lgilders's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
nghia's review against another edition
1.0
My least favorite of the Garrett books (so far, at least).
It breaks out of many of the standard Garrett tropes, which is a nice attempt. It just doesn't pull it off in a very satisfying way.
Unlike most Garrett books, the Dead Man plays a huge role, Morley and Tharpe are barely seen, and things take on a galactic scale. Garrett seemed abnormally whiny in this book and his dalliances with the mandatory beautiful women seemed even more perfunctory than normal.
In the Garrett books, there is a hint that -- despite its episodic nature -- Things Change in the greater world. But after 8 books the hints dribbled out here and there just aren't enough. The failed Tinnie Tate and Maya relationships seemed handled poorly; the "friendships" with Morley, Saucerhead, etc, make Garrett seem like a sponse; the glacial progression of the Glory Mooncalled stuff; etc.
I wish Cook would take some risks and shake the series up a bit. Hell, at this point, even if it does work out he can kill of the series and still have a dozen-odd books in it. Let him get married to Maya. Let some Big Stuff happen.
It breaks out of many of the standard Garrett tropes, which is a nice attempt. It just doesn't pull it off in a very satisfying way.
Unlike most Garrett books, the Dead Man plays a huge role, Morley and Tharpe are barely seen, and things take on a galactic scale. Garrett seemed abnormally whiny in this book and his dalliances with the mandatory beautiful women seemed even more perfunctory than normal.
In the Garrett books, there is a hint that -- despite its episodic nature -- Things Change in the greater world. But after 8 books the hints dribbled out here and there just aren't enough. The failed Tinnie Tate and Maya relationships seemed handled poorly; the "friendships" with Morley, Saucerhead, etc, make Garrett seem like a sponse; the glacial progression of the Glory Mooncalled stuff; etc.
I wish Cook would take some risks and shake the series up a bit. Hell, at this point, even if it does work out he can kill of the series and still have a dozen-odd books in it. Let him get married to Maya. Let some Big Stuff happen.
highway_corsair's review against another edition
2.0
As much as I've enjoyed the Garrett PI series this is a pretty clear low point. Confusing and often bordering on nonsensical, Garrett's encounters with the gods of TunFaire was not half as entertaining as it should have been and I'm glad that the next book seems to be a return to form.
eldritchscholar's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-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? Yes
4.25
lottpoet's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
nat925's review
2.0
So... you know how in every Garrett P.I. story our detective's character develops in the end? He always learns something, like 'don't trust old generals' or 'everyone has their demons... like literally'. Here... there's nothing. Nothing really changes. Things just happen, kind of randomly and I don't think we - as readers that do not possess the mental capacity of the Dead Man - can ever think what will happen next and what's the reason behind it all.
This is the first book in Garrett P.I. series that I didn't necessarily enjoy. Throughout the whole story I felt like all events happened somewhere around Garrett but not exactly to him -- or that he had any importance whatsoever. There wasn't too much place for any detective work, no deductive/inductive skills were ever required, Garrett just repeatedly got beaten up pretty badly. Not my kind of character development!
After all, you just end up thinking, 'what the hell has just happened?'. For me, there was definitely too much pondering the meaninglessness of religion, and not enough Garrett substance we all showed up for.
This is the first book in Garrett P.I. series that I didn't necessarily enjoy. Throughout the whole story I felt like all events happened somewhere around Garrett but not exactly to him -- or that he had any importance whatsoever. There wasn't too much place for any detective work, no deductive/inductive skills were ever required, Garrett just repeatedly got beaten up pretty badly. Not my kind of character development!
After all, you just end up thinking, 'what the hell has just happened?'. For me, there was definitely too much pondering the meaninglessness of religion, and not enough Garrett substance we all showed up for.
skredlitheogre's review
5.0
This is my absolute favorite of the Garrett Files. This is the one I've read the most. It has a great sense of humor, which I just love. I'll admit that the "villain's" plot isn't that great, but still, this book is a lot of fun. I met Mr. Cook at Mile-Hi Con 2011 and this was the book I took to get autographed.
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