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Jun. 8th, 2011 01:53 pmRead the first two novels in Thomas E. Sniegoski's Remy Chandler series. As examples of a genre that I mostly enjoy, paranormal private eye stories, I found them very frustrating. There's a good story in there somewhere, and Sniegoski isn't a bad writer, but the books were flawed in plot and character -- the books kept me engaged enough to have to keep going, but aggravated enough that it hurt to do so.
First of all, the protagonist Remy Chandler (aka Remiel the Seraphim) is a boring, emo mess. He's allegedly a sleuth, but he doesn't do a lot of sleuthing as much as he mopes his way from ambush to setup to ambush to pointless conversation with characters that are so obviously the "surprise" villain or doublecrossing finks they might as well have it printed on their forehead in glowing block letters. Yes, the fact that he has an aged human wife dying of cancer does give him some interesting dimensionality, but it also provides for way, way too much "woe is me" melodrama. You know how it goes. She was what made life worth living. She was what kept him human. Now she is dying, but he is immortal. I've seen this conflict written before, and better -- I hate to say it, but in parts it reminded me very strongly of second rate Highlander fanfiction (only with less gay sex).
One of the primary conflicts in the series is his fight against his "angel nature" and his desire to be human -- but it's his "angel nature" that allows him to be anything more than a punching bag, and therefore the books take on the weary formulaic grind of the old Incredible Hulk TV series, only instead of green skin and purple shorts Remy spends his time trying to keep his inner monster from manifesting great big wings and a golden breastplate until he fails and Lou Ferrigno throws some crates around in slow motion.
The supporting cast is interesting and fun, and I give Sniegoski full points for that, but the problem is that they regularly outshine the putative protagonist. Hell, even the dog Marlowe is less wearisome (And yes, Sniegoski named his hero "Chandler", and he's got a dog named "Marlowe". If I were writing a dictionary, this might just be my definition of "hubris").
I give the two books somewhere between a C and C+.
First of all, the protagonist Remy Chandler (aka Remiel the Seraphim) is a boring, emo mess. He's allegedly a sleuth, but he doesn't do a lot of sleuthing as much as he mopes his way from ambush to setup to ambush to pointless conversation with characters that are so obviously the "surprise" villain or doublecrossing finks they might as well have it printed on their forehead in glowing block letters. Yes, the fact that he has an aged human wife dying of cancer does give him some interesting dimensionality, but it also provides for way, way too much "woe is me" melodrama. You know how it goes. She was what made life worth living. She was what kept him human. Now she is dying, but he is immortal. I've seen this conflict written before, and better -- I hate to say it, but in parts it reminded me very strongly of second rate Highlander fanfiction (only with less gay sex).
One of the primary conflicts in the series is his fight against his "angel nature" and his desire to be human -- but it's his "angel nature" that allows him to be anything more than a punching bag, and therefore the books take on the weary formulaic grind of the old Incredible Hulk TV series, only instead of green skin and purple shorts Remy spends his time trying to keep his inner monster from manifesting great big wings and a golden breastplate until he fails and Lou Ferrigno throws some crates around in slow motion.
The supporting cast is interesting and fun, and I give Sniegoski full points for that, but the problem is that they regularly outshine the putative protagonist. Hell, even the dog Marlowe is less wearisome (And yes, Sniegoski named his hero "Chandler", and he's got a dog named "Marlowe". If I were writing a dictionary, this might just be my definition of "hubris").
I give the two books somewhere between a C and C+.
