Book Review: Breaking the Lore by Andy Redsmith

I enjoyed the concept of this one more than the execution, I’m afraid… The “For Fans of” listed one of my favorite authors (Ben Aaronovitch), but also one that I could never quite get into despite, again, loving the ideas just not the way they played out (Douglas Adams) – I should have taken that dichotomy to heart while reading… (NB: I think the two authors are worlds apart in style and approach, so they were an odd pairing of comparables to me anyway.)

The world-within-the-world construct is one I generally enjoy, and the way it is set up here was novel and interesting to me. But the story itself seemed a little banal and slow-paced for what it was.

Redsmith’s characters – both magical and non – were all so blase about everything, despite the wildness that was unfolding around them. The red herrings and misdirections were rolled out with little fanfare and explained away with even less. It felt like a carefully constructed book, rather than one that told itself – there were opportunities for drama and conflict that felt a little overly managed and explained away; a little rampant tomfoolery or wild emotive action would have gone a long way toward making this one roll downhill in a pleasant vertigo-inducing way…

It wasn’t an unenjoyable book so much as one that felt like it never quite hit its stride. Still, the concept was intriguing enough that I’d give another book a chance – there’s great fun potential here, and it’s possible that now that the stage is set Redsmith can dive in with both feet rather than gingerly test the waters, as it often felt like he did here…

My review copy was provided by NetGalley.