Paul Wight
I really wanted to like this book, to immerse myself in it. However, the frequent long sections where the author doesn't get around to telling the reader what the heck he's talking about are a huge turnoff. Looong passages about some idea that has some into some character's mind, but the reader has no idea. Looong passages about the solution to some problem, and though the problem is clear, the solution is once again a secret in a character's imagination. Looong passages consisting of unfinished sentences and fragmented thoughts. I think the problem lies, in part, in the author assuming a shared context with the reader. I understand that his future works have the benefit of greater writing experience, and thus hopefully may avoid these pitfalls. However, assuming the reader knows what you mean when you haven't WRITTEN what you mean is a highschool-level mistake. It is clear, too, that part of this assumed common context between writer and reader comes from an assumed USAmerican-ness. Every author in the English language needs to recognise how widespread this language is, and write with a view to the diversity of the potential readership. This book, this author, fails to do so. Fails badly. We shouldn't have to keep cross-referencing obscure references to US history just to understand the characters and the events of this story. If the historical references are important to the narrative, then they should be explained in the text.
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