Nov 16 2010
Bitter Seeds is pretty incredible so far…
Through the first several chapters, I’m amazed by the quality of the writing of Bitter Seeds, a paranormal 1920s-1940s novel not merely straddling but making sweet, sweet love to the line between superhero fiction and urban fantasy. I hope it will retain the charm after we get move heavily into the paranormal WWII stuff.
Some early highlights:
- The author, Ian Tregillis, is preposterously good at handling settings and scene-building. Even if you read the first chapter for nothing else, I would recommend checking out how Tregellis uses setting details to set the mood and develop characterization. (Hint: those kid-sized burial mounds outside the Nazi laboratory? Not influenza victims).
- The writing is remarkably tight. Nothing is wasted.
- The main character establishes himself pretty early. Even as a child, he’s sort of interesting.
Thanks for recommending this book. I finally got it from the library and found it so riveting that I stayed up all night reading it.
I also found it very compelling. I finished it that night even though I had class the next morning. 🙂
PS: I notice on your website that your most hated book is Moby Dick. It has one of my least favorite famous opening lines ever–“Call me Ishmael.”
I agree, “Call me Ishmael” is over-rated. So is the first line of Rebecca – “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” Both lines are often cited as examples of compelling openers that make you want to read more, but neither work for me.
I’ve gotten a lot out of your site, by the way. I found it around the time I started a superhero novel of my own, and you’ve already saved me from several mistakes, like naming my team “Guardians,” among others. And I thought your analysis of “Soon I Will Be Invincible” was spot-on. It helped bring into focus what I hadn’t liked about it, and what I wanted to do differently in my own project. Thank you very much and keep up the good work!