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Quick Summerhill Review
12 years ago
Yeah, yeah, I'm still alive. Sorry to the people that have tried to chat with my lately. I've been pretty unresponsive, to say the least.
So, I just finished reading Summerhill by
, and I figured I'd share my thoughts on it. I don't think I've written a book review since junior high, so forgive me if it's a bit ham-fisted.
The basic premise is a time traveling dog named Summerhill who is trying to find out who he is, and the adventure he has along the way. If you're not into science fiction, or time travel, or...dog people, then you may not like this story too much. However, if you're a normal person and like all those things, Summerhill may be just up your alley.
Despite the nature of the story and the inconsistent chapter length(more on that in a moment), I thought the book flowed extremely well. The pacing was right where it needed to be, which made the book very difficult for me to set down.
I mentioned the chapter lengths. Normally I'd strongly advocate for keeping your chapters at least fairly close in length to one another, but in this case the varying lengths actually aided the above mentioned flow and pacing. I only found one chapter-to-chapter transition to be jarring.
The book really shines in the characters. They're very believable and likable. I've always had a huge soft spot for Rikoshi's writing style, and one of the reasons is his ability to make his characters seem natural (even when they're a bit supernatural).
Rikoshi does a good job of setting up and delivering with plot points. He doesn't over explain things, or get bogged down in nuance, which can be a big trap for authors in this sort of story. He left questions, but not annoying ones. I feel the book is well set up for a sequel, and equally well set up as a stand alone.
If you can't tell, I really liked this one, and if I may address one major complaint...
Goddammit, now i want to go play Mass Effect after reading the last chapter. I was reminded of Eden Prime and the gas bags!
Fantastic book by a fantastic fellow. Go spend some money and get it!
On a side note:
Reading this smacked me out of my month long writer's block. I was actually starting a sort of time travel story on my own, and seeing someone who had finished one must have been the kick in the arse I needed ;3
So, I just finished reading Summerhill by
, and I figured I'd share my thoughts on it. I don't think I've written a book review since junior high, so forgive me if it's a bit ham-fisted.The basic premise is a time traveling dog named Summerhill who is trying to find out who he is, and the adventure he has along the way. If you're not into science fiction, or time travel, or...dog people, then you may not like this story too much. However, if you're a normal person and like all those things, Summerhill may be just up your alley.
Despite the nature of the story and the inconsistent chapter length(more on that in a moment), I thought the book flowed extremely well. The pacing was right where it needed to be, which made the book very difficult for me to set down.
I mentioned the chapter lengths. Normally I'd strongly advocate for keeping your chapters at least fairly close in length to one another, but in this case the varying lengths actually aided the above mentioned flow and pacing. I only found one chapter-to-chapter transition to be jarring.
The book really shines in the characters. They're very believable and likable. I've always had a huge soft spot for Rikoshi's writing style, and one of the reasons is his ability to make his characters seem natural (even when they're a bit supernatural).
Rikoshi does a good job of setting up and delivering with plot points. He doesn't over explain things, or get bogged down in nuance, which can be a big trap for authors in this sort of story. He left questions, but not annoying ones. I feel the book is well set up for a sequel, and equally well set up as a stand alone.
If you can't tell, I really liked this one, and if I may address one major complaint...
Goddammit, now i want to go play Mass Effect after reading the last chapter. I was reminded of Eden Prime and the gas bags!
Fantastic book by a fantastic fellow. Go spend some money and get it!
On a side note:
Reading this smacked me out of my month long writer's block. I was actually starting a sort of time travel story on my own, and seeing someone who had finished one must have been the kick in the arse I needed ;3
And as for the gas bag creatures, those were actually inspired by this old book about the solar system from the early 1980s, where they had an illustration section on theoretical life on other planets. There's a thread with pictures here!
I do have to ask, though. Do you plan on a second Summerhill book or was this a solo shot? Either works, was just curious.
But then I thought about what WOULD come next and I got really excited by that, so in my subsequent edits up to the final draft, there are a lot more unanswered questions, leaving some mystery for later installments.
(Really, if you think about it, there are a ton of really important things that never get explained, and I don't intend to just leave it like that!)