Review: Good Writing - Good Characters
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 06 19, 2013
I enjoyed reading "Never Too Far." I know that sounds underwhelming, but these days, that recognition of enjoyment comes as no small statement of praise. Recently, I have found that reading has often become a bit of a chore. Why? Well, I think with the new ease of publishing today, there are many "materials" being presented as books that are, in truth, no such thing. They are poorly formatted manuscripts, or paragraphs full of typos, or sentences that are grammatically challenged, or promising stories that head off the reservation, or all of the above. It's not that the works are worthless - most of the time they do have some merit, but they're not ready for prime time. And it is often left to the poor reader to fight through the author's shoddy mechanics to discover the worth of their "book." That's not the way it should be, but in our brave new Indie world, that is often the way it is."Never Too Far," on the other hand, was a pleasure to read. The mechanics were excellent. There were no format problems. The writing was terrific. The main characters and their growth, individually and as a couple, was done believably and well. Nevertheless, when I got to the end I felt unsatisfied. I think the book needs a bit more story than we are given in order to make the experience of reading the novel worth our time. In other words, the main characters were terrific, but the overall storyline they found themselves in wasn't quite up to their quality. The world they traveled through during their long journey was vivid, interesting, sometimes disturbing but, in the end, incomprehensible.The last third of the book felt rushed to me, at least from a plotting standpoint, and the end was abrupt. There doesn't seem to be an overall connected plot and there is little clarification at the end. Yes, the key relationship is clarified, I don't mean that, it's the world they find themselves in and the larger plot that I'm talking about. The long range future for this world seems black. The short range future for our characters also seems pretty dim, even though I think I'm supposed to feel hopeful there at the end. But I don't. I really don't. I mean, excuse me, we know what's ahead for our intrepid characters as they struggle to get back home (and now they have an additional burden). After all, we spent most of the book travelling in the other direction! They don't have water. They don't have supplies. They don't even have their paltry rifle anymore. They're in a dark forest crammed with heartless thieves just waiting to try and kill them again. And if our heroes get out of the forest in one piece there's still the killing desert and the lethal dust storms, etc., etc. There's no way in hell they're getting home.The other bone to pick with the author has to do with the characters' names. I mean, c'mon, a pregnant orphan girl named Mary travelling to a distant city with Joseph? Ouch. And in the city they meet a helpful black woman named Eve? Please.So, I thoroughly enjoyed the main characters (except for their names) and the wonderfully poignant and natural growth of their love for each other. I thought the journey the characters took across their world was very visual, exciting, and well told. The writing is smooth and memorable. I just wish the overarching storyline was more worthy of the otherwise fine level of writing.