Saturday 27 February 2021

Eoin Colfer: Deny All Charges (2020)

    Beckett and Lazuli must collaborate to find Myles and rescue him – not easy when it was Myles who was the brains of the operation. Their chase will take them across continents, deep underground, and into subaquatic super villain lairs (Goodreads).

    Continues the entertaining absurdity of the first, sometimes delving too much into the vein of too absurd (but that's classic Colfer). Better antagonists than the first, but overall it retains nearly of the initial charm, though still not quite up to par with the original series. Plenty of hilarious moments and a fast-paced diction that makes it easy to read, it nonetheless also has a few too many convenient happenstances and lightly explained lore that might have been better a tad more flushed out. Regardless, Colfer remains enjoyable and sticks to his well-established story formula. 8.0/10
 

Monday 8 February 2021

Douglas Adams: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul (1988)


    Amid the hostile attentions of a stray eagle and the trauma of a very dirty refrigerator, super-sleuth Dirk Gently will once again solve the mysteries of the universe (Goodreads).

    Similar to the first in that the last chapters are hurried and overstuffed with information; in that Adams' voice shines through in hilarious narration and dialogue; and in that the titular character is the brightest spark. However, this sequel falls flat in several key ways: Where Dirk was the star of the first novel, he did not have to carry it the whole way through, and the supporting cast playing the part of the audience did a wonder. Here, though, Dirk's eclectic nature, while obviously amusing to follow, is not supported nearly as much. The holistic nature of the series also doesn't really play a part either; stuff just sort of seems to happen. It's all explained in the end, but again, the end isn't exactly flawless. Norse mythology isn't the best plot device here, either. It's not like it's a bad book; I'd place it on the 'good' side of the spectrum, but it's hard to stay invested. Only Adams' established voice makes this less of a slog. 7.2/10