Since it’s the holidays and I read two rather depressing books at the beginning of December, I figured I’d take a break and read a bunch of genre novels. At any rate, back to the review posts.
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| Divine Misdemeanors |
I can’t say that I’ve been looking forward to Divine Misdemeanors, by Laurell K. Hamilton, the latest Meredith Gentry novel. I’m not sure why I keep reading them. I think it’s the soap opera factor. Both of her series are a bit like the TV series Heroes. All three are in a bit of a slump, but they have the potential to be great again. But there’s enough plot still going on that I need to keep up, if only so that I don’t have to read (or watch) these awful things in the middle. I’ve been complaining about certain quirks of Hamilton’s writing for a while, but it seems like all of those irritations ended up in this book.
Divine Misdemeanors meets up with Merry and her gang shortly after the events of the last book (as per usual). This time, though, she is trying to help solve a series of murder on top of all the politics she has to deal with. The novel lurches back and forth between the mystery and the politics. As soon as I started to get into the one, we’d head back over to the other. And the paparazzi follow the main characters around in their best Princess Di fashion to add extra irritation.
So, what bothered me about this book? What didn’t? First off, we have the increasingly repetitious descriptions of characters we’ve already me. Every time one of the main cast comes on stage, we’re treated to a listing of what their hair, eyes, skin, and clothes are like. Sometimes the order varies, but the plot or the dialogue always slam to a screeching halt as when this happens. Every scene of dialogue turns into a confrontation–and not a witty banter type of argument. Just about every bit of conversation turns into a grandstanding contest of wills. There have been several books now in both of Hamilton’s series where I’ve come to dread every time the characters open their mouths. Hamilton’s added a new irritation to her dialogue. There were several times when I actually saw the characters using the active listening technique of restating what another character had said; there was a question, an answer, and a restatement of the answer. While it works in real life, when you see it in fiction, it just looks like filler.
Not only that, but I noticed repetitious text in the prose, too. I probably only noticed it because I read the book in one go, but there were at least three times while I read that I thought, “Haven’t I seen this before?” It makes me wonder if Hamilton is working with an outside editor. I really hope that she’s not pulling an Anne Rice who, before she went religious, famously did not work with an editor. I once tried to read The Witching Hour, but I got so bored by the extraneous exposition that I got rid of the book and haven’t been back to a Rice novel since. There were many times I wanted to take a red pen to Divine Misdemeanors. As I read, I was reminded of some of the author advice I read during NaNoWriMo, about proofreading. It’s not enough to make sure that everything’s spelled right and that the words are in their proper places. It’s also about making sure that the book works. Divine Misdemeanors has some serious structural problems.
I wonder if this filler problem is a sign that Hamilton is pushing herself too hard. She has two major series running right now and producing at least one book for each year, sometimes more. She’s getting into Nora Roberts productivity levels. And I wonder if her creative batteries need to be recharged. I can remember, at the beginning of the series, books that were packed with action and interesting new things to learn about. But now, there’s so much posturing by the characters, superfluous sex scenes, and politics, that the books are now more of a chore than a pleasure.
I still have hopes for Hamilton. The last Anita Blake novel, Skin Trade, was a fantastic return to form. I hope she can keep it up, and do the same for the Merry Gentry series. I know that I carp about how long it takes for an author to write the next book in a great series, but to be honest, I really just want a quality book not matter how long it takes, whether it be one year or four. I’ll whine, sure, but Authors, take your time. I can wait.