Avalanche / Mercedes Lackey and others

Avalanche

(Secret World Chronicle)

by Mercedes Lackey and others:

Cody Martin, Dennis Lee, Veronica Ciguere

fantasy, space opera

copyright 2018

read (half) November 2020

rated 6/10: read to pass the time

or, 7/10: well worth reading, if you have read the previous books

It may even be worth eight, really quite good, if massively complex soap opera is your thing. For me, it's a six.

This is the fifth book in a continuing saga. I have not read any of the others. Yet I enjoy reading.

There are really nice people, with super-powers. They fight against super-baddies with high tech weapons. Fighting against the baddies has minimal emotional impact: super heroes destroy machinery which happens to have humans inside.

There is more emotional interaction between goodies and their supposed allies. Goodies are beaten up, arrested, murdered. They also spend a lot of time holding hands, whispering sweet nothings and staring into each others eyes. Often at the risk of having their mind read.

I soon get to know a handful of characters, there are dozens of others. I have no idea who they are, nor why they are involved. Not helped by each character having several names. And long -- unknown -- histories from the previous books.

It doesn't matter. I enjoy reading the book. I like the characters. The world is complex, believable, entertaining. There's plenty of action.

Then (about page 250) there is a hint of a further disaster. Who will survive? This is space opera, nothing is certain.

Page 250 and I am only half way through. This is book five, I expect there will be even more books to come(*). This is no novel with beginning, middle and end. It is one part of a continuing saga.

(*) Later, it seems that this book may be the last in the series... Perhaps I should have read on :-)

I'm enjoying the book but I may stop reading. There is no urge to read through to the conclusion -- I doubt that there will be any conclusion in this book.

It's an enjoyable way to pass the time. A series of exciting and related adventures. There is no feeling of overall progress towards a conclusion. There is nothing which makes me want to read to the end.

===

A bit later: Half-way through, and there's a well-signposted disaster about to happen. Some real companies will not allow two executives to travel on the same plane. In this book, every person on the "good" side is about to gather in one area. In a city which was recently heavily bombed. Oh dear...

I was going to stop reading anyway (see above). This impending disaster convinces me: get out before it all falls apart.

Nick Lethbridge    /    Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting    /   Problems? Solved.
   ===

"When someone does something wrong, don't forget all of the things they did right." ... anonymous