Maggers wrote:
Quote:But the kind of sloppy storytelling you are referencing is not something I've experienced with either "Haunted Air" or "Hosts." Can you give an example?
Glad to. But let me first address KRW's point on the way...
Quote:Put yourself in Jacks shoes for a minute. He knows about the Otherness and he knows he's involved. But the human mind always strives to make sense out of the impossible. And most things he still deals with are not Otherness related (between books). He'll probably get quicker on recognizing and admitting that it is the Otherness. But he's just been in this for a short time, and if he starts thinking everything is because of the Otherness, he'd probably go crazy in a short time. I've only read as far as The Haunted Air, but he seems to me to be getting a little more comfortable with a very obscure problem (the Otherness) and when he is finally convinced of it, then he acts accordingly, if he knows how to react
This is absolutely true and a good point. It explains the way Jack acts all the way up through
All the Rage. But let's step back one from that to
Conspiracies. When that book began, he knew he'd come across something unexplainable in the rakoshi, but didn't know what he was dealing with. By the end of that book, however, he knew that the Otherness was out there, that it was real, and that it was after him specifically.
Consider as well that Jack is proud of his paranoia. He lives his life covering his tracks and watching over his shoulder. If somebody has a grudge against him, he knows and is watching for signs. Look at how quickly he got onto the Kozlowski brothers in
Hosts.
But now, look at everything else in that book. And here we return to Maggers's request for examples.
Early on, when Jack first talks to Kate on the phone, he learns that she got his number from a strange woman who insisted that
only he could help. Does that trigger any alarms for you? Considering how much it's like the way Jack got involved in
Conspiracies, it should have put him on alert immediately. It didn't, though. Now that's out of character.
Next, he discovers that his sister's problem involves Jeanette who, after undergoing experimental chemical treatment, suffers a severe change in personality. Do the parallels from
All the Rage even cross his mind? Nope! Not even after he learns that the medicinal strain used underwent a mysterious mutation.
More than halfway through the book, when the Russian lady arrives at his bedside with dire warnings, despite everything else, he blows the whole thing off as a dream.
There are events like that throughout the entire book. And while you might argue that even Jack might miss one indicator, he misses them time after time after time. His actions, or more properly, lack of actions, have no logic other than the contrived one of getting the plot to the next point. Not only is this out of character for Jack, but it's out of character for FPW who usually crafts his stories with nice tight plots where things happen
because of his characters' personalities and inclinations rather than
despite them.
Now, Ken, you wrote:
Quote:So far, there is no evidence to link Roma and the Rakoshi, and there is DEFINITELY no evidence to link Roma with a virus.
The entirety of
Conspiracies links the rakoshi to the Otherness. As far as Sal Roma is concerned, Jack knows perfectly well that there is more to the Otherness than Roma, and he is not its only operative (though Jack knows may well be its main one).
Quote:If you are going to be this insulting, I hope it's also your last.
Sorry to disappoint you. And if you consider this insulting, you should go learn the difference between criticism and insult. FPW is a terrific writer and storyteller. Due to the quality of most of his work, I've come to hold him to a very high standard. So far, I've had only one major and one minor disappointment. And if you think that being a fan means uncritical acceptance, you do no favors to either yourself or FPW.
I've seen many many talented creators in various fields start slipping because they start putting out works too fast, without taking the time and care required to bring their later works up to the standards of their earlier ones. I don't want that to happen with Jack. I do not want FPW to become known, outside a cult following, as a guy who created a few great stories and followed them with a descent into drek (Frank Herbert comes to mind as an example). But if he does go that way, I don't need the heartbreak of watching it happen.
And finally, Paige notes:
Quote:Honestly, of the entire series, Crisscross is my favorite book. Right up there with Legacies.
Now that's the sort of comment I was hoping to find.
Legacies was nothing short of sheer joy and showcased Jack at his very best. if either of the two as-yet-unread books are even 75% that good, I'll rush out to Borders and pick them up.