Subject:      Walking to Babylon:  Review by the Happy Guy
From:         "Sean Gaffney" <gaffney@iconn.net>
Date:         1998/04/15
Message-ID:   <01bd68a5$a9636d40$a780abcf@default>
Newsgroups:   rec.arts.drwho
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By now, I should be filling out a form review for Kate's
books...^_^

SPOILERS!!!

I'm rather glad I read Face of the Enemy in between Tempest
and this.  I think if I'd tried to go straight from Tempest
to Walking to Babylon my head would have snapped off.  Talk
about your different styles...gah.

PLOT:  Fairly basic, considering that it involves the People.
Nevertheless, there are a few twists that end up whacking you
over the head along the way.

BERNICE:  This book is drenched in Bernice, more than almost
any other Benny NA.  About 2/3 of it is written as excerpts
from her memoirs/diaries, and she's on almost every page.
Luckily, she's written beautifully, with Kate managing to
flesh out a bit more of her past, and even give her a
temporary romance (though only temporary, and those of us in
the Benny & Jason 2-gether 4-ever club sigh in relief.)

LAFAYETTE:  Chris Schumacher is right, he did remind me a
bit of William Blake in The Pit.  But only because of the
'fish out of water' similarities.  I thought it was very
interesting showing John's development from total culture
shock to calm acceptance, and the swiftness with which he
was able to do that impressed me.

GOD:  Once again, God proves to be one of the more likeable
grey and unknowable characters to come down the pike.  Less
of an obvious Doctor-substitute than Braxiatel has been,
God gets to do what it does best in this:  be God.  It
watches over, checks up on, gives nudges, investigates, takes
the important decisions but leaves the bulk of the plan to
Benny.  More of God, please.

OTHERS:  I *really* liked Ninan.  Very nice portrayal of
the capable Babylonian woman.  The 'bad guys' - such as they
were - were very interesting, especially as you tried to
understand their motives in the context of the People.

STYLE:  As I said, it was written predominately in Benny's
diary entry first person format - luckily, Kate writes Benny
well enough to carry it off.  And it just flew by.  I know
people have been complaining about the middle being slow, but
I didn't see that at all.  It read VERY fast.

OVERALL:  Another very, very well-written Kate Orman novel.
It didn't make me stay up till 3 in the morning finishing it,
as The Room with No Doors did.  But who cares?  I'd show
this one to new authors as an example of how to write Benny.
I give it the full ten, mostly as I can't find something bad
to say about it.  Thank God I'm the Happy Guy or I'd feel
rather guilty...^_^

10/10.

Next:  Option Lock.  And I *promise* they'll be coming
slower.  Really.

--Sean Gaffney
--and ever onward...