearly see that he hasn't really changed. I also didn't feel like the whole 'I liked you because you actually managed to kill me!!!' didn't work for me.
- For most of the novel, Constance's past didn't really matter? She could really have been any character in the story. Margo. Hayward. That she's over 200 hundred years has very little effect on her behavior, she's basically reduced to 'strong female character tm'.
- I was almost glad to see her leave at the end, especially because of her feelings for Pendergast. They're still creepy, Pendergast points out that they're creepy, and she puts him in a terrible position. "Can you love me the way I need you to?" Fuck off Constance that's basically your dad.

Overall, very strange and not my favorite, but looking forward to the next one.

nessynoname's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

jakekilroy's review

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4.0

Well, this was a return to form! It has one of the most gripping beginnings in all of the series, and it operates and succeeds without much Pendergast for the first half. Central characters are given new dimensions that make sense and there isn't even really a perp or crime to really solve, since you're getting everyone's perspective, really. It was just a solid serving of everyone doing interesting stuff without too much thrill. Still, there were the characters who are initially presented as fascinating and then immediately downgraded to dull, predictable, and lacking nuance (when it would've taken the same effort to give them even a marginal quality of complex personality). It's just a baffling failure of show-not-tell. Guy who's been on a sharp, top-ranking FBI leader with insanely cool and specialized experience? Apparently has the strategy of a 1980s space marine (criminals must be insane, nothing beats sheer force, etc). Coroner has seen everything in his career? Never seen someone slashed in the back. Drug dealers can't figure out who their mystery prisoner is? Read an entire article about the government's most secret operation with history and names as part of an FBI newsletter you can find on Google (and it's the only thing they can find). I love this series, but even on the better outings, there can be some real eye rolls in the later half of the blood bucket. The ending, for instance, is prosperous, stupid, and out of character (for more than one). Incredible.