Monday, July 31, 2006

Kingdom of Cages

By Sarah Zettel.

The characters are interesting and fairly realistic, but the plot is seriously flawed. Certain events are only barely implied to have happened.

A civilization that has space elevators and faster than light travel and even penicillin but not vaccines (Jenner, Pasteur, 1800s, et al) is not convincing. Chena, Teal, Tam, and Dionte are all interesting and rounded in some way, but the author seems to drop the ball later in the book, especially with other characters such as Aleph, who had potential but ended up seeming rather flat. Dionte too showed only hints of goodness--she was perhaps too far gone and too certain of herself to show any more. The ending was somewhat vague and, as I said, only implied the resolution of some important plot points because it isn't clear how the story would have finished if they hadn't been resolved.

Still, I guess I finished the book, and that says something. I'm not sure what, though.

Check out the cover art, it's pretty nice and has only metaphorical applicability to the story.

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