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dantastic's review
4.0
My old review for this didn't thrill me so here's the one I wrote as Dangerous Dan for BlackPigeonPress.com.
It's no secret that the pulps get Dangerous Dan as hot and bothered as a hillbilly with a jug of moonshine and two eager cousins, and a twist on an old favorite puts a little extra spring in his step. Doc Sidhe is no exception.
Doc Sidhe (pronounced She, the Irish word for Faerie) has the classic elements of Doc Savage but with twists and the twists are all things Dangerous Dan likes in his fiction.
Slacker/screw-up as one of the protagonists? Check.
Parallel worlds? Check.
Writing that's descriptive without being overly wordy? Check.
Fantasy story that isn't a Tolkien rehash? Check.
Couple this with tons of action and a character modelled after Doc Savage but stripped of the things that annoy me about the original Doc Savage tales and we have a winner on our hands.
The plot is pretty straightforward. Harris Greene, a down on his luck kick boxer and the aforementioned slacker, sees some guys trying to abduct his recently ex girlfriend and intervenes, following them into an alternate world resembling 1930's Earth, but with magic instead of technology. Dwarves, elves, and assorted Fae abound. Doc Sidhe, leader of the Sidhe Foundation, is a powerful wizard and warrior, and leads a crew resembling Doc Savage's crew. It turns out Harris's girlfriend's kidnapping is part of a plot cooked up by Doc's arch-nemesis who wants to rule both worlds. Excited yet?
The author of Doc Sidhe is Aaron Allston, a trusted name in gaming circles. Allston has written assorted supplements for various RPGs, as well as novels set in the Star Wars universe. How does his writing stack up to Kenneth Robeson's, you ask? It's better. There, I said it. Allston's writing surprised the hell out of Dangerous Dan. It's descriptive without being overly wordy and suits the action perfectly. It's not as predictable as you'd think, either. Some of Doc's crew die, unlike Doc Savage's crew. The ending is satisfying and there's also a sequel, Sidhe Devil, and rumors of a second sequel abound.
Dangerous Dan gave Doc Sidhe an easy 4.25 out of five. If you don't believe Dangerous Dan, as if he'd ever lie to you, go check out the publisher's website, where you can read the entire novel FOR FREE! Don't say Dangerous Dan never did you any favors.
Doc Sidhe at Baen
That's it for Dangerous Dan. Until next time, keep your gun oiled and your lies simple enough that you can remember them later.
It's no secret that the pulps get Dangerous Dan as hot and bothered as a hillbilly with a jug of moonshine and two eager cousins, and a twist on an old favorite puts a little extra spring in his step. Doc Sidhe is no exception.
Doc Sidhe (pronounced She, the Irish word for Faerie) has the classic elements of Doc Savage but with twists and the twists are all things Dangerous Dan likes in his fiction.
Slacker/screw-up as one of the protagonists? Check.
Parallel worlds? Check.
Writing that's descriptive without being overly wordy? Check.
Fantasy story that isn't a Tolkien rehash? Check.
Couple this with tons of action and a character modelled after Doc Savage but stripped of the things that annoy me about the original Doc Savage tales and we have a winner on our hands.
The plot is pretty straightforward. Harris Greene, a down on his luck kick boxer and the aforementioned slacker, sees some guys trying to abduct his recently ex girlfriend and intervenes, following them into an alternate world resembling 1930's Earth, but with magic instead of technology. Dwarves, elves, and assorted Fae abound. Doc Sidhe, leader of the Sidhe Foundation, is a powerful wizard and warrior, and leads a crew resembling Doc Savage's crew. It turns out Harris's girlfriend's kidnapping is part of a plot cooked up by Doc's arch-nemesis who wants to rule both worlds. Excited yet?
The author of Doc Sidhe is Aaron Allston, a trusted name in gaming circles. Allston has written assorted supplements for various RPGs, as well as novels set in the Star Wars universe. How does his writing stack up to Kenneth Robeson's, you ask? It's better. There, I said it. Allston's writing surprised the hell out of Dangerous Dan. It's descriptive without being overly wordy and suits the action perfectly. It's not as predictable as you'd think, either. Some of Doc's crew die, unlike Doc Savage's crew. The ending is satisfying and there's also a sequel, Sidhe Devil, and rumors of a second sequel abound.
Dangerous Dan gave Doc Sidhe an easy 4.25 out of five. If you don't believe Dangerous Dan, as if he'd ever lie to you, go check out the publisher's website, where you can read the entire novel FOR FREE! Don't say Dangerous Dan never did you any favors.
Doc Sidhe at Baen
That's it for Dangerous Dan. Until next time, keep your gun oiled and your lies simple enough that you can remember them later.
cj13's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Sexual content, and Car accident
Minor: Suicide
acknud's review
4.0
Light hearted fast read. Full of action and adventure. I am still a little puzzled about this other world thing...cross dimentional travel?
vittorioseg's review against another edition
1.0
Ok. I thought several years ago that this was a good book. I never managed to go beyond half of it and I always had a regret, because it was the first "Sidhe who are not assholes" fantasy novel I ever read and it looked interesting. So I found it again and I said: "man, I'm so glad to read it again".
I regret this decision.
You see, when I read it I was in another time, another place when my reading habits for this kind of literature was very, very poor. After my second reading, I realised how poor both in setting and in characters this novel was.
But what made me just be disgusted by this story was Gabrielle.
I honestly found Gabrielle to be one of the worst female protagonists I had ever read and her relationship with Harris to be extremely unhealthy. Twilight levels of unhealthy.
But what makes me curl was.... the airship scene.
That goddam scene.
That and all the homophobic jokes.
But that scene in particular.
Spoiler alert******************
So you see, Pierre has just died and Harry, who was indirectly responsible, is feeling terrible. So Gabriella went to his bunk and told him that he should "go the grim world" to be safe and that when this was over, she would return to because she wanted to continue with the relationship. Harry just feel even more horrible, because he couldn't go and told her goodbye again. Gabrielle smiles and told him in so very few words that it was a test, that if he had gone back to the grim world she would have stayed in the fairy world and never see him again.
ARE
YOU
FUCKING
KIDDING
ME.
You, when the guy was feeling survivor guilt, decided to manipulate his feelings, knowing, KNOWING that the guy who had risked his life dozens of times for you, still loved you, just to see if he was worthy because, as per her words, "She needs somebody to challenge her". Are you that horrible of a person? Yes, he was wrong when he got drunk and decided to go to her apartment to convince to take him back (which by the by, was the only reason he managed to save her). Even he admits that in mid-strife and after that, he never ever pressured you to "still love him" or be anything than a friend (when it was killing him but less than a day had occurred the break-up and the guy was seriously not in his head) for you. He even accepted that you will have another partner and make peace with it.
AND YOU DECIDED TO MANIPULATE HIM TO SEE IF HE WAS WORTHY OF YOU.
After all the help, after saving your life over and over again, after helping you reunite with your half soul, your response is "I'm going to tell you I love you and then stab you again (Which by the way, could have ended with him in prison if she never came back) if I found you are not a worthy mate?
Fuck, you. Simply fuck you, you manipulate, snivelling, horrible monster.
And Harry is "Oh babe, I'm so happy that you take me back. That I'm now a man worthy of you".
It sicked me. NOW I understand why so many women hate this type of template in the romance novels, why Twilight was so derided and why so many of them are just so exasperated with tv shows and movies. It sickens you seeing it. It makes you feel horrible.
No, no, no, no.
This book is beyond outdated. His vision of the world. The gender roles. The ideas of adventure and romance. It's outdated in the same way that racist jokes in the workplace or "harmless trolling" on the net is outdated.
I regret this decision.
You see, when I read it I was in another time, another place when my reading habits for this kind of literature was very, very poor. After my second reading, I realised how poor both in setting and in characters this novel was.
But what made me just be disgusted by this story was Gabrielle.
I honestly found Gabrielle to be one of the worst female protagonists I had ever read and her relationship with Harris to be extremely unhealthy. Twilight levels of unhealthy.
But what makes me curl was.... the airship scene.
That goddam scene.
That and all the homophobic jokes.
But that scene in particular.
Spoiler alert******************
So you see, Pierre has just died and Harry, who was indirectly responsible, is feeling terrible. So Gabriella went to his bunk and told him that he should "go the grim world" to be safe and that when this was over, she would return to because she wanted to continue with the relationship. Harry just feel even more horrible, because he couldn't go and told her goodbye again. Gabrielle smiles and told him in so very few words that it was a test, that if he had gone back to the grim world she would have stayed in the fairy world and never see him again.
ARE
YOU
FUCKING
KIDDING
ME.
You, when the guy was feeling survivor guilt, decided to manipulate his feelings, knowing, KNOWING that the guy who had risked his life dozens of times for you, still loved you, just to see if he was worthy because, as per her words, "She needs somebody to challenge her". Are you that horrible of a person? Yes, he was wrong when he got drunk and decided to go to her apartment to convince to take him back (which by the by, was the only reason he managed to save her). Even he admits that in mid-strife and after that, he never ever pressured you to "still love him" or be anything than a friend (when it was killing him but less than a day had occurred the break-up and the guy was seriously not in his head) for you. He even accepted that you will have another partner and make peace with it.
AND YOU DECIDED TO MANIPULATE HIM TO SEE IF HE WAS WORTHY OF YOU.
After all the help, after saving your life over and over again, after helping you reunite with your half soul, your response is "I'm going to tell you I love you and then stab you again (Which by the way, could have ended with him in prison if she never came back) if I found you are not a worthy mate?
Fuck, you. Simply fuck you, you manipulate, snivelling, horrible monster.
And Harry is "Oh babe, I'm so happy that you take me back. That I'm now a man worthy of you".
It sicked me. NOW I understand why so many women hate this type of template in the romance novels, why Twilight was so derided and why so many of them are just so exasperated with tv shows and movies. It sickens you seeing it. It makes you feel horrible.
No, no, no, no.
This book is beyond outdated. His vision of the world. The gender roles. The ideas of adventure and romance. It's outdated in the same way that racist jokes in the workplace or "harmless trolling" on the net is outdated.
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