Wen Spencer's "Endless Blue", #63
Jun. 21st, 2009 04:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katikatI freely admit that I was disappointed by this book. Spencer's "Ukiah Oregon" series was excellent and I think that it just set the bar too high for me. This book had a great idea and it was exactly the kind of scifi that I love: of the exploring kind, not the military kind. And the setting was intriguing too: a place that was set inside of a sphere instead of outside.
But, and there was a big but, the characters - and especially Paige Bailey. The perfect portrayal of a Mary-Sue. She excelled at everything, there was no exchange of information and experience between her and the newcomers from the Svoboda, it was her way or the highway and Turk and Mikhail simply trailed along like lost puppies. She demanded respect but she didn't have any for cultures outside of the Sargasso - the way she treated Turk with his awful experience as a Red proved it: she demanded that he changed his way of viewing the world right now this very second or else... And when someone dared to disagree with her, she yelled or even smacked him around. She definitely wasn't mine kind of a heroine and I think I will be more wary of Spencer's female characters from now on. Turk and Mikhail were interesting characters and it was too bad that Spencer didn't explore their relationship more.
Also, the ending was just too... smooth. I hoped for something bigger, for a greater showdown with Hardin.
Overall, I'm a bit disappointed. I expected much, much more.
But, and there was a big but, the characters - and especially Paige Bailey. The perfect portrayal of a Mary-Sue. She excelled at everything, there was no exchange of information and experience between her and the newcomers from the Svoboda, it was her way or the highway and Turk and Mikhail simply trailed along like lost puppies. She demanded respect but she didn't have any for cultures outside of the Sargasso - the way she treated Turk with his awful experience as a Red proved it: she demanded that he changed his way of viewing the world right now this very second or else... And when someone dared to disagree with her, she yelled or even smacked him around. She definitely wasn't mine kind of a heroine and I think I will be more wary of Spencer's female characters from now on. Turk and Mikhail were interesting characters and it was too bad that Spencer didn't explore their relationship more.
Also, the ending was just too... smooth. I hoped for something bigger, for a greater showdown with Hardin.
Overall, I'm a bit disappointed. I expected much, much more.
