Review: The good was great, the uneven pace and repetitions, not so much
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 21, 2014
I loved most of this huge story, was taken by surprise frequently and never knew how things were going to go. Never. The possibility of the unlikely coming-together of a lizard theocrat and a lost human woman became real, romantic and quite moving throughout. What I loved was amazing. Amazing. Truly. But there was too much extraneous, repetitive material that slowed the pace and dulled the story down for too-long stretches.The amazing:1) A simply extrordinary world the author created, down to the lizard language, religion, customs, protocals, history, apocalypse, body language, often involving spines, the harsh environment, the wildness of the wilderness, all of it was mesmerizing to read. What a mind, what an imagination! I"m stunned stupid by this, as have been so many others.2) a completely believeable, endearing hero who is nevertheless a lizard on two legs. Studly, yes. Wry sense of humor, also yes. Loved him and reading his perspective each and every time. In fact his world, culture, role as Striding Foot of Sheul, etc. was absolutely engrossing. It seemed to click right along, too.3) the heroine was not Lara Croft Tomb Raider, but a bitchy, mouthy, pudgy real woman who'd been handed a s*** sandwich for lunch most of her life and decided she and her sister were better off colonizing a distant planet than remaining in their dead-end lives on earth. I admired her, I rooted for her and wished she weren't so noble, but bully for her.4) a believable, sigh-worthy romance between almost-unbelievable opposites from opposite ends of the universe, no less. Or do I mean galaxy...? You get it. All they had in common was being carbon-based life forms. Seriously. How this came off so well, with a couple I fell in love with, amazes me. Both won me over completely. Meoraq especially. And I cared deeply how it would end for them.4) detestable villains, an egotistical self-proclaimed leader of the planetary castaways, Scott; her useless, parasitical younger sister; and the other humans who don't stand up to the little prick. They were pretty one-dimensional but Amber's raider/captor was nuanced, treacherous and unpredictable.5) the twists and turns in the plot, I never knew what would happen and often dreaded what might happen.6) Wry humor throughout, not just in smart aleck Amber's dialogue but in Meoraq's perspective on human speech, behavior and other oddities. Very droll and well observed. And when the author chose to write beautiful passages, as with the first sight of the ocean, the writiing itself was a rare pleasure.7) the surprising ambition of the story to explore what might happen when one's faith or lack of faith in one's God/world view/closely-held prejudices are toppled.The not-so-amazing:1) Far too much repetition: too-simillar scenes, arguments, dynamics bogged the narrative down and bored me too much of the time. Hunting saoqs in the wilderness day after day?  How many nasty fat-cow conversations do I need to read during which Amber is arguing one thing and she's attacked for her heft by the turd-like men in the survivors' group? Not nearly as many as there were. How many times do I have to read about Amber putting up with her sister's selfish helplessness before things shift? A dozen times, maybe more, it would seem. Repeated scenes that make and remake the same points grew tiresome and slowed the narration. Amber was an appealing gal despite her chronic blind spots. Fortunately, Meoraq's point of view stood in for mine so some of my frustration found vent wonderfully well that way.2) most villains had no depth, except for the rapist/slaver/raider who captured Amber. He was fascinating and scary. We learn about his past and, though he's become a sadistic criminal, we understand how his life formed him and feel an ambivalence toward him that made him sympathetic as well as frightening, a chilling combination. Scott, in contrast, was a cartoonish, self-important little prick start to finish, I never learned why or cared. The rest of the Donner-ish party are sheep, afraid of and resentful of Amber's independence and courage. They ostracize her but she always rises above what they do to her (which became another reptition I found irksome).Generally, the conflict between humans played out essentially the same over and over. Amber saves their asses, they kick her in the ass in return.I enjoyed reading this but I would've loved it a lot more if there had been a lot less of the 'yet again.' If more tightly edited, the story would've had a relentless, breathtaking pace, relieved only by the calm-before-the-storm-ish, what-the-hell-is-going-to-happen-next dread of knowing somehow something bad was just around the corner. (The author comes up with doozies!) Since I won't be tackling this for a re-read, it's not 5 stars for me; however, it's a glorious tale well worth the time.