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twilliamson's review
4.0
Billingsley’s Eyes Only Book One: A Mind Full of Scorpions is the first installment of a planned pentalogy of novels featuring Adam Richardson, an ex-FBI agent suffering from visions of a world not seen, who, with the help of his psychiatrist, brother, and ex-partner in the FBI, travels the world in pursuit of some of this world’s most dangerous creatures—including witches, aliens, and demons. The book is expansive in its ideas, drawing on a rich vein of popular culture tropes to deliver a fast-paced read that, despite its many flaws, remains at least interesting.
The obvious faults of Eyes Only are Billingsley’s prose, which is hardly consistent and often uneven. That Billingsley has the technical ability to be an excellent writer is evident in several surprisingly delicate passages, though these passages are few and far between. Most of the prose in the novel is otherwise competent, but unassuming, although there are more than just a few passages where the clumsiness of the prose can break up the otherwise swift reading. In the copy I read, there were a number of grammar issues or typographical errors, though I am told many of those issues have been addressed in recent print.
Billingsley’s dialogue is also crude at times, and characters can sometimes feel like they are talking past one another rather than having any real conversation. His villains, too, use awkward language that can break some of the novel’s immersion. Characterization feels largely inconsistent at times, as characters can suddenly run off and make decisions that don’t seem to hold in with their established personalities, and some of the conflict of the novel rings as cliché, existing for the sole purpose of existing.
One example of conflict that feels like it never quite has a place in the novel is Richardson’s psychosis. Although Richardson is diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, the perceived threats to Richardson are almost all revealed to be true in time—even to the story’s alleged skeptics. Characters will often accept that Richardson’s “delusions” are not delusions at all after having been given substantive proof of their existence, yet still demand that Richardson is ill anyway. This inconsistency from chapter to chapter cheapens much of the narrative, and contributes to a sense that many character interactions are superficial, folds that exist to add only the illusion of depth.
Still, Billingsley does with his text something fairly novel, which is to present the novel as though it were the outline of an ongoing television series. Each chapter of the novel contains what is ultimately a self-contained episodic story in the lives of the various characters. Although there does exist an overarching narrative in the novel, the novel reads much more as a series of individual episodes. This narrative construction contributes to the feeling of familiarity in the novel. Influences of Stephen King and—perhaps most notably—The X-Files are most evident through the novel’s structure, and, oddly enough, the episodic storytelling is the novel’s most interesting feature.
Indeed, because of this episodic structure, the book can often feel as though it is imminently binge-readable, which feels very much like a different kind of reading experience altogether. The story may not be consistent on a chapter-to-chapter basis, but it also feels like the gaps in the story are ultimately more excusable because the format of the novel can comfortably encourage those who would enjoy reading the book all at once and those who would enjoy reading the book in portions, enjoying, perhaps, a chapter an evening. That it is so easy to pick up and begin reading again at the beginning of any one chapter is a real credit to Billingsley’s vision for the novel—his characters may rely more on archetypal depictions of the heroes and villains of popular media, but those archetypes become more serviceable in a series of stories that revolve less around character interaction than weird situations, and the story is very much driven more by situation and plot than it is anything else.
The overall impression of Eyes Only is a narrative that is flawed, but still enjoyable. Billingsley has some interesting notions for stories in the novel, and while little in the book feels like it breaks established tropes, it is an entertaining read and holds promise as the first entry to a longer series. I look forward to reading the next novel in the series, and eagerly anticipate seeing Billingsley stretch and grow as a writer.
*Edit* On further reflection of the book, I've come to appreciate more what Billingsley does with his novel, and the format in particular has stuck with me as an important novelty in trying to create a popular literature that has real potential for different kinds of stories. While I still think that the prose is less complex and inventive than I've seen in other novels, I'm left remembering more of the bigger ideas in Billingsley's novel than I'm left remembering specific lines or details. Moreover, I genuinely do want to read the next novel in the series as it comes out, and I can honestly say that that anticipation is something I wouldn't have really expected. I'm upgrading my rating of the book from three stars to four, because I didn't merely like the novel--I really liked it, and while I think my criticisms are still a valid evaluation of the book, I also think that Billingsley has tremendous potential for the series. That's really worth something.
The obvious faults of Eyes Only are Billingsley’s prose, which is hardly consistent and often uneven. That Billingsley has the technical ability to be an excellent writer is evident in several surprisingly delicate passages, though these passages are few and far between. Most of the prose in the novel is otherwise competent, but unassuming, although there are more than just a few passages where the clumsiness of the prose can break up the otherwise swift reading. In the copy I read, there were a number of grammar issues or typographical errors, though I am told many of those issues have been addressed in recent print.
Billingsley’s dialogue is also crude at times, and characters can sometimes feel like they are talking past one another rather than having any real conversation. His villains, too, use awkward language that can break some of the novel’s immersion. Characterization feels largely inconsistent at times, as characters can suddenly run off and make decisions that don’t seem to hold in with their established personalities, and some of the conflict of the novel rings as cliché, existing for the sole purpose of existing.
One example of conflict that feels like it never quite has a place in the novel is Richardson’s psychosis. Although Richardson is diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, the perceived threats to Richardson are almost all revealed to be true in time—even to the story’s alleged skeptics. Characters will often accept that Richardson’s “delusions” are not delusions at all after having been given substantive proof of their existence, yet still demand that Richardson is ill anyway. This inconsistency from chapter to chapter cheapens much of the narrative, and contributes to a sense that many character interactions are superficial, folds that exist to add only the illusion of depth.
Still, Billingsley does with his text something fairly novel, which is to present the novel as though it were the outline of an ongoing television series. Each chapter of the novel contains what is ultimately a self-contained episodic story in the lives of the various characters. Although there does exist an overarching narrative in the novel, the novel reads much more as a series of individual episodes. This narrative construction contributes to the feeling of familiarity in the novel. Influences of Stephen King and—perhaps most notably—The X-Files are most evident through the novel’s structure, and, oddly enough, the episodic storytelling is the novel’s most interesting feature.
Indeed, because of this episodic structure, the book can often feel as though it is imminently binge-readable, which feels very much like a different kind of reading experience altogether. The story may not be consistent on a chapter-to-chapter basis, but it also feels like the gaps in the story are ultimately more excusable because the format of the novel can comfortably encourage those who would enjoy reading the book all at once and those who would enjoy reading the book in portions, enjoying, perhaps, a chapter an evening. That it is so easy to pick up and begin reading again at the beginning of any one chapter is a real credit to Billingsley’s vision for the novel—his characters may rely more on archetypal depictions of the heroes and villains of popular media, but those archetypes become more serviceable in a series of stories that revolve less around character interaction than weird situations, and the story is very much driven more by situation and plot than it is anything else.
The overall impression of Eyes Only is a narrative that is flawed, but still enjoyable. Billingsley has some interesting notions for stories in the novel, and while little in the book feels like it breaks established tropes, it is an entertaining read and holds promise as the first entry to a longer series. I look forward to reading the next novel in the series, and eagerly anticipate seeing Billingsley stretch and grow as a writer.
*Edit* On further reflection of the book, I've come to appreciate more what Billingsley does with his novel, and the format in particular has stuck with me as an important novelty in trying to create a popular literature that has real potential for different kinds of stories. While I still think that the prose is less complex and inventive than I've seen in other novels, I'm left remembering more of the bigger ideas in Billingsley's novel than I'm left remembering specific lines or details. Moreover, I genuinely do want to read the next novel in the series as it comes out, and I can honestly say that that anticipation is something I wouldn't have really expected. I'm upgrading my rating of the book from three stars to four, because I didn't merely like the novel--I really liked it, and while I think my criticisms are still a valid evaluation of the book, I also think that Billingsley has tremendous potential for the series. That's really worth something.
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