Friday, March 27, 2015

Lyon's Legacy (a book review post)

To be honest, this book didn't work for me right from the start. And the sad thing there is that I really wanted it to. I just couldn't get past the premise. The idea here is that sometime late this century there will be born the great-granddaughter of a 1960s pop star. And that's okay except that, evidently, this guy was such a huge star that people still recognize her (all of the family) when she's walking down the street and come up to her all starstruck about her great-grandfather. But, see, we barely care about the kids of famous people, now, unless they become some kind of star in their own right. This book expects me to believe that at some point in the future we suddenly have some kind of holy reverence for the descendants of dead 60s and 70s music stars. You know, in the same way that we have reverence for the descendants of all those great stars of the early 20th century. You know, like... Oh, wait, we don't even remember the stars of 100 years ago, let alone their children.

So, yeah, the idea that anyone would expect Joanna Lyon to follow in the footsteps of her great-grandfather just didn't make any sense. I couldn't suspend my disbelief for that. Maybe that's my issue and no fault of the book.

Then, there was the issue of first person. I've mentioned before that I'm no real fan of 1st person writing (despite my love of The Dresden Files), and this book pushed all of my buttons on the reasons why I don't like 1st person. It (first person) offers way too many shortcuts, and Almazan took them all, frequently telling us how other characters feel and what they think without actually showing us the interactions to back those things up. But, at least, she didn't have Joanna stand in front of a mirror and describer herself to us, because that is the worst.

There was also the issue of the love story, which is of the insta-love variety, and another of things that push my dislike buttons. It's too frequent that we have a female protagonist telling us how she just can't find the right guy and she doesn't know how to act around guys and, besides, guys aren't that important, anyway, and BOOM! there's the perfect guy and she loves him and he loves her and there's never any question about what's going to develop. Then, once the characters have sex, the deal is sealed. That's it for life. Does that even happen in real life? Ever? And it's not that I expect a fantasy (in the sense that all writing is fantasy) to necessarily be true to life, but there could be some complexity to it other than the neurosis of the protagonist.

All in all, the book didn't feel fleshed out. There are too many gaps, too many things not followed through to their logical conclusion, too many things left unexplained.. Then, to top it all off, the book just stops. It's like Almazan got tired of writing and cut it off without any kind of resolution. Reading it on the Kindle made it even worse, because I was only at the 85% mark when Lyon's Legacy stopped. The rest of the book is promo stuff for her other works.

As I've said in other reviews, maybe these issues are with me. The book has generally very positive reviews, so, maybe, my standards are just too high. But, then, they are my standards for what is enjoyable reading for me. Either way, this book didn't work for me.

36 comments:

  1. Bummer for Sandra. Sometimes books just don't work for us.

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    1. Alex: It's a bummer for me, too, because I had expected to like the book.

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  2. Like when we discussed this, I said the conceit behind the book was okay for me. Sometimes people like the set-up for a future world, sometimes they don't. This one I thought was acceptable. I think the closest parallel to our own world would be Elvis. We cared (a bit?) what Lisa Marie Presley did, for a while, at least. We still follow what Michael Jackson's kids did.

    I gave this book a high rating on Amazon. In retrospect, I'd have probably downgraded that a bit. It's an okay book.Not great, but not a waste of time, either.

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    1. Briane: I don't think anyone cares anymore about Lisa Marie. She proved to not be her father and no one is paying attention to her, at this point, much less to her children. All I'm saying is that adoration of the one does not extend through the family just because it is the family. I mean, not even the most die-hard Star Wars fans care about Lucas' kids at all.

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    1. Pat: As the saying goes, "Better to be the ass than the hole in the middle." And, yes, I'm saying exactly what you think I'm saying. From experience with you and how often you complain about your overly frequent encounters with assholes, you should maybe take a look at this quote:
      "If you run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole. If you run into assholes all day, you're the asshole."

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    2. You go out of your way to take a shit on the work of someone you worked with for over a year and I'm the asshole. Yeah, right. Keep dreaming.

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    3. Hurm, looks like you deleted my reply. Coward. Though you'd probably claim Blogger ate it or something.

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    4. Hurm, yes, delete the comment about me saying you deleted my comment. What a cowardly little shit you are. But at least you're seeing the comments before you delete them.

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    5. Pat: No, Pat, I didn't delete anything. You're just not worth engaging with.
      And, man, you just keep proving my point better when I don't say anything at all.

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    6. Well Hell that one is on blogger. As for your "point" if sticking up for my friends makes me an asshole then I happily accept the mantle.

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    7. You guys are the only ones here who don't make me laugh.

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    8. I was thinking more along the lines of this:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlhDW89Bid0

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  4. Yeah, I think I saw this review on Goodreads. You always call them like you see them. :)

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    1. L.G. Yeah, I do. It makes me have empathy for the umpires at my daughter's softball games. They actually had to make a rule this year that parents are specifically not allowed to talk to the umps. At all.

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  5. I think it's good you have high standards. The problems of the first person POV I can ignore (usually), but I hate-hate-hate insta-love. And I agree, the premise of the great-grandchild of a star being famous because of it isn't believable.

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    1. Jeanne: I understand that the love thing is extremely popular with some people. I'm just not those people.
      And, you know, I actually think I like my standards.

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  6. Insta-love is a fantastically dismissive phrase. First person POV shortcuts make me sad- why isn't there a strict editor working with this writer? Also I loathe celebrity culture. I think this book would annoy me on many levels.

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    1. Lisa: I don't fault any indie writer for not having an editor. Even bad editors (most of them) cost more than most writers can afford. Of course, that's why you have to learn to be your own editor.

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  7. Been there. And it seems like more often than not lately… which is sad. I miss the days where I could get completely immersed in a book!

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    1. Morgan: Check out my review for the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.

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  8. Sorry this one was disappointing. Out of curiosity, I looked up Julian Lennon just now to see what he's up to these days. No kids. Interestingly, he was once engaged to Olivia d'Abo, daughter of a lesser light of '60s pop: Mike d'Abo of Manfred Mann.

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    1. TAS: I looked up a bunch of kids and grandkids of previous pop stars, and, mostly, none of them are being noticed at all.

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  9. You know, Charlie Chaplin (one of the most famous and recognized film stars/pioneers of all time) has a granddaughter named Oona Chaplin that's a small time Hollywood actress. She played Talisa Maegyr in Game of Thrones. With that said, her acting credentials are sparse otherwise, and most people don't look at her and think "HOLY CRAP, CHARLIE CHAPLIN'S GRANDDAUGHTER!" They think, "HOLY CRAP, THAT ONE HOT CHICK FROM GAME OF THRONES! NICE BEWBS!"

    So if people aren't swooning over this woman who made her OWN way in acting, who is the granddaughter of arguably one of the biggest stars of all time, then I genuinely don't think the premise in this book makes any sense whatsoever, insta-love and cheap 1st person shortcuts aside.

    And why am I not surprised P.T. Dilloway has his panties in a twist over this? Yes, how dare you have an opinion. Your job is to kiss all of your friends' asses and give them 5 stars blindly instead of telling them what works and what doesn't work so they can improve their writing. Blah blah blah fart.

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    1. ABftS: Oh, I had no idea that's who that was. I think I have to change my opinion of her and start worshiping her and promoting her as the next, great Charlie Chapman.

      Oh, and Bryan, bend over and bare those cheeks! We all know how this works at this point, right?

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  10. I dislike the whole celebrity culture we live in. Football starts beating up girlfriends, killing friends, Basketball stars beating coaches and other players.
    The Kardations (?) don't want to look up the spelling, getting married for 30 days on TV. Why would I care about their messed up grand kids ? Unless they discover the cure for cancer.
    Sorry you slogged through this one. I would never have picked it up.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. angryparsnip: I don't much pay attention to sports stars or people who are stars for no reason. Unless sex is now a reason to be a star? Look! I can have sex! I get to be a star, now, right?

      Okay, maybe that's snarkier than I mean it to be.

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    2. wahahhhhahahahahahaha !
      Perfect !

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  11. I just want to quick add off the top of my head (no research):

    Michael Jordan and LeBron James' sons are getting famous.
    Archie Manning, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning.
    Goldie Hawn, Kate Hudson
    Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie
    Tom Hanks, Colin Hanks
    George Bush, George Bush, Jeb Bush
    The Kardashian/Jenners
    Ronald Reagan/Ron Reagan Jr.

    I'm not saying that they're as famous as their parents, but that they got noticed because they had a famous parent. I think the closest we came to the idea that Sandra posits, though, is John Kennedy Jr. From the moment he saluted that funeral procession through when he crashed his plane, he was famous almost exclusively for having a famous father.

    Oh, and Mick Jagger's daughter is a famous model, I think.

    The ideal (science) fiction takes our society a bit further in a direction it might have headed, and then asks what might happen. This one didn't work for you, but I didn't put it in the same category as a 'gimmick,' like The Hunger Games' setup. I think part of what bugged you is probably you yourself are not as celebrity-crazy as much of society it. (I am somewhat celebrity crazy; I admit I like some of the gossip. Sweetie is much more so, and I know a lot about it because I want to keep up with her.)

    PT: this isn't the way to defend Sandra's book; attacking Andrew won't help Sandra. Why not write a defense of the book, or a critique of Andrew's critique? He makes valid points.

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    1. Briane: I did say that the exception is when the descendant becomes a star in his/her own right, but we don't tend to pay any attention to people just because they're related to someone famous. Not for very long, at any rate. I just can't see a future where we suddenly care about the offspring of some previous generation's stars.

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  12. Wow, scary comment section there, for a while.

    I will say that you gave a fully measured, unbiased review, and I saw nothing at all at fault with it. You were respectful, stated multiple times it "could just be me", and I felt you were just disappointed, not trying to hurt the author or her work.

    In short, good review. People can still form their own opinions, afterward. :) Besides, "bad" reviews get read way more than good ones, so it may help her get more readers in the end.

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    1. Alex H: You know me, always have to keep the drama going. If you want to read some really good stuff, go back and read the comment thread on Living with a Wild God. I mean, if you want to talk about people not being allowed to have opinions... just wow!

      Thanks for your evaluation of my review. Just by the way.

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  13. You've had some pretty entertaining discussion threads in your comment section lately. Really firing some folks up!

    Not much opinion from me on this one.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Tossing It Out

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