The Dervish House
I should have known better. Every single time I pick up an Ian McDonald book I walk away in frustration. The Dervish House is no exception. Sure, some may sing it's praises, but I just couldn't get into it. It seemed to linger in places that didn't make sense and rush past characters and settings that I wanted to know more about. I found myself wanting to give up halfway though, because I couldn't get comfortable with his pacing.
Look, I'm not meaning to treat this book or author harshly. McDonald is a wonderful author. He's skilled in creating worlds, characters, and emotions. I just don't like him. This isn't to say that The Dervish House is a bad book and not worth the paper it's printed on. I simply didn't care for it. The book, in the eyes of another reader, may be excellent. On the basis of Science Fiction alone, McDonald is successful. He creates a 2027 Istanbul with ease. I felt that his rendering of Islamic fundamentalism along with emerging technology to be refreshing. It's an area most authors avoid because they aren't able to weave a story and tie it all together. He adds elements of fantasy by having his characters imagine djinn, faeries, and other mythical creatures. His ability to build relationships between the characters is also astonishingly good. I've praised lessor authors for attempting to do more with less in this department.
I guess I'm trying to say that this book is like Spumoni ice cream. You either love it or hate it. I happen to hate spumoni with a passion, but I can understand why it gets an honored place at the table. It's all about familiarity, taste, and preference. McDonald and I may be oil and water, but, dear readers, give him a shot anyway. He's one of my favorite authors that I don't like.
With that being said, I still have to rate this on the Hugo scale. The top three so far are this, Feed, and The One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I believe this topic deserves it's own post, so that will be around some time tomorrow.
My next book is kind of special. It was suggested to me on Twitter by a wonderful friend. After I said I didn't read it my mentions blew up. People were down right appalled. Yes, I'm reading A Prayer for Owen Meany.
I should have known better. Every single time I pick up an Ian McDonald book I walk away in frustration. The Dervish House is no exception. Sure, some may sing it's praises, but I just couldn't get into it. It seemed to linger in places that didn't make sense and rush past characters and settings that I wanted to know more about. I found myself wanting to give up halfway though, because I couldn't get comfortable with his pacing.
Look, I'm not meaning to treat this book or author harshly. McDonald is a wonderful author. He's skilled in creating worlds, characters, and emotions. I just don't like him. This isn't to say that The Dervish House is a bad book and not worth the paper it's printed on. I simply didn't care for it. The book, in the eyes of another reader, may be excellent. On the basis of Science Fiction alone, McDonald is successful. He creates a 2027 Istanbul with ease. I felt that his rendering of Islamic fundamentalism along with emerging technology to be refreshing. It's an area most authors avoid because they aren't able to weave a story and tie it all together. He adds elements of fantasy by having his characters imagine djinn, faeries, and other mythical creatures. His ability to build relationships between the characters is also astonishingly good. I've praised lessor authors for attempting to do more with less in this department.
I guess I'm trying to say that this book is like Spumoni ice cream. You either love it or hate it. I happen to hate spumoni with a passion, but I can understand why it gets an honored place at the table. It's all about familiarity, taste, and preference. McDonald and I may be oil and water, but, dear readers, give him a shot anyway. He's one of my favorite authors that I don't like.
With that being said, I still have to rate this on the Hugo scale. The top three so far are this, Feed, and The One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. I believe this topic deserves it's own post, so that will be around some time tomorrow.
My next book is kind of special. It was suggested to me on Twitter by a wonderful friend. After I said I didn't read it my mentions blew up. People were down right appalled. Yes, I'm reading A Prayer for Owen Meany.
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