Marek reviewed Numenera by Monte Cook
Despite loving the setting, and the game, I just couldn't keep with this.
3 stars
Another difficult one for me, as I really like Monte Cook Games. I love the setting for Numenera (I've never really played the game, but very much want to).
But despite liking and agreeing with a lot of his game design work (around everything that sprung from the initial Numenera rpg), and loving his settings, Monte's writing style is just too stilted for me. Every action has a long drawn out over-thinking of it by the character in advance of doing something, and some slow interpretation as it unfolds, making the whole thing feel like it is in continuous slow motion - the - whole - time.
Mix that with a little too much of the description without explanation, or objects having really important plot effects without first having been foreshadowed or the reader otherwise prepped, and it's all a bit too distancing.
Things happening without explanation …
Another difficult one for me, as I really like Monte Cook Games. I love the setting for Numenera (I've never really played the game, but very much want to).
But despite liking and agreeing with a lot of his game design work (around everything that sprung from the initial Numenera rpg), and loving his settings, Monte's writing style is just too stilted for me. Every action has a long drawn out over-thinking of it by the character in advance of doing something, and some slow interpretation as it unfolds, making the whole thing feel like it is in continuous slow motion - the - whole - time.
Mix that with a little too much of the description without explanation, or objects having really important plot effects without first having been foreshadowed or the reader otherwise prepped, and it's all a bit too distancing.
Things happening without explanation is an essential trope of science fiction, of course, and often important to immerse the reader, to bring them along and build trust in the author. There is a balance to be struck, though, and even though the characters' lack of grasp of the situation is central to the premise of the setting, it could have been handled much better here I think.
A shame, as with other work in the setting I really wanted to like this, and there are certainly lots of bits to like still, but was just too much hard work.