The Bad Book

The above quote is so true for me. But every now and then, you get a book that is more of a slog than real enjoyment. Now, you might ask why I would continue to read something that I’m not really enjoying and that’s a good question. Mostly because I still need to see how it all ends. Well that’s not exactly true. I strongly suspect it ends with the good guys winning and restoring the time line but they might toss in the “person who sacrifices themselves for the happy ending” so I need to keep reading.

I’ve got the e-reader and I’ve used it for many years but the one thing I don’t like is using it for shopping. Books by authors I’ve read and enjoyed before are easy but, when I can’t find one, it becomes a pain. I don’t know why but I like to pick up the books and read the quick description and maybe flip through a couple of pages to get a feel for it. Yes, I can sort of duplicate the process with the e-reader but it takes longer. It also makes it harder to do the other thing I like which is to just stare at the racks until a particular title or cover jumps out at me.

Anyway, this particular book is the last part of a continuing series (at least I think it is the last part). I haven’t read any of the previous stories so maybe this was a bad idea from the start. Figured I might be a little lost but, to be honest, even when I’ve read the previous stories, I tend to forget characters and other details when there is a big gap between books. So I thought it would be OK.

Not going to give you the title because this is just my opinion and your mileage my vary. To over simplify, it is about magic and includes time travel. The main characters messed up the time line and have to fix that while “saving” magic from some big threat.

So, what’s wrong with it.

First, it is much longer than it needs to be. There is far too much of the main characters getting into troublesome situations and these get drawn out far too long. You can be nearly 100% certain that they aren’t going to kill off a main character at the beginning of the book. So too much of the characters being trapped and then having to wait several pages before they inevitably figure a way out of the situation.

Secondly, this is one of those stories where the bad guys are always smarter and two steps ahead of the good guys. So almost everything becomes a trap of some kind. The good guys think they’ll sneak in somewhere but the villains already knew they were coming so they get caught and you are back to point 1. I know the good guys win at the end and we all want to see the villains go down so their last plan is the only one that actually works?? How does that happen? Luck?

There were a couple of unresolved relationships that sort of get resolved here. I’m glad I didn’t read the other books because the whole “will they or won’t they get together” is boring. I know others may get off on this but I don’t need to read this kind of drama.

I should mention that they did kill off one character so far but that was only to help resolve one of these relationships. That feels cheap to me.

Also, the good guys are dumb for other reasons. I know it is supposed to be heroic and brave to go back for someone or keep fighting but there are times when that is just dumb. Given the chance to cut their losses, they like to choose to risk it which always leads to a character being captured and then we are back at point 1 again.

I’m not really invested in these characters the way I am with other stories although I can’t say why. Sure, I want to see them win because you can’t even sort of root for the main villains as they have no redeeming qualities at all. In fact, they aren’t really that interesting. To be honest, if the one succeeded in destroying some magical barrier and causing all kinds of havoc, I don’t think I’d be that upset. It might actually be worth reading.

Anyway, so I’m stuck with this because there is just some part of me that can’t just walk away. I’ve invested a few hours in getting this far so I’m in it until the end.