A review by shipwrecksteph
Gloom Town by Ronald L. Smith
3.0
I'm of two minds about this book.
On the one hand, I like the characters and setting. I want to read more adventures with them. I want to see what their next steps are. But the narrative has a very odd flow.
There are multiples turns to the story. It's not that the surprises are too much out of left field. But when there's three narrative turns, their placement will almost necessarily be awkward. The climax and long epilogue make this feel more like a prologue to an already existing story rather than a stand alone.
Much of the tension also has an odd balance. The protagonists are young. And given the rules of the world, there's a limit to what they can conceivably do. But they should still have some agency over what happens in order for there to be a victory. Instead, the main plot resolution is practically an accident, a trinket ex machina. Given their cleverness and how hard they worked, I felt the deserved better.
On the one hand, I like the characters and setting. I want to read more adventures with them. I want to see what their next steps are. But the narrative has a very odd flow.
There are multiples turns to the story. It's not that the surprises are too much out of left field. But when there's three narrative turns, their placement will almost necessarily be awkward. The climax and long epilogue make this feel more like a prologue to an already existing story rather than a stand alone.
Much of the tension also has an odd balance. The protagonists are young. And given the rules of the world, there's a limit to what they can conceivably do. But they should still have some agency over what happens in order for there to be a victory. Instead, the main plot resolution is practically an accident, a trinket ex machina. Given their cleverness and how hard they worked, I felt the deserved better.