APhew Wrote:I cannot stress this enough, absolutely DO NOT READ THIS unless you have read "Infernal" through to the very end.






You have been warned.







Most people know that I've been around for a little while now and am a HUGE F. Paul Wilson fan. That being said, I was a little disappointed with "Infernal". I don't expect each RJ outing to be non-stop action. I really liked the turn with this one being more dialogue focused. The things I had problems with are as follows:

There were no real "fix-its". The one he does is briefly explained, almost botched, and then that's it.

The terrorist plot that book-ends the story just seemed strange to me. I kept looking for that "bigger picture" in the whole thing and it just didn't seem to click. Jack went through a bunch of possibilities, including the hit being aimed directly at him and only because he went to get the car was he spared. I could just sense Big R having a hand in it, but it never materialized. I don't know whether it was a political statement about the whole stupidity of terrorism or if Big R really did pull the strings. Maybe this was intentional, but as a political statement it just showed how meeting violence with violence is just stupid in general. Nobody gained anything from it. The only thing that makes sense is it was done to take Jack's father from him and thus make him suffer. In this sense it really does feel like Big R should have been behind it. I would have liked to see a touch of the Otherness, just a whiff, to give that idea solidity.

APhew Wrote:The character of Tom didn't jell for me. He was an absolute sleaze-ball from beginning to near the end. Just the sort of person you love to hate. In this sense, I feel he was a little over the top. It's established pretty early the lengths of selfishness he is willing to go to, so all the extra POV scenes with him seemed like padding to really nail the fact home what a complete waste of space he is. It was too much, I found myself not caring anymore what he thought about anything. So when the change of heart came at the end, it didn't have any impact at all for me.

APhew Wrote:Which brings us to the end of the story. The stain can be transferred not once, not twice, but three times. Jack is screwed. I felt the hopelessness that Gia, Vicky, and Abe felt. How would Jack survive this? Would it be one of the women with the dogs who steps in and somehow sacrifices herself for him, would Charlie somehow interrupt his passage to the "other place" and deliver him back, would he end up in Monroe and somehow have a chance meeting with a certain Dr. Bulmer who at the last second takes his doom away with a power that matches that of the Lilitongue (timing probably isn't right for this, but that would have been kinda cool), or would he not escape it at all? To be honest, the last is what I thought for sure was going to happen. Tom would show up, drug his brother, get all set up to take the stain away by tricking the Lilitongue and .... nothing, it doesn't work. Jack wakes up only to feel himself slipping away and he's gone. The end. Now that would make for some interesting discussions and have fans going nuts to find out where Jack went, and how does he get back?

Most of my "criticism" is merely a fanboys wishful thinking, especially about the end of the story. Overall, I really did enjoy the story although it's not one of my favorites in the Saga.

APhew Wrote:The only thing that makes sense is it was done to take Jack's father from him and thus make him suffer.

APhew Wrote:The character of Tom didn't jell for me. He was an absolute sleaze-ball from beginning to near the end.

APhew Wrote:So when the change of heart came at the end, it didn't have any impact at all for me.

APhew Wrote:The stain can be transferred not once, not twice, but three times.

APhew Wrote:I cannot stress this enough, absolutely DO NOT READ THIS unless you have read "Infernal" through to the very end.






You have been warned.







Most people know that I've been around for a little while now and am a HUGE F. Paul Wilson fan. That being said, I was a little disappointed with "Infernal". I don't expect each RJ outing to be non-stop action. I really liked the turn with this one being more dialogue focused. The things I had problems with are as follows:

There were no real "fix-its". The one he does is briefly explained, almost botched, and then that's it.

The terrorist plot that book-ends the story just seemed strange to me. I kept looking for that "bigger picture" in the whole thing and it just didn't seem to click. Jack went through a bunch of possibilities, including the hit being aimed directly at him and only because he went to get the car was he spared. I could just sense Big R having a hand in it, but it never materialized. I don't know whether it was a political statement about the whole stupidity of terrorism or if Big R really did pull the strings. Maybe this was intentional, but as a political statement it just showed how meeting violence with violence is just stupid in general. Nobody gained anything from it. The only thing that makes sense is it was done to take Jack's father from him and thus make him suffer. In this sense it really does feel like Big R should have been behind it. I would have liked to see a touch of the Otherness, just a whiff, to give that idea solidity.

The character of Tom didn't jell for me. He was an absolute sleaze-ball from beginning to near the end. Just the sort of person you love to hate. In this sense, I feel he was a little over the top. It's established pretty early the lengths of selfishness he is willing to go to, so all the extra POV scenes with him seemed like padding to really nail the fact home what a complete waste of space he is. It was too much, I found myself not caring anymore what he thought about anything. So when the change of heart came at the end, it didn't have any impact at all for me.

Which brings us to the end of the story. The stain can be transferred not once, not twice, but three times. Jack is screwed. I felt the hopelessness that Gia, Vicky, and Abe felt. How would Jack survive this? Would it be one of the women with the dogs who steps in and somehow sacrifices herself for him, would Charlie somehow interrupt his passage to the "other place" and deliver him back, would he end up in Monroe and somehow have a chance meeting with a certain Dr. Bulmer who at the last second takes his doom away with a power that matches that of the Lilitongue (timing probably isn't right for this, but that would have been kinda cool), or would he not escape it at all? To be honest, the last is what I thought for sure was going to happen. Tom would show up, drug his brother, get all set up to take the stain away by tricking the Lilitongue and .... nothing, it doesn't work. Jack wakes up only to feel himself slipping away and he's gone. The end. Now that would make for some interesting discussions and have fans going nuts to find out where Jack went, and how does he get back?

Most of my "criticism" is merely a fanboys wishful thinking, especially about the end of the story. Overall, I really did enjoy the story although it's not one of my favorites in the Saga.

BrettM Wrote:However, as far as Big R pulling the strings on wiping out Jack's kin, I have begun to think there's another force with a much better motive for doing so -- the Ally. Yes, Rasalom has already said that he will enjoy Jack's suffering over the coming months, but that doesn't mean he will be the cause. First, dragging Jack's kinfolk into contact with the Otherness is a good way to insure Jack's continuing involvement. Second, wiping out the kinfolk is a good way to ensure that Jack is free of ties that might keep him from replacing Glaeken as the Champion. But, I do wonder why there was no follow up in Infernal to the two apparent attempts on the life of Jack's baby in Crisscross.

APhew Wrote:Sure, he'll know things he didn't in the original version, but his basic role in the apocalypse will remain unchanged. Maybe that isn't the case anymore, but I hope it is. I guess I'm a die-hard about keeping the AC as it originally was.