Last night I got my birthday present off Jim The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun. Poetry, and lots of introductory/explanatory text. I normally struggle to enjoy poetry unless it's performed, although I'm actually kinda looking forward to reading it. I really ought to read more about old Norse mythology, maybe then I'd understand American Gods a bit better (seriously, I completely missed that Low Key was meant to be Loki... but that was stupidity rather than ignorance).
I also got hold of an Alistair Reynolds book second hand. I've heard lots of good things about him but have always rejected him in the past based on his covers looking too commercial and unified - makes the whole seem as if it will be formulaic. Reading it at the moment, storywise it's not bad, actually enjoying it. But. There's something not quite right. I hit on the actual problem on the train in.
He's writing for idiots.
There were forty cache-weapons in the chamber, though none exactly resembled any other. Yet in their general style of construction, a certain affinity was betrayed. each machine was cased in an alloy of a greenish-bronze hue. Though each of the devices was large enough to be a medium-sized spacecraft in its own right, none exhibited any indication that this was their function. There were no windows or access doors visible in what would be their hulls, no markings or communication systems. While some of the systems were studded with what might have been vernier jets, they were only there to assist in the moving around and positioning of the devices, much as a battleship was only there to assist in moving around and positioning its big guns.
Of course, that's exactly what the cache-devices were.
"Of course, that's exactly what the cache-devices were" - yes, we know, the FIFTH word of the prior paragraph was "weapon". The gunnery officer was being shown them. He describes them as being in a cache - a word which has strong association with weapons.
Reading the paragraph again, I'm astounded at how awful it is. It's full of good ideas and similies in theory. In practice though, it's clunky. It's too much. Its just eugh.
That's not the only paragraph or example - it's just the one where everything fell together and it clicked with me why I was feeling somewhat let down by the book. I'll finish it - the story and the ideas there are good. But the execution leaves a little something to be desired.
Alex
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