Okay, I concede, the book got better.

[kyrielle]

I finished Callahan's Con. In one night, yes, and skimming chunks - large chunks. Around page 175 or so, I think it was, the plot actually picks up, and the book becomes much more interesting. It's still fluff and not half as pleasing as the original books, but it's much more pleasing and less annoying fluff, as having a plot keeps Spider from obsessing over the trivial details to such a point that it kills them. Really, a page can only hold so many punchlines before it's a punch, and he botched the balance badly at the start of the thing.

I enjoyed the last 75 pages of the book enough for the price of admission (that being no money and my entire evening). Just, but I did.

Tomorrow I have a game. I suppose I ought to return this book on my way to or from work in the next couple days. It's been a while since I had no books checked out at the library - I tend to swap them off - but that would do it.

Comments

[penguinzero.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Callahan's Con yet, but I've come to some conclusions over his past few books. First, that he works better with the short story form than the novel -- it gives him less room to wander indulgently. And second, that he's at his best when he's not given a chance to proselytize for something he, personally, finds wonderful, be it microwave-roasted coffee, ovens and fridges that exchange heat, or Key West. Because when he does that, his characters tend to lose their distinctiveness, and become cheerfully agreeing mouthpieces for him. And it gets a little wearying to see the same sentiments repeated almost verbatim by different characters in different books (for instance, microwave-roasted coffee in both The Free Lunch and one of the Callahan's books, I forget which...).

But when he's on, he's great. I was rereading bits of the original three stories a little while back, and they're still as fun as ever. If he could just more consistently recapture that spirit...

[kyrielle]

Yeah. I think that pretty well covers it indeed....

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Coolness. Glad it turned out to better than you thought it would be, right?

*hugs*