TVTropes Now available in the app store!
Open

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Hellhole by Kevin J. Anderson & Brian Herbert, thoughts?

Go To

Earnest (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1: Nov 29th 2013 at 9:03:46 AM

So earlier this year I saw the book in the discount bin and thought "what the hell?" and gave it a read. I devoured the thing and generally really liked it, but after reading the sequel that just came out I wanted to ask if anyone else has the same thoughts and issues with the writing.

(Note: I never read anything by either author, but knew from secondhand discussion they have a lot of detractors. Again, I decided to take the chance.)

First the good. A lot of the setting is really interesting, a kind of decadent court politics meets Star Wars with splashes of terraforming fiction thrown in. I was actually pretty engrossed with a lot of the characters, even the antagonists have a lot of good moments. It's easy to empathize and like a lot of them, and even the outright villainous ones have something going for them, whether it's incredible competence or almost cartoonish super-villainy. A lot of the charm is it reminds me of the earlier scifi I read, and at times the writing is really compelling.

Which brings me to the bad. More than once the characters have acted kind... "Human version 0.9". It's hard to pinpoint, and it's not entirely related to the good guy's plot shields (more on that later). Some characters act supremely naive when they should know better, others are easily led around by the nose one chapter and disturbingly competent the next. It's uneven, and it shows up a lot in the interpersonal drama to squeeze more of it out or make characters switch sides more quickly.

The good guys have some pretty serious plot armor. For example, the top spy of the antagonists is spotted immediately by the good guys before he disembarks on their planet, his germophobe tendencies are known about and he's easily kept out of secure places. He's even tricked by a "sloppy" accounting cover up they intentionally planted that readily hides bigger plans. Yet not long after said spymaster is manipulating and assassinating his way through rival nobles with effortless ease while getting more manipulation leverage on his boss. The good guys in general, and the main protagonist General Adolphus in particular, seem to have far less trouble coming to right conclusions or getting at the heart of a matter. Often at the same time that antagonists are almost blinded by the plot to what's really going on.

I've actually started rooting for the bad guys because the good guys' victories seem to come not too easily, but forced out of the plot. And the bizarre thing is that good guys do die, major ones even. It's not like they're untouchable. But even then, there's weird lapses in logic. In one instance there's two characters who are the foremost telekinetics on the good guys' side and are witnessing an armed brawl. Both have been shown to play catch with live artillery shells shot at them and make impressive barriers against same, yet they don't stop a stray bullet despite having clear sight of the shooter well before she shot, leading to one of them dying.

Has anyone else read it? What are y'alls thoughts?

mrshine Since: Jun, 2011 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
#2: Dec 1st 2013 at 12:15:31 AM

I haven't read it, but when I was a kid I asked my parents for "Dune" as a birthday present, and they bought me one of the prequels by these guys by mistake (last time i ever asked for a book as a present... did all my own bookshopping from then on). It wasn't very good, and contained a lot of the flaws which you are describing. Of course, being prequels plot armour is pretty much a foregone conclusion but yeah, safe to say these writers have earned their reputation.

Neep Revolution of Ruin from Booooooooomblastandruin Since: Jan, 2001
Revolution of Ruin
#3: Dec 1st 2013 at 10:28:14 AM

I read a few of the Dune prequels by the same authors, which suffered from awful and ham-handed characterization as well as mediocre plotting. From your comments this sounds like more of the same.

You've lost. You're the Bomb Squad after the bomb's gone off. I'm the blast ongoing.
Earnest (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#4: Dec 2nd 2013 at 3:43:10 PM

Thanks y’all, it’s good to know I wasn’t the only one with these issues.

And it really pains me to see this, because there are some interesting ideas and characters in there. Heck, most of the strategy the good guys use is legitimately solid; all that is really needed to raise this book to solid B or A- range would be to nerf the antagonists a less. I get the feeling most of their losing is only to make the good guys look good, the books would be much more harrowing and the good guys would seem far more daring if the antagonists weren’t so hamstrung and blinded.

At any rate, I’m disappointed enough that I’ve decided to buy the third one used. And that’s only because they left off the second book with a cliffhanger potential resurrection via alien powers of my favorite character. Potentially. I’m not sure whether it’s a sign of good or bad writing writing, but I’ll take my silver linings where I can find them.

Add Post

Total posts: 4
Top