Enforcer
Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2011 6:57 pm
Well, a local bookstore was going out of business so I picked up the entire three-novel Enforcer omnibus by Matthew Farrer for $4.50. In general, it follows the investigations of a newly promoted Arbites senior arbitor. Haven't gotten too far into it yet, but the good:
1) The Adeptus Arbites. For too long, in fic these guys were just also-rans, minor antangonists, or add-ons. Their role in the IoM was loosely-defined at best, and they sort of kept their TT status - a way to re-use models and add shotguns if you had a Witch Hunter army. Now there's some meat behind the name.
2) The plot is... a plot, more than just "go kill shit." In fact, it is probably as intricate and interesting as anything in the Black Library since Eisenhorn and Ravenor.
The bad:
1) The editing is, in typical Black Library fashion, awful. There are ocassions in which the syntax actually makes paragraphs hard to read. Not Goto bad, but bad.
2) Farrer has a much more British voice than many BL authors - not enough to make it unintelligible, but enough to make understanding an idiomatic phrase less than instinctual.
These negatives, however, are completely underwhelming compared to the overall enjoyability, at least of the first half of the first novel. Anybody else read any of these?
1) The Adeptus Arbites. For too long, in fic these guys were just also-rans, minor antangonists, or add-ons. Their role in the IoM was loosely-defined at best, and they sort of kept their TT status - a way to re-use models and add shotguns if you had a Witch Hunter army. Now there's some meat behind the name.
2) The plot is... a plot, more than just "go kill shit." In fact, it is probably as intricate and interesting as anything in the Black Library since Eisenhorn and Ravenor.
The bad:
1) The editing is, in typical Black Library fashion, awful. There are ocassions in which the syntax actually makes paragraphs hard to read. Not Goto bad, but bad.
2) Farrer has a much more British voice than many BL authors - not enough to make it unintelligible, but enough to make understanding an idiomatic phrase less than instinctual.
These negatives, however, are completely underwhelming compared to the overall enjoyability, at least of the first half of the first novel. Anybody else read any of these?