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kilroyPrint date: 1988 (20s: 1, 50s: 1, 60s: 2, 70s: 7, 80s: 7, 90s: 5, 00s: 12)
This is apparently not a good year for me and funny books. For me you either need to create a universe with a sense or imagination and whimsy (Hitch-Hiker's) or have well-developed characters (Discworld) for a comedy book to take. Merely having a funny premise isn't enough for me anymore-- and that's exactly where this book falls.
Basically, it's complete and only schtick is "We have Vikings in the modern era." The author also manages to undermine himself by making one of the themes that Vikings are actually pretty close to modern people and that we aren't that far from Vikings. This minimizes the funny you get from the outsider routine and that's pretty much the only place the funny comes from. If the author had gone far enough in the other direction that actually would have worked-- with sufficiently well-rounded characters, seeing them bridge the gap between the two eras would be fascinating. But the characters aren't well-rounded. They're like caricatures of caricatures.
Putting aside the funny for a moment, the book is weakly plotted and executed as well. There are basically two modern characters in the book, one of whom is about as useful to the story as an inflamed appendix. The end of the book actually skips over both the getting to and the fighting of the epic final battle, which of course ends in a tremendous (and unfunny) anticlimax. It felt like there was another third of the book left on the editing room floor that we desperately needed back.
In its favor, the book was readable and light. The dialogue was fairly witty, and the comedy comes in a steady stream even if I think it was a little weak. This is the kind of book you want to read on an airplane, something that doesn't require your full concentration but is just a fluffy distraction for a while. Now that I've been distracted, though, I think it's time to move on to other things.
Verdict: Recycle. (21/62 keepers)
Page count: 206 (12173 total)
Completed: 35 (17 female authors, 18 male authors)
Rejected: 27 (15 male authors, 12 female authors)
Next book due: Sun. 11/28
This is apparently not a good year for me and funny books. For me you either need to create a universe with a sense or imagination and whimsy (Hitch-Hiker's) or have well-developed characters (Discworld) for a comedy book to take. Merely having a funny premise isn't enough for me anymore-- and that's exactly where this book falls.
Basically, it's complete and only schtick is "We have Vikings in the modern era." The author also manages to undermine himself by making one of the themes that Vikings are actually pretty close to modern people and that we aren't that far from Vikings. This minimizes the funny you get from the outsider routine and that's pretty much the only place the funny comes from. If the author had gone far enough in the other direction that actually would have worked-- with sufficiently well-rounded characters, seeing them bridge the gap between the two eras would be fascinating. But the characters aren't well-rounded. They're like caricatures of caricatures.
Putting aside the funny for a moment, the book is weakly plotted and executed as well. There are basically two modern characters in the book, one of whom is about as useful to the story as an inflamed appendix. The end of the book actually skips over both the getting to and the fighting of the epic final battle, which of course ends in a tremendous (and unfunny) anticlimax. It felt like there was another third of the book left on the editing room floor that we desperately needed back.
In its favor, the book was readable and light. The dialogue was fairly witty, and the comedy comes in a steady stream even if I think it was a little weak. This is the kind of book you want to read on an airplane, something that doesn't require your full concentration but is just a fluffy distraction for a while. Now that I've been distracted, though, I think it's time to move on to other things.
Verdict: Recycle. (21/62 keepers)
Page count: 206 (12173 total)
Completed: 35 (17 female authors, 18 male authors)
Rejected: 27 (15 male authors, 12 female authors)
Next book due: Sun. 11/28