Part three of my review of this book.
OK, to start, if I was editor of The Descent
Eventually, I gave up on the details. I was able to just shrug off the inconsistencies and enjoy the ride. It wasn’t so much suspension of disbelief as a conscious choice to just let the details slide and get on with the story. Resupply in the tunnels? OK, whatever. For some reason the ocean chooses not to come down the holes. For some reason people in an unmapped labyrinth can reach prearranged locations. Fine. I’ll tolerate it because other strange things are happening that are really interesting, and I’ll focus my attention on those things. Why do the bad guys hold Ali the Hot Nun in such high regard? Is Branch nuts? Holy crap! A doomsday device! (It says something about the intricate world this takes place in that those are NOT spoilers.) And the bad guys themselves – they are awesome.
Normally I wouldn’t put up with the crap. When I find myself in a book like that I can easily set it aside. It’s a compliment to the writer, then, that I still found the story worth reading. It’s got the Devil in it, and he’s not a nice guy. When he murders someone, he makes it poetic. Yet, as I mentioned above, he’s got some competition this time around. There are good guys hunting him, and bad guys hunting him too.
I’m glad I read this book. Do I recommend it? I guess that depends on you. Are you one of those people who sits in a movie and annoys your friends pointing out the technical problems? Then no, this book is not for you. Are you the one who wants to hit the guy who’s talking about the technical problems and says, “Who cares, asshole? The hadals are coming!” then this story could work for you.
Note: if you use the above link to buy this book (or a Kindle
Long also wrote ‘Year Zero.’ It’s sitting quietly on my bookshelf, waiting for you, bro!
Zlato, I just started the other novel you loaned me at the same time as The Descent, and all I can say so far is that it has best damn opening paragraph I’ve ever read. Holy Carp. Talk about introducing big themes and the great decisions of life, yet keeping everything on a personal scale and making me really want to know how our narrator decided. After that paragraph I looked at the thick, thick book and thought, “Oh, yeah, here we go.”
To the rest of you, no I’m not teasing you on purpose, I just don’t have the book handy and there’s no way I’ll get the title right otherwise. The something-that-starts-with-s-that-may-be-sanskrit