Still catching up, but getting closer...

SPOILERS!!!























I actually finished this about a week ago, but waited a
while before writing the review.  I rarely do this.  Most
of the time these reviews are written as soon as possible
after finishing the book, and tend to show that somewhat,
being very stream-of-consciousness at times.  But I wasn't
at all sure, after finishing Ghost Devices, how I felt
about it, so I thought I'd pause.

PLOT:  It's Bucher-Jones, what do you expect?  Complex as
all git-out, yet I was able to follow what happened.  One
of the stronger points of the book.  I don't really know,
however, how necessary Morry was to the book, though he
provided some laughs.

BERNICE:  For some reason I got the feeling that Bernice
didn't have as big a part in this book as the others.
Looking back, that's not true.  Perhaps it's just that she
seems at times to be reacting to events rather than taking
charge - more what the 7th Doctor Bernice would do.  The
Benny NAs have made her a hero, so it's odd seeing this.
Still, she has some very funny lines, and is spot on for
the most part.

GOD/CLARENCE:  Comic relief in this book, for the most part,
but Clarence gets an EXCELLENT scene towards the end.

OTHERS:  Each of them was well-drawn, but none of them
leaped out at me as classics.  I'd like to see Elspet again.

STYLE:  Odd.  Veering between Douglas Adams type humour and
dark serious angst.  Dave Stone does this as well, but it
seems more unbalanced here, as if the book was meant to be
funny and suddenly the plot got away from the author.  As
this has happened with stuff I write as well, I can
sympathise. ^_^

OVERALL:  I still don't know how to review this book.  It's
very good, but except for the ending, it didn't grip me as 
much as other BenNAs.  The ending, however, is brilliant,
and worth reading through the book.  And Benny's attempted
suicide, no matter how unconsciously it was done, is still
chilling.  Still, I was left a tad unfulfilled.

7.5/10.

Next:  I've already *finished* The Medusa Effect, but I'll
wait on that review until I get a hold of Mean Streets.  So
next will probably be Short Trips.

--SG
--quick pre-review of Medusa:  WOW!!!