Red by Jordan Summers
Dec. 29th, 2008 11:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gategrrlBack on November 11th, John Scalzi featured this book and an interview with its author on his blog. Now, it sounded like it had a cool premise, and a very nice cover (which Scalzi featured for a few weeks on his menu side-bar), and I finally saw it and picked it up yesterday.
I didn't read the cover details before I bought it, but I guess I figured it wouldn't be a problem. It's labeled on the spine as "Paranormal Romance". I have read some good paranormal romance in my time-mostly Susan Krinard's work up until a few years ago, when it became difficult to find any new books by her.
Anyhow, onward to Red. Go ahead and read the article by the author. Now, I'll be the first to say that her premise is very cool sounding. The problem is, although the setting is set in an apocalyptic future, and there's a Romance there (or else it wouldn't earn the designation "paranormal romance", now would it?) Summers focus is mixed. I think it's a case of a story wanting to be something else, but having to fit into a romance slot. This sort of SF requires deft information dumping, and serious choosing of details. There are details about characters that really have little to do with the main thrust of the story. (get it? thrust?)
I'm editing to add this paragraph: SERIOUS rape trigger warning for this book. The very first chapter opens with the first person POV of a rapist-killer-cannibal chasing his prey, a young woman, through a forest. And it doesn't happen just the once, it happens AGAIN later on in the book. I was able to read this because unlike the movies, I can get through written rape scenes.
Summer's exposition leaves a lot to be desired, as does the world she sets her characters in. The set-up came across as an excuse for a supernatural were-wolf society in a science fiction setting. But, with her premise, Summers could have done the werewolf trope differently, since she bases it in science. But nope, it's the usual trope you can find in any one of a dozen Urban Fantasy books on the shelves these days.
The style isn't exactly easy to read as I would have expected in a paranormal romance. I don't mean simplistic, either, using small words. I mean, there was a lot of unnecessary description, adjectives and character description. I consider those to be newbie mistakes, but, looking at Summers' Amazon page she's clearly not.
Unlike in Kim Harrison's Morgan the Witch series, which I've also reviewed, I do give Summers kudos for trying to give a carry-through of what happens when a fair amount of the world has been decimated by a world war (inexplicably set in 2010) 150 years after the fact. She does try, but is hobbled by the requirements of the romance. Things happen because they Must because the two main characters are destined.
She also uses a first person point of view for one of her characters (a serial killer) in order, I suppose, to ratchet the suspense up, but that tactic doesn't succeed. I'd much rather have spent more time with the male hero and the female hero trying to figure out what was going on in a logical manner. Again, the mixing of too many genres messed the pace up. Now there's Mystery, Science Fiction dystopia AND some weird genetic engineering stuff going on as WELL as a hammer pounding into the reader about Pure Blooded humans being better than genetically engineered ex-soldiers. Or something like that. Somewhere in there is the romance.
Yeah, the book is a thematic and narrative mess, and the writing could have been tightened up a lot more, and the story made to run more smoothly by dropping the first person point of view, and focusing more on the main characters while also giving them more personality.
My other objection is the lack of logical character development with the main female character. The question posed by the author on Scalzi's blog, and on the cover of the book is, What if Red Riding Hood was *also* the wolf? Unfortunately, that's never really answered in a direct scene. We only know SHE doesn't remember ever changing into a wolf, which in this book is a bone-popping, painful experience and that's an emotional cheat. She ever experiences being a werewolf herself. She's ignorant and stupid. She's a hunter with the police of that era, given no respect in her cadre, and for heaven's sake, when you see her crying and breaking down for the Nth time, it's no wonder. She doesn't have any of the hard edges you'd expect from a military officer who kills people on a routine basis. Her personality and character simply don't track.
Would anyone like mycopy of this book? I'd like to hear other opinions. It sucks that there was a good premise not living up to its promise. I just want to be sure my estimation of it is accurate.
I didn't read the cover details before I bought it, but I guess I figured it wouldn't be a problem. It's labeled on the spine as "Paranormal Romance". I have read some good paranormal romance in my time-mostly Susan Krinard's work up until a few years ago, when it became difficult to find any new books by her.
Anyhow, onward to Red. Go ahead and read the article by the author. Now, I'll be the first to say that her premise is very cool sounding. The problem is, although the setting is set in an apocalyptic future, and there's a Romance there (or else it wouldn't earn the designation "paranormal romance", now would it?) Summers focus is mixed. I think it's a case of a story wanting to be something else, but having to fit into a romance slot. This sort of SF requires deft information dumping, and serious choosing of details. There are details about characters that really have little to do with the main thrust of the story. (get it? thrust?)
I'm editing to add this paragraph: SERIOUS rape trigger warning for this book. The very first chapter opens with the first person POV of a rapist-killer-cannibal chasing his prey, a young woman, through a forest. And it doesn't happen just the once, it happens AGAIN later on in the book. I was able to read this because unlike the movies, I can get through written rape scenes.
Summer's exposition leaves a lot to be desired, as does the world she sets her characters in. The set-up came across as an excuse for a supernatural were-wolf society in a science fiction setting. But, with her premise, Summers could have done the werewolf trope differently, since she bases it in science. But nope, it's the usual trope you can find in any one of a dozen Urban Fantasy books on the shelves these days.
The style isn't exactly easy to read as I would have expected in a paranormal romance. I don't mean simplistic, either, using small words. I mean, there was a lot of unnecessary description, adjectives and character description. I consider those to be newbie mistakes, but, looking at Summers' Amazon page she's clearly not.
Unlike in Kim Harrison's Morgan the Witch series, which I've also reviewed, I do give Summers kudos for trying to give a carry-through of what happens when a fair amount of the world has been decimated by a world war (inexplicably set in 2010) 150 years after the fact. She does try, but is hobbled by the requirements of the romance. Things happen because they Must because the two main characters are destined.
She also uses a first person point of view for one of her characters (a serial killer) in order, I suppose, to ratchet the suspense up, but that tactic doesn't succeed. I'd much rather have spent more time with the male hero and the female hero trying to figure out what was going on in a logical manner. Again, the mixing of too many genres messed the pace up. Now there's Mystery, Science Fiction dystopia AND some weird genetic engineering stuff going on as WELL as a hammer pounding into the reader about Pure Blooded humans being better than genetically engineered ex-soldiers. Or something like that. Somewhere in there is the romance.
Yeah, the book is a thematic and narrative mess, and the writing could have been tightened up a lot more, and the story made to run more smoothly by dropping the first person point of view, and focusing more on the main characters while also giving them more personality.
My other objection is the lack of logical character development with the main female character. The question posed by the author on Scalzi's blog, and on the cover of the book is, What if Red Riding Hood was *also* the wolf? Unfortunately, that's never really answered in a direct scene. We only know SHE doesn't remember ever changing into a wolf, which in this book is a bone-popping, painful experience and that's an emotional cheat. She ever experiences being a werewolf herself. She's ignorant and stupid. She's a hunter with the police of that era, given no respect in her cadre, and for heaven's sake, when you see her crying and breaking down for the Nth time, it's no wonder. She doesn't have any of the hard edges you'd expect from a military officer who kills people on a routine basis. Her personality and character simply don't track.
Would anyone like mycopy of this book? I'd like to hear other opinions. It sucks that there was a good premise not living up to its promise. I just want to be sure my estimation of it is accurate.
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Date: 2008-12-30 12:07 am (UTC)Now that is an intriguing premise. So that was never really adressed? Either directly or metaphorically?
You'll have to excuse me for being way out of touch as my life SUCKS right now, but I think I would be interested in looking at this considering one of my next projects - which I'll be working on sooner than later I think - deals with mixed genres and some topics that you mentioned in this post. It makes it more revelant to me.
The whole second to last paragraph sounds very romance trope to me. I still think there has to be a way of blending a good healthy romance element into a plotty scifi/fantasy world.