Hugo Reading 2019: "The Invasion," by Peadar O'Guilin

This is the second book of the Call duology. I haven't read the first book, and to put it bluntly, this book is such a hot mess that I'm not going to pick it up. 

 

Problems. Where do we start? The big ones here are the characterization and the pacing. The pacing is the font from which all the other problems flow. Since this entire book is basically one big fight and chase scene, the author hardly has time to spend on his characters (although he doesn't seem much inclined to develop them anyway). I'm hitting hard on this because I just watched a program on Netflix, Springsteen on Broadway, that brings home everything this book is lacking. (This is not SFF, but bear with me.) Bruce Springsteen is a natural storyteller; if you haven't read his autobiography, you're missing out on a treat. You wouldn't think two hours alone on a stage, telling stories and singing songs, would hold an audience's attention, but it absolutely works. Why? Because Springsteen has a thorough understanding of dynamics, flow and pacing. He varies his pitch, speed and volume throughout the show; the arc of his stories bounces upward to a few shouted sentences, then down to whispers, and the overall effect is mesmerizing. This is exactly what this book is lacking, and 321 pages of (in effect) frenzied over-the-top running and shouting gets damned tiresome after a while. If there was any depth to the characters, this could be partially overcome, but calling them cardboard is being kind. In addition, there's little to no exploration of the worldbuilding, which had the potential to be interesting, if the author had given it room to breathe. 

 

Also, this book is far more a horror novel than it seems. In fact, if you have an aversion to body horror, you'd best not start reading this, because there is a lot of it. Far more than I would have expected for an ostensibly young-adult novel. I did finish the book, but because the characters failed to engage me, I really didn't care what happened to any of them. It's disappointing, because I think there could have been a good story here, if the author had taken a deep breath and slowed to a walk.

 

Hugo Reading 2019: "Tess of the Road," by Rachel Hartman

 

This book is a sort-of sequel to Seraphina and Shadow Scale, which introduced the country of Goredd and its dragon/human conflict. Tess Dombegh, the protagonist of this book, is the younger half sister of Seraphina, the half dragon/human who averted a war in the two earlier books. This book does not have stakes anywhere near that; it is the story of Tess's journey, both on the literal road and within, as she works through some PTSD and finds her own strength and sense of self-worth. 

 

It's a deep character study, and the inner journey is meant to match the journey on the road: one step forward and two steps back, sometimes meandering, sometimes running, following the detours wherever they lead, and finally, at the end, coming to a better place with hope for the future. Not all of Tess's problems are solved, and not all of her mistakes are forgiven. This is fine, as she ends up a stronger person, sure of who she is and looking forward to the challenges ahead. 

 

I liked it well enough, but it didn't knock my socks off. Maybe because in the two earlier books, Seraphina was a better-drawn and more interesting protagonist. This book also dragged in the middle and could have used some tightening up. The world opened up a bit, with the introduction of the World Lizards (basically a underground Goreddi version of Godzilla) that Tess's traveling companion, the quigutl Pathka (quigutls are smaller wingless cousins of this universe's dragons) is in search of. Unfortunately, the worldbuilding, the plotting in general, and the characterization is not enough to entice me to read further books about Tess.