I will begin with the positives, but don't expect me to go to the negatives, because there are none that I could honestly mention here. Spoilers will be avoided as much as possible.
This book was a phenomenal read, beyond many of the crappy series novels and modern fantasies that we see today. With a beginning that set the stage with brisk humor that Yahtzee is known for, along with the main character almost immediately dying, its more than enough to catch even the most attention-strained idiots imagination and hold it for the rest of the book.
The characters themselves stand out as some of the most human I've ever seen - ironic since the protagonists are all dead. Their personal diversity is magnificent and refreshing, and is a major strong point among many others. The way they act often defies common stereotypes and misconceptions. More than once in the beginning, the primary protagonist "Jim" goes against the grain in how he interacts with other characters, and just when you're starting to figure him out, development kicks in and he changes. Yahtzee portrays Jim as just one of the many characters in his book at first, but over time he seems to be the only character changing his view on things slowly, as time goes on. This gives the effect of Jim becoming more important as the story progresses and keeps the reader personally interested in Jim's success. The supporting characters all play a part in the main story, and even if there is a random generic character around, it leaves its mark with some kind of hilarious situation. You never feel for an instant that there is a useless NPC idling by that shouldn't be there.
The plot itself is...interesting. And I use that word for lack of a better term to describe it in a positive light. The story is new, fresh, and something that has never been done before. Really, you won't find this kind of thing anywhere else. This means that it doesn't matter what you've read, played, or imagined, what happens in this book will greatly refresh your imagination.
The conflict is engaging, and you won't be able to predict just who each antagonist really is until Yahtzee decides you finally need to know, keeping you guessing and on your toes. The action is intense and described well enough that I can imagine some of the scenes in my head a week after finishing it. It's exciting and fast paced and violent - as combat and conflict is supposed to be. It does something else, however: it contains emotion. As bland and lackluster as action has gotten in more recent novels, I found that I was despairing when the protagonists' fate seemed sealed with doom, and getting excited chills when (if) they gained the upper hand. I felt like I was there, in the fight, and it was a great jolt to the system to know that at least someone gets it right.
Did I mention the humor? His potshots at typical characters, MMORPGs, videogames in general, and basically all of humanity made me laugh out loud more than once, to the confusion of those around me. And thank Jesus he did not use the term, "This is starting to seem like a bad video game," for any of his characters at any point.
So, closing words...did you expect perhaps a touch of insult or sarcasm from my review? Did you really expect someone like Yahtzee - who slams terrible story-writing all the time - to make the same mistakes? Yahtzee may not have an IQ of 200 (unless you count his amazing ability to demonstrate the diversity of profanity...meta-****...oh, you card, you), and he may not be Charles Dickens or any other hoity-toity fancy-pants novelist, but he could easily be considered a genius of story-telling. He doesn't beat around the bush, he leaves your conceptions of stereotypical situations in the dust, and he doesn't care what you think because he knows its that good.
Yahtzee did not out-do himself, because he seems to excel in writing in general. Therefore, I will say that he achieved a sort of pinnacle in his skills with this.
If you thought: too long; didn't read and skipped to the bottom (you inconsiderate twit) then the score is 11 out of 10 and you should buy it. Now.
This book was a phenomenal read, beyond many of the crappy series novels and modern fantasies that we see today. With a beginning that set the stage with brisk humor that Yahtzee is known for, along with the main character almost immediately dying, its more than enough to catch even the most attention-strained idiots imagination and hold it for the rest of the book.
The characters themselves stand out as some of the most human I've ever seen - ironic since the protagonists are all dead. Their personal diversity is magnificent and refreshing, and is a major strong point among many others. The way they act often defies common stereotypes and misconceptions. More than once in the beginning, the primary protagonist "Jim" goes against the grain in how he interacts with other characters, and just when you're starting to figure him out, development kicks in and he changes. Yahtzee portrays Jim as just one of the many characters in his book at first, but over time he seems to be the only character changing his view on things slowly, as time goes on. This gives the effect of Jim becoming more important as the story progresses and keeps the reader personally interested in Jim's success. The supporting characters all play a part in the main story, and even if there is a random generic character around, it leaves its mark with some kind of hilarious situation. You never feel for an instant that there is a useless NPC idling by that shouldn't be there.
The plot itself is...interesting. And I use that word for lack of a better term to describe it in a positive light. The story is new, fresh, and something that has never been done before. Really, you won't find this kind of thing anywhere else. This means that it doesn't matter what you've read, played, or imagined, what happens in this book will greatly refresh your imagination.
The conflict is engaging, and you won't be able to predict just who each antagonist really is until Yahtzee decides you finally need to know, keeping you guessing and on your toes. The action is intense and described well enough that I can imagine some of the scenes in my head a week after finishing it. It's exciting and fast paced and violent - as combat and conflict is supposed to be. It does something else, however: it contains emotion. As bland and lackluster as action has gotten in more recent novels, I found that I was despairing when the protagonists' fate seemed sealed with doom, and getting excited chills when (if) they gained the upper hand. I felt like I was there, in the fight, and it was a great jolt to the system to know that at least someone gets it right.
Did I mention the humor? His potshots at typical characters, MMORPGs, videogames in general, and basically all of humanity made me laugh out loud more than once, to the confusion of those around me. And thank Jesus he did not use the term, "This is starting to seem like a bad video game," for any of his characters at any point.
So, closing words...did you expect perhaps a touch of insult or sarcasm from my review? Did you really expect someone like Yahtzee - who slams terrible story-writing all the time - to make the same mistakes? Yahtzee may not have an IQ of 200 (unless you count his amazing ability to demonstrate the diversity of profanity...meta-****...oh, you card, you), and he may not be Charles Dickens or any other hoity-toity fancy-pants novelist, but he could easily be considered a genius of story-telling. He doesn't beat around the bush, he leaves your conceptions of stereotypical situations in the dust, and he doesn't care what you think because he knows its that good.
Yahtzee did not out-do himself, because he seems to excel in writing in general. Therefore, I will say that he achieved a sort of pinnacle in his skills with this.
If you thought: too long; didn't read and skipped to the bottom (you inconsiderate twit) then the score is 11 out of 10 and you should buy it. Now.
