Someone who leaves IIMA to pursue a career in writing ought to be a fantastic writer. Or so I thought.
I have been trying to find that spark that Samit Basu is supposed to possess. The spark that makes publishers keep publishing his books.
I bought the three books in the GameWorld trilogy, but got bored midway through the second book. The plot was interesting, but the execution was plain boring.
I also tried to read Terror on the Titanic. Which put me off reading fiction for a month.
And I am reading Turbulence right now. I am through about 40% of the novel. The plot is very interesting. How could a Heroes-X-Men-Misfits clone not be interesting? But I am not sure I can read it the whole way through.
Basu's characters talk so much. So much! Each one of them is too clever by half. Every one takes pot shots at each other. And the narrator keeps trying to beat them at this cleverness. In every book. It's like the same character with a different get-up turning up in every book of his.
BORING.
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2 comments:
i think you're being a little harsh. I've read GameWorld enjoyed it -- but there were many many times when i felt it slacked and that the writing was simply amateurish. In that sense, yes, he is a mediocre writer and I think he gets some credit simply for being a serious fantasy writer in India in these times. BORING with capital letter? I dont think so.
Aah, Mr Nagaraj! How's MIT treating you?
I guess I was a little too over the top in criticizing Samit Basu. I keep buying his books because the plots seem inspiring, and I long to see justice done to the spark I briefly saw in his first book, but it's always disappointing.
The BORING was mainly for Turbulence, which has got to be the most staid superhero book I have ever read. Or at least read two-thirds and don't know if I have it in me to read the whole way through.
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