(Modern Fantasy; Sin du Jour) Sin du Jour, caterer to the supernatural, gets its first gig in Hollywood, but fallout from their last few gigs means there's going to be Hell to pay. (36,968 words; Time: 2h:03m)
Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended
Not recommended as a stand-alone story; depends too much on the prior two. See related articles on Tor.com.
"Pride's Spell," by Matt Wallace [bio] (edited by Lee Harris), published on June 21, 2016 by Tor.com.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Pro: All of the plot complications seem to be resolved--even the ones from the earlier two novellas. Dialogue and narration are smooth and natural. And cute touches like an evil Easter Bunny and an evil Santa Claus are both entertaining and exciting.
Con: As a stand-alone story it's completely hopeless. There are way too many characters, and they're not developed at all. Even thinking of the series as a whole (three novellas plus one short story), the ending is rather disappointing; God shows up and fixes all their problems.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Matt Wallace Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB
Con: As a stand-alone story it's completely hopeless. There are way too many characters, and they're not developed at all. Even thinking of the series as a whole (three novellas plus one short story), the ending is rather disappointing; God shows up and fixes all their problems.
Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Matt Wallace Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB
The glut of characters is what's bugging me about this series - there's just not enough time to be developing a cast that size.
ReplyDeleteIf you read all of it (three novellas and one short story), I think the author does manage to develop all the characters, but much of the later material really doesn't stand on its own.
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