O.R.S.: A soldier, a spy, and a tinker walk into an intergalactic plot and have to get themselves out, while saving the galactic empire. Once more, with humour. It is told through three perspectives.
In theory, this would be right up my alley, a space heist! Who doesn’t like spies. In space? You have the lovable rogue/ Hans Solo/ quasi-military guy Kovalic, the can’t-stand-you-can’t-stay-away ex-wife/boss Taylor, and the young brash upstart Eli–it’s like Joey’s jelly trifle from Friends, what’s not to like? But in this case, I didn’t find myself growing fond of the characters, perhaps because the story seemed to start in media res. They were rendered in a kind of shorthand that made it seem if the author thought we knew these folks already. Kind of like fan fiction. There was little depth to the dialogue, no surprises to the characters, which left a feeling of not much at stake. Despite the colourful antics. It felt a bit like listening to someone tell a story about high school prank with friends you don’t know, familiar while not meaningful. So, with the emotional investment taken out, it’s a lot of plot. Weirdly, a plot dense book like Robopocalypse, I didn’t mind, perhaps because it felt somehow like a rollercoaster, fairly tightly railed. Here, the popcorn-ness may have been a victim of fanboy enthusiasm mixed with a bit too much knotting or double-triple-flipping. In principle, I liked the idea of the characters so much, and what I imagine is the intent of the author, a kind of off-the-cuff-ness, but I couldn’t see the world and didn’t feel the heart. In practice, I hurried to the end, and I didn’t stick around for the post-credit scene. At least one testimonial compared him to John Le Carre, which is baffling, as Le Carre was all about characters and shades of grey, of challenging preconceived notions about morality and ideology. (May he rest in peace.) Perhaps more like his son, Nick Harkaway, whose books I also had a hard time falling into. Although Harkaway’s books seem to aspire to some deeper purpose. Which reminds me, perhaps time to retry Gnomon. Bayern Agenda felt like matinee entertainment that didn’t quite entertain. Not unlike the many workmanlike Netflix movies.
384p
If On a Winter's Night, a Traveler... 