Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Feral Creatures by Kira Jane Buxton

1 review

aardwyrm's review

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adventurous dark funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

There probably shouldn't have been a sequel to Hollow Kingdom. I read it. I enjoyed it. But I enjoyed it like I would a Patreon extra with fun character vignettes. ST is fun to listen to. The weird little interludes of the universe are inviting. But spending more time in this universe really exacerbates the ways it doesn't make any damn sense. I'm fine with a soft and stylized worldbuilding, but even the original didn't hold together in terms of basic continuity. Expanding the lore just makes all the nonsense stand out more. And a lot of the silliness of the first book (weird, tortured metaphors about evolution and cancer, sporadic gender essentialism, biological incoherence) starts to rankle after a while. Also, frankly, the damn books both need editors. Jokes, metaphors, and exposition are repeated. The emotional pacing is nonsense; redemptions and falls, reunions and forgiveness all turn on a dime, no lead up, no consequences. Scads of nameless mooks die while the world turns around the main characters. Even the main characters are plot puppets, making their choices often quite against established traits just to move things along. (Why is Ghubari a eugenicist now?)

If you liked the first one, you'll probably like this one, but you might like skipping it and just enjoying the effectiveness of the original remain unsullied in your mind.
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