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Apr. 1st, 2003 06:29 am
The Clock Maker; Revised Opinion Of
Hrm.
I first read this while half-asleep. Perhaps I should have continued in that vein.
I re-read this last night while awake, and I'm not as impressed on a second read.
The art is damned good; though not a style I'm usually fond of, it works for the story. The story, though . . . well, I'll give it an issue or two more, but if it doesn't improve, I'm bailing.
The book has some serious narrative gaps that seem intended to heighten the mystery, but which only make me think the characters are retarded. Lars tells Astrid about the Clock, but she seems to understand what he's saying far more than anyone reading it could be reasonably expected to. How Astrid understood anything about the clock is beyond me. Ok, God told Lars to build it. Something in it killed her dad and brother. Yeah. Ok. Can we get some complete sentences and complete thoughts now instead of what appears to be dialogue that's been randomly editted to remove the point?
I dislike stories which attempt to create mystery by simply being obtuse. Gaiman is a master of creating mystery but still telling you things that make sense. The writer of The Clock Maker is no Gaiman. Two issues in I not only still don't know what the hell is going on, I'm not sure I care.
The book also needs an editor capable of catching things like the instances where your and you're are confused. That kind of error has no place in a professional publication.
I first read this while half-asleep. Perhaps I should have continued in that vein.
I re-read this last night while awake, and I'm not as impressed on a second read.
The art is damned good; though not a style I'm usually fond of, it works for the story. The story, though . . . well, I'll give it an issue or two more, but if it doesn't improve, I'm bailing.
The book has some serious narrative gaps that seem intended to heighten the mystery, but which only make me think the characters are retarded. Lars tells Astrid about the Clock, but she seems to understand what he's saying far more than anyone reading it could be reasonably expected to. How Astrid understood anything about the clock is beyond me. Ok, God told Lars to build it. Something in it killed her dad and brother. Yeah. Ok. Can we get some complete sentences and complete thoughts now instead of what appears to be dialogue that's been randomly editted to remove the point?
I dislike stories which attempt to create mystery by simply being obtuse. Gaiman is a master of creating mystery but still telling you things that make sense. The writer of The Clock Maker is no Gaiman. Two issues in I not only still don't know what the hell is going on, I'm not sure I care.
The book also needs an editor capable of catching things like the instances where your and you're are confused. That kind of error has no place in a professional publication.