Double Vision / Tricia Sullivan

Double Vision

category: science fiction, author:

Tricia Sullivan

published by Orbit,
original copyright 2005, read in July 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

I tried to like this book. Really. I thought, second book, almost a new author, not bad for a second book... but I could not quite agree with myself.

It's a bit hard to work out what's going on. By the time it was explained, it was almost the end of the book. Okay, fine -- but I still did not really understand. Worse yet -- I did not really care.

The protagonist is a nice enough person. Meek, mild, accepting, room for growth. And she does grow -- too little, too late. A little more life, a little more action and I might have enjoyed the book. As it is... so what?!

The idea of the book is interesting but does not fill the book. I would have liked to see all this book squeezed into half a book -- then continue with some response to the final almost-action of this book. I was glad that the girl finally developed some gumption -- I liked her enough to be glad to see her develop -- but I just wished she then did something more interesting and more useful.

Okay... I've just checked Sullivan's website.

She has written some other books but not many. Plus some short stories. Now spending more time raising three children. The website did remind me of one aspect of the book that I did really like:

Sullivan's husband runs a martial arts academy. Martial arts is a great source of inspiration for some authors. The power, the responsibility, the calm mysticism of the extremely honourable exponents of the art... Good grief!

At last -- an author who can see past the mysticism!

Sullivan has some very human characters in charge of the martial arts academy. Some are honourable, others less so. The senior people in the organisation are in it for the money, the power, the growth of the organisation... They are real people, with real and not always nice intentions.

Double Vision has some good ideas and some good -- and real -- characters. It just doesn't do enough with the ideas and characters to make a good novel.

..o0o..

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