The Sword and Laser discussion

Discussion seems to have dried up quite early for this book. Is that because so many of you had read it before this month?

I really enjoyed the book, for it's world-building and the great cast of characters. I found that I didn't mind that it was 'plot-light' because I was enjoying just passing the time of day with the crew.

There were a few moments that didn't seem terribly well executed though. (Tagged as spoilers, just in case.)

(view spoiler)[After buiding up Rosemary's mysterious past (we know from the outset that her ID is fake and that she's running from something) the reveal of her circumstances and then it's dismissal as irrelevant really seemed to be under-played. Given that it was a source of tension for so long, it deserved a more substantial resolution. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Similarly, Corbin's decision to give Ohan the 'cure' for his condition, against his will was a shocking moment - all kinds of violation and personal boundaries crossed - but it felt like there were no consequences for his actions? (hide spoiler)]

Those were the ones that stuck out for me. You probably have your own examples.

I was reminded of a question that's often asked on the Writing Excuses podcast. Has the author kept her promises to the reader? In these areas, I think not.

Still a good read overall though, despite my nit-picking.

Agree on both. The second one in particular put me off, and I was pretty set on a 5 star rating until then.

I agree on both as well and that the promises made to the reader were not met.

(view spoiler)[The secret was made out to be a big deal very early on in the book. It coming out a little over half way into the book and resolved more or less immediately very much broke the promise that this was a big deal that was going to cause problems for her when it came out. Instead, they were upset that she lied and didn't really care about the secret itself. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[They had made a big deal about what he did to Ohan being wrong. Again, it was promptly swept under the rug. (hide spoiler)]

I read many a book where I hated all the characters, but enjoyed the plot/story/etc. This book was the complete opposite. It definitely was a long, enjoyable journey with disappointing destinations.

it's not a book that hinges on plot. At all. For people who need or want a plot structure to hang the story on, this was never going to be more than an OK read. I'm not saying that you all shouldn't be disappointed or shouldn't downrate it if that's your personal criterion for a good book, just that it didn't intend to be plot driven so on its own terms it didn't fail at that.

On the issues above...

(view spoiler)[ I wonder if the point with Rosemary's secret was that it really doesn't matter as much when people get to know you and appreciate you for who you are.

On what Corbin did - that did feel like it should have had more consequences. Unlike others I don't think it was a simple decision - the argument of "but Ohan's choice!" can be countered with "Ohan was not in his right mind and was being influenced by the disease" which sets up some very interesting dynamics.

(hide spoiler)]

However, for a first novel? Not going to complain about those too much.

About the first one. I thought it was in line with the rest of the book. (view spoiler)[Rosemary was scared and ashamed of her past. It defined her (in her eyes). Yet to the rest of the crew, it wasn't important. So all of the build up was in her own head but wasn't ever "real" outside of that context.

And after, since it "wasn't a thing", it kinda just went away. I liked that. (hide spoiler)]

So reading through these posts has helped me solidify why I didn't love the book. There isn't much of a plot, which is fine I like books that don't have much of a plot all the time. But there's no real character growth or development either. The characters are well drawn but ultimately flat and non-dynamic. The book contains neither an inner journey nor an outer journey and thus is just kind of.... there. In fact most of the big character scenes are either brushed over and ignored (Rosemary) or happen offscreen (the Ohan thing).