first person

[ironymaiden]

i am wary of novels told in first person. especially speculative fiction - there's no reason for the POV character to feed the reader background. if it's first person, past tense, i want to know who the POV character is talking to. (if he/she/it is addressing the reader as "you" i certainly want to know why.) i know some people are disconcerted by first person present, but i rather like it since it has more logic.

anyway, i read two first person novels back-to-back.

Storm Front, by Jim Butcher: if this book were a car, it would have square wheels and a 2 cylinder engine. Butcher (who is a lovely man and i'm glad he's making a living) gets mired in a pile of exposition every time it looks like the story is going to pick up steam. meh.

Grimspace, by Ann Aguirre: it went down like a fresh oyster*. quick, smooth, delicious, no aftertaste. i have a vague desire for more. it was pretty much the sort of experience i hoped for from Storm Front. plus it had sex scenes. it doesn't rise beyond space opera, but i breezed through it overnight and i would happily read the sequel.



*not from the hands of a hot young girl, but we can't have everything.

Comments

[buhrger]

the first FPSF that comes to my mind is, of course, blindsight, which of course has a reason for the narrator addressing the reader (which he doesn't even do all that much), but you only discover it at the end.

[lilac-wine.livejournal.com]

the sequel is Wanderlust and IMO, it's even better than Grimspace. I'm biased because ann is a friend but I think she's got a lot of talent.

[irishninja.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about stories told in 1st person via the construct of being a journal or set of journal entries?

[ironymaiden]

that's fine, although i think it works best when it's short.

I should read more

[andrew-the-oga.livejournal.com]

I really should read more. Thank you for these reviews.