No page-turner, but worth the effort

books:

	• The Book of Air and Shadows Michael Gruber William Morrow, 2007 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 95 reviews view larger image
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No page-turner, but worth the effort

Know going in that this is no Richard Patterson page-turner, and you might be surprised. Gruber is attempting something much denser, more layered, and more ambitious than a stock thriller, with plenty of rewards for those willing to accept the challenge of going beyond the surface.

There is a well-crafted thriller plot here (actually two, seperated by 400 years), but the real fun comes from kitchen-sink of ideas, themes, and characterizations Gruber jams together, with surprising success.

The most unlikely merger is between the newly-minted conventions of the history-based/literary thriller and the conventions of the hard-boiledest of the hard-boiled movies ever made in Hollywood. Understanding the presence of the latter ingredient here mitigates many of the criticisms of the book seen here -- the division of characters into the categories of toughs, patsies and femmes fatale, the morally flawed nature of a main character, even the over-the-top number of twists.

A few misfired moments (such as Jake's hotel-bar actions late in the book) and a bit of heavy-handed meta-fictional allusion to the relationship between movies and real life keep this from acheiving greatness, but I still recommended the book for those tired of the pablum of most mainstream thrillers and looking for something chewy.

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To new depths -- err, heights!

From the same pen that dressed novels in voodoo (Tropic of Night and Valley of Bones) comes The Bard, redux. Thank you, Mr. Gruber. I enjoyed the entire weekend because of Aire and Shadowes.

I look forward to your next effort.

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I didn't pick it but I could have...

This is a book for a Book Discussion Group and given the reviews and all, I can't blame the group, but had I read it first I wouldn't have recommended it. Too long, too much pointless sex, too much that has nothing to do with the plot nor even character development, unlikeable characters, (men & women alike) and too choppy. I've never liked the stories which hop around with the unconnected characters each getting a chapter. At first I liked it since the main character seems interesting and it's fairly well-written, but after a while I just wanted the story to progress: get on with it!!

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Past and present become one!

I love books that either involve time travel or go back and forth between time periods as does this one. It's a fascinating combination of a present day hunt for an unknown Shakespearian play and a glimpse into the past when this play was written. It has many other elements and character studies as well but far be it for me to be the spoiler in this situation.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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