Further Impressions

Drum roll please....

I finally finished the book. I liked it! Would I say this was my favorite books? No, but I enjoyed it and felt that it was definitely worth the read. There was just something about it that caused it to drag a bit for me. Perhaps my issue with it taking so long is that it's for the most part kind of a downer of a book. Granted there's hope with our heroes building a functioning society out of the ruins of the old pre-Change culture, but it is such a subsistence life full of conflict and ever-present danger that I found myself not wanting to dwell too much in Sterling's world.

I found the inclusion of the Wicken religion a bit off-putting... Not that I have anything against Wicka in general, but its inclusion in the story (while important. I'll get to that in a second) as it was presented kind of seemed 'preachy' (?). Juniper's constant Wicken outbursts had the same effect on me as with people saying 'Praise Jesus' every paragraph. This is just a personal hangup, but it took me out of the story each time it happened. Same with Mike Havel's Haka Pallaee (or whatever his war cry was). Might as well have said 'Crom' as Conan.

Sorry to cut this short... I'll pick up on it tomorrow. It's getting way too late.

Regards,
Allan