Review: Reading this book without the background of the prior book is not satisfying
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 19, 2012
"All who wander are lost" is the second Icarus Fell novel. I haven't read the first one, which may account for my three star rating; actually I would have given it a two star rating, but I'm adjusting upwards in order to "handicap" starting midway in the series.Because I started on the second book, this review is going to be from the perspective of someone who hasn't read the first book. Sometimes - often  - this isn't a problem because later books in a series usually recapitulates enough of the essential background from the first book - or the detailes of prior books aren't essential to the enjoyment of subsequent books - that a reader can dive in and pick up the threads.  This can whet the appetite for the earler books. Or later books can reflect more of the value of the story as the writer has worked through the "freshman jitters."That wasn't the case with "All Who Wander Are Lost" ("AWWAL"), which seemed like more of the second part of a longer novel.  The main character is Icarus Fell, aka "Ric," although the angels who he hangs out with or works for refuse to call him anything but "Icarus."  Icarus hangs out with/works for angels because (a) he's dead and (b) he's a harvester.  We only get allusions to his death - killed by muggers near a tree - and his job as a harvester - he leads the separated souls to a warehouse where real angels take the soul to heaven.Working opposite him are "carrion" who lead souls to Hell, apparently without regard to whether they have done any of the conventional things that normally get souls damned. Apparently, whether a soul goes to Heaven or Hell depends on who gets their first - the carrion or Icarus. How this makes any sense is not explained in this book.Icarus is a kind of whiny, guilt-wracked guy.  Because he slacked off work, several souls went to Hell. He wants to get those souls back.  His guardian angel, Poe, refuses to take him there, so another supernatural being shows up, claims to be his replacement, becomes his girlfriend and takes him to Hell. Icarus wanders through Hell, where apparently everyone is substantial and able to affect his living body.  Out of the billions in Hell, he runs into his lost friends.  We find out that the Angel of Death is actually his father. He runs into his mother several times, although she died giving birth to him. His guardian angel and son follow Icarus to Hell to rescue. Poe is known by "herds" of the damned on the plains of Hell, perhaps because she took them to Hell, but why then do they try to save her from a demon?  Icarus comes to resent and hate his guardian angel for being insufficiently tough with him and with being a former carrion. His son gets rescued from Hell.  Icarus leaves his guardian angel in Hell.None of it made particular sense or caused me to make any particular investment in Icarus.  Like a said, Icarus seemed whiny and judgmental. Perhaps he had a reason to resent his guardian angel, but it wasn't clear why that would be the case.  Perhaps the first book explains the relationship between the parties or the logic of the "economy of salvation" envisioned in AWWAL, which is neither "Faith Alone" or "works righteousness" but seems to be a variant of "finders keepers."AWWAL is clearly setting up book 3 where Icarus rescues Poe from Hell.I've ordered the first book in the series.  I may read it for the purpose of seeing if that puts AWWAL into a better perspective.My short recommendation is don't start with AWWAL.