Thursday, January 18, 2007

The Empire Evades Direct Questions

***Spoiler Alert (If you don't know what about, then you're not a regular reader. Try Metamucil)***

Well, it appears my "wait and see" approach to Professor Advisor Vice President President Avril Torrent was the right one to take, since the book never answers the question. It also never answers the question of who killed the president--the first of three, anyway.

In short, it's an "un-book" in that there is no climax. There is no point at which we know if the protagonists are going to win or lose. Not really. Everyone works their butts off for the entire book to save the country only to...not know if they did or not.

It's a lot like life, but it stinks in a novel.

Unless there's a sequel coming.

Is it just me, or did the scene between Avril Torrent and Aldo Vieras (forgive me if I do not spell correctly--I listened to the audio book) stick out like a sore thumb? ONE scene in the entire book where we see Torrent without a protagonist around. The guy only appears in just a few scenes as is. What was the point? What did it really prove? How did it advance the story in any way? One bad guy thinks another guy is a bad guy. So what? Why should we care what his opinion is?

We don't get to see inside Torrent's mind--not really--so no damage done, really. But it just didn't fit the pattern. It's as if DeeNee Breen or Pres. Nielsen suddenly got a scene to themselves.

Of course it could just be me.

Anyway, good book, though he's preaching to the choir. While waiting for the oratorio he had already convinced me with a song.

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