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timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
There are perhaps too many stories about The City, especially New York. It's becoming commonplace to encounter an extra subway station, or a nondescript door that goes somewhere unusual. And as soon as magic is declared, the story must be about restoring the heart/soul/spirit of the city to its wild and wacky version of normal.
This is indeed another of those, but I liked it more than the others. Perhaps because I've been watching Good Omens. Polansky has a comfortable style, just telling the story with a nice balance between narrating and revealing a little more about M and his friends in each of the loosely-linked vignettes. M is lazy, but moral, and his decisions are sensible. He can blast baddies with the best of the urban fantasy heroes/heroines, but he often does no more than is needed (and sometimes that's less than the reader expects).
I also liked the way Polansky avoided what I think of as magic realism (the little boy handed him a planet ... ), instead giving us a world where magic and monsters are just things that exist, no big deal, even if the ordinary citizen can't usually see them.
This is indeed another of those, but I liked it more than the others. Perhaps because I've been watching Good Omens. Polansky has a comfortable style, just telling the story with a nice balance between narrating and revealing a little more about M and his friends in each of the loosely-linked vignettes. M is lazy, but moral, and his decisions are sensible. He can blast baddies with the best of the urban fantasy heroes/heroines, but he often does no more than is needed (and sometimes that's less than the reader expects).
I also liked the way Polansky avoided what I think of as magic realism (the little boy handed him a planet ... ), instead giving us a world where magic and monsters are just things that exist, no big deal, even if the ordinary citizen can't usually see them.
needagoodbook's review against another edition
4.0
Very good! Very weird too, but I did like it. This guy has a very vivid imagination which is fun to follow.
mlcreads's review against another edition
2.0
I can't say I enjoyed this book, partly because it reads more like a series of short stories and I am not a fan of short stories. The characters didn't come across as real to me and while I know it was fantasy they just didn't hold together for me. I found it really hard to get into and it didn't really hold my attention but give it a try just because I didn't like it you might.
pjwhyman's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent read
I actually didn't find the first few chapters all that gripping, yet suddenly I couldn't put it down. Each chapter telling a story and those stories building and complementing each other, like a city.
I actually didn't find the first few chapters all that gripping, yet suddenly I couldn't put it down. Each chapter telling a story and those stories building and complementing each other, like a city.
fadodiapasha's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
chromatick's review against another edition
3.0
Well, that was a strange book.
Look, I really like Daniel Polansky. He has a really unique writing style. I was hooked on him after reading "The Builders". This book though. I don't even really know how to describe it.
The writing style is still there, but the book is just not that compelling overall. First off, the book is nothing like the blurb on the back cover makes you think it is. It's not even really a novel, it's more like each chapter is a short story or vignette that kind of dovetails into the next one. There really wasn't an overall plot to the thing at all. Some of the "short stories" were pretty great and others not so much.
At the end of the day if you want to read a book about a hipster in New York that likes to do drugs and hang out with his hipster friends, maybe this will be a book you will enjoy. For me, I'll stick with his other works.
Look, I really like Daniel Polansky. He has a really unique writing style. I was hooked on him after reading "The Builders". This book though. I don't even really know how to describe it.
The writing style is still there, but the book is just not that compelling overall. First off, the book is nothing like the blurb on the back cover makes you think it is. It's not even really a novel, it's more like each chapter is a short story or vignette that kind of dovetails into the next one. There really wasn't an overall plot to the thing at all. Some of the "short stories" were pretty great and others not so much.
At the end of the day if you want to read a book about a hipster in New York that likes to do drugs and hang out with his hipster friends, maybe this will be a book you will enjoy. For me, I'll stick with his other works.
yorkslass70's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
breadandmushrooms's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0