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A review by sambora
Long Chills and Case Dough by Brandon Sanderson
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
If I were to be kind it'd say this little novella is... Interesting.
As I am all for being honest, I shall tell you instead that Long Chills and Case Dough is just bad.
Note; not awful, but definitely bad.
A brief summary, kept spoiler-free:
A near-future Detective, who for ambiguous reasons, roleplays as a 1920's ex-cop, accepts a case from an apparently murderous cyberpsycho lady, and is charged with proving her innocent despite all high-tech evidence being against her.
Meh. It's so-so as a premise, but it's far from the worst element of the book. Thus...
The writing, the language and character.
All of it.
Just - ugh.
Even if some of it is intentional, as in playing up the idea that the main character is pretending to be from a different era and is deliberately using this horrible vernacular, calling all women "skirts", "doll" or "babe" for example - it doesn't sit any better just because the character is playing a role, it's still embarrassing, and it's relentless. Sheesh.
The action scene at the end felt so misplaced and forced and was over so quickly that it felt as though I had missed a page.
Also, so many small elements of this short story just... Ended, without anything to really be learned or taken from. Conversations and confrontations and revelations... All just kind of got cut off and we were moved along.
This book's only saving grace really is that it's interesting to see the places that the mighty Sanderson came from. Where he started, his growth and the evolution between his works then and now.
In my opinion, if you want to read a better Sanderson story that does a few of the same things as this, I'd actually recommendThe Original. While not being perfect itself, the writing is much better, the story more interesting and the character is more unique and far, far less cringe.
So yes, Long Chills and Case Dough gets a low 2 stars from me.
Thank you for reading my review. I hope you are enjoying your current reads!
As I am all for being honest, I shall tell you instead that Long Chills and Case Dough is just bad.
Note; not awful, but definitely bad.
A brief summary, kept spoiler-free:
A near-future Detective, who for ambiguous reasons, roleplays as a 1920's ex-cop, accepts a case from an apparently murderous cyberpsycho lady, and is charged with proving her innocent despite all high-tech evidence being against her.
Meh. It's so-so as a premise, but it's far from the worst element of the book. Thus...
The writing, the language and character.
All of it.
Just - ugh.
Even if some of it is intentional, as in playing up the idea that the main character is pretending to be from a different era and is deliberately using this horrible vernacular, calling all women "skirts", "doll" or "babe" for example - it doesn't sit any better just because the character is playing a role, it's still embarrassing, and it's relentless. Sheesh.
The action scene at the end felt so misplaced and forced and was over so quickly that it felt as though I had missed a page.
Also, so many small elements of this short story just... Ended, without anything to really be learned or taken from. Conversations and confrontations and revelations... All just kind of got cut off and we were moved along.
This book's only saving grace really is that it's interesting to see the places that the mighty Sanderson came from. Where he started, his growth and the evolution between his works then and now.
In my opinion, if you want to read a better Sanderson story that does a few of the same things as this, I'd actually recommendThe Original. While not being perfect itself, the writing is much better, the story more interesting and the character is more unique and far, far less cringe.
So yes, Long Chills and Case Dough gets a low 2 stars from me.
Thank you for reading my review. I hope you are enjoying your current reads!