Review 63 : The Consuming Fire

The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

John is a 13-year old kid. I wasn't sure before, but I am now. The Consuming Fire, the second part in a space-opera trilogy isn't bad. It's just so childish. John writes about sex the way teenagers talk about it. It comes up so often, it's gratuitous. I don't mind in books in and of its own (it's a part of human relations after all), but John does it in such a way that whenever it is mentioned, it's just pathetic.

So what else? The characters, though not uninteresting, seem to be so similar, they might as well be cardboard cutouts of one another. The big moments that should have brought the sense of wonder this genre can do so well were decidedly underwhelming. Cliffhangers, Mr. Scalzi does well (the book ends on one). Resolving them in a satisfactory manner? Not so much.

What makes it worth 2 stars then, in the end? One star for worldbuilding which is convincing, believable and engrossing enough. The other star is for general plotting and pace, the two major strengths of this book. The characters, the style and the undertones are what really cut this book down from the 4-5 star category.

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