Daniel O'Malley drives me Nutz.
1. His books are too big. As long as there is an O'Malley in the house you'll never be without an anvil or handy bludgeoning tool.
2. His stories take f o r e v e r to get anywhere. His backstories have backstories. The back-back stories probably have backstories but mercifully he left those out the the book.
3. I learned the hard way never to drink while reading his work. And you shouldn't either. At some point he will make you laugh like a howler monkey and you do not want to have a mouth full of Pepsi when it happens, trust me.
And if he ever stops writing fiction a bright light will have gone out of the universe.
The Rook sat on my shelf for well over a year. I loved the idea of the book. But when I saw how big it was I shuddered to start. I've seen smaller telephone books. I like my fiction fast paced. With a tight plot and plenty of action. And preferably read in 3 or 4 days.
I don't want a lot of description, or a lot of perspective or timeline changes or a complicated backstory. I got all of the above times 3. Usually when I like the characters and the basic story I'll skip over the parts that drag.
And that right there is why O'Malley drives me up the wall. While he is boring me to death with the backstory or meandering his way through the next setup - parts I'd usually skim through gleaning enough information to flesh out the story while keeping my sanity intact - I am riveted to the page. His way of putting words together is so entertaining I want to see how he will phrase the next sentence and the next one and then dammit I can't stay awake anymore and I Still don't know... well any of the things I want to know.
I waited a long time before starting Stiletto. Almost a week.
It was as drawn out as it's predecessor; twice as laden with backstory and just as entertainingly worded as the first. I never connected with Myfanwy, The Rook kept me reading on sheer entertainment, despite the fact that it was basically a me-myself-and-I fest and there were times I wanted to smack Daniel for not getting to the bloody point a hell of a lot sooner.
Stiletto is structured differently. The activity is shared between a bigger group. Less time is spent focusing on one character. O'Malley gives us two disparate characters Pawn Felicity Jane Clements and Grafter Odette Leliefeld. They can't stand each other but have no choice but to cooperate. It's humanizing and their back and forth gives us something to invest in while the story takes it sweet time getting anywhere.
Some of the dialogue between Odette and her family was so like actual conversations I'v had with my own family I could predict exactly where it was going and still laugh my ass off at the end of the scene.
I'm sorry Stiletto is over. He left enough hooks that I'm sure there will be another Checquy Files. The question is WHEN? I hope it's soon
1. His books are too big. As long as there is an O'Malley in the house you'll never be without an anvil or handy bludgeoning tool.
2. His stories take f o r e v e r to get anywhere. His backstories have backstories. The back-back stories probably have backstories but mercifully he left those out the the book.
3. I learned the hard way never to drink while reading his work. And you shouldn't either. At some point he will make you laugh like a howler monkey and you do not want to have a mouth full of Pepsi when it happens, trust me.
And if he ever stops writing fiction a bright light will have gone out of the universe.
The Rook sat on my shelf for well over a year. I loved the idea of the book. But when I saw how big it was I shuddered to start. I've seen smaller telephone books. I like my fiction fast paced. With a tight plot and plenty of action. And preferably read in 3 or 4 days.
I don't want a lot of description, or a lot of perspective or timeline changes or a complicated backstory. I got all of the above times 3. Usually when I like the characters and the basic story I'll skip over the parts that drag.
And that right there is why O'Malley drives me up the wall. While he is boring me to death with the backstory or meandering his way through the next setup - parts I'd usually skim through gleaning enough information to flesh out the story while keeping my sanity intact - I am riveted to the page. His way of putting words together is so entertaining I want to see how he will phrase the next sentence and the next one and then dammit I can't stay awake anymore and I Still don't know... well any of the things I want to know.
I waited a long time before starting Stiletto. Almost a week.
It was as drawn out as it's predecessor; twice as laden with backstory and just as entertainingly worded as the first. I never connected with Myfanwy, The Rook kept me reading on sheer entertainment, despite the fact that it was basically a me-myself-and-I fest and there were times I wanted to smack Daniel for not getting to the bloody point a hell of a lot sooner.
Stiletto is structured differently. The activity is shared between a bigger group. Less time is spent focusing on one character. O'Malley gives us two disparate characters Pawn Felicity Jane Clements and Grafter Odette Leliefeld. They can't stand each other but have no choice but to cooperate. It's humanizing and their back and forth gives us something to invest in while the story takes it sweet time getting anywhere.
Some of the dialogue between Odette and her family was so like actual conversations I'v had with my own family I could predict exactly where it was going and still laugh my ass off at the end of the scene.
I'm sorry Stiletto is over. He left enough hooks that I'm sure there will be another Checquy Files. The question is WHEN? I hope it's soon
