God this book was dire. Ok plot, but the actual prose stunk. Collier obviously learnt his lesson by the time he wrote the Taint though
I agree that the Taint is less mind-numbingly tedious than Longest Day, but that's about all I can say in its favour. Well, that and the fact it introduces Fitz.
And I didn't think Longest Day's plot was any better than everything else about it. In fact I can't remember any plot - just the usual mix of bug-eyed monsters, super-weapons and time distortions.
Classics of BBC prose, No. 5642951:
"Yet he was sure she was female. Her bones were small, she had a thin waist, her chest was clearly designed for suckling the young."
Look, if it doesn't mention that the thorax is of a different construction, don't complain...
The old 'let's have lots of characters and kill them in lots of ways to show how killing is, um, something or other'. The real downer is that Sam finally disappears but you just know the Doctor is going to go looking for her.
The time trees seemed even more stupid here than in 'Genocide'. There was no real flow to the book. It was a lot of set pieces cobbled together and giving the appearance that the author killed everyone in them because he couldn't think of any other way to end each thread.
Or because the characters were BEGGING him for death. Who wouldn't, stuck in a book like this.
'For on a ten-hour flight I failed to finish the book, which was so turgid that it has inspired me to coin a brand new antisuperlative: "putdownable"' - at last, a DWM review I can actually agree with.
'An index of the sheer meaninglessness of Longest Day is the way that the reader can seize upon the reappearance of a device as ludicrous as the Time Trees as a reassuring and understandable presence' - well, let's not go THAT far...
Kate Orman nominates a line from THIS as the best moment in the EDAs? 'He'd probably sacrifice himself for a ladybird; all life was sacred to him' - well, that's just STUPID. He hasn't even made up his mind whether he's a vegetarian! Sure, he sacrifices himself for a cat in Dying Days, but...that's a CAT.
Kate Orman nominates a line from THIS as the best moment in the EDAs? 'He'd probably sacrifice himself for a ladybird; all life was sacred to him' - well, that's just STUPID. He hasn't even made up his mind whether he's a vegetarian! Sure, he sacrifices himself for a cat in Dying Days, but...that's a CAT.
Also, he was pretty pissed-off about the whole sacrificing-himself-for-Wilf fiasco, if he very nearly drew the line at BERNARD CRIBBINS, he's DEFINITELY gonna draw the line at a sodding ladybird.