Review by blurrylon -- Smith by Sam B Miller II
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blurrylon
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Review by blurrylon -- Smith by Sam B Miller II
[Following is a volunteer review of "Smith" by Sam B Miller II.]
Smith, written by Sam B Miller II is a novel about a young man living with a little -not so little- voice in his head, something like a God guiding him but not quit. It starts lightly until the boy finds a mysterious old ring and since that moment, everything happens fast. Maybe way too fast?
The characters are quite endearing, I will not give a useless list but it's important to underline them: there's the boy, Jake, who we really see growing through the book. There's his best friend (by the way, I'm bummed he is only present on the beginning because I liked him), his father, his partner Nava (strong women who you learn to love a lot), and off course: Smith. This voice from ancient times. For all, I didn't find them enough developed. All along, I was craving to have more information, I want to learn to understand how they work, even though I have mixed feeling about each one of them, I wanted the author to prove me wrong or right and see some king of development. Was it intentional to just let the reader think everything through by themself? Even the "bad man" of the story just felt secondary and when we hear again about him, we're just like "oh, right, he exists".
Smith. He deserves his proper paragraph. It liked how Smith is funny and kind of childish, His relationship with Jake feels like an old teenage friendship and that is a point I appreciate because it is so far away of what He really is... But that's something you'll learn while reading. He is some kind of God but sounds like a modern robot with access to the internet and which always need improvement, that isn't something you expect.
The author often plays with satire, you can feel in the beginning when you find yourself laughing at sad things (the narrator's notes about the father and son relationship: "Rob was an archaeologist first and a father sixth. Or maybe even tenth.". Talking about the archaeology thing: I think it's a big plus about the book; I didn't make my researches but it seems like the authors leans on Egyptian Myths to build his plot and it's so much interesting every time myths are brought in.
About the plot, I like how the story just starts simply before it gets so much different (bold comparison but it is kind of like the show Teen Wolf: just two teenagers until they find something horrible and it changes completely their lives). Besides, to make a second bold comparison, When I saw a synopsis introducing a voice in the hero's head, I didn't think it would be some king of LOTR's spin-off. But to comment on the plot specifically: why on earth does it comes so far-off from the start? You are reading for so long and floating in an ocean of action scenes and almost uninterrupted blood baths until comes the real plot, the real red line of the book. So much paintings of coldblooded murders from the hands of a teenage boy and suddenly there's the plot.
When you finish reading this book, you can't quit give your opinion right away. I feel like there has been so much information in so little time, so much action scenes that happened too fast. The book is more about the actions than the feeling that goes within, it's too bad for something that was so promising. Though it is well written and some images such as the fire-pit are so beautifully painted that you want to be there with the characters.
I will give the book 2 out of 4 stars for the enjoyment and the little connections I felt with the characters from time to time. I would have given it more but I found it poorly edited, in order to get 3 stars, it must be rearranged without aberrations such as 1-line pages. Although I had many notes to make, I must admit I read the book almost in one sitting thanks to the great and fluid writing. Smith lets me with a lovely feeling, that's why I'd recommend the book to anyone who's not a child (because of the violent scenes).
******
Smith
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Smith, written by Sam B Miller II is a novel about a young man living with a little -not so little- voice in his head, something like a God guiding him but not quit. It starts lightly until the boy finds a mysterious old ring and since that moment, everything happens fast. Maybe way too fast?
The characters are quite endearing, I will not give a useless list but it's important to underline them: there's the boy, Jake, who we really see growing through the book. There's his best friend (by the way, I'm bummed he is only present on the beginning because I liked him), his father, his partner Nava (strong women who you learn to love a lot), and off course: Smith. This voice from ancient times. For all, I didn't find them enough developed. All along, I was craving to have more information, I want to learn to understand how they work, even though I have mixed feeling about each one of them, I wanted the author to prove me wrong or right and see some king of development. Was it intentional to just let the reader think everything through by themself? Even the "bad man" of the story just felt secondary and when we hear again about him, we're just like "oh, right, he exists".
Smith. He deserves his proper paragraph. It liked how Smith is funny and kind of childish, His relationship with Jake feels like an old teenage friendship and that is a point I appreciate because it is so far away of what He really is... But that's something you'll learn while reading. He is some kind of God but sounds like a modern robot with access to the internet and which always need improvement, that isn't something you expect.
The author often plays with satire, you can feel in the beginning when you find yourself laughing at sad things (the narrator's notes about the father and son relationship: "Rob was an archaeologist first and a father sixth. Or maybe even tenth.". Talking about the archaeology thing: I think it's a big plus about the book; I didn't make my researches but it seems like the authors leans on Egyptian Myths to build his plot and it's so much interesting every time myths are brought in.
About the plot, I like how the story just starts simply before it gets so much different (bold comparison but it is kind of like the show Teen Wolf: just two teenagers until they find something horrible and it changes completely their lives). Besides, to make a second bold comparison, When I saw a synopsis introducing a voice in the hero's head, I didn't think it would be some king of LOTR's spin-off. But to comment on the plot specifically: why on earth does it comes so far-off from the start? You are reading for so long and floating in an ocean of action scenes and almost uninterrupted blood baths until comes the real plot, the real red line of the book. So much paintings of coldblooded murders from the hands of a teenage boy and suddenly there's the plot.
When you finish reading this book, you can't quit give your opinion right away. I feel like there has been so much information in so little time, so much action scenes that happened too fast. The book is more about the actions than the feeling that goes within, it's too bad for something that was so promising. Though it is well written and some images such as the fire-pit are so beautifully painted that you want to be there with the characters.
I will give the book 2 out of 4 stars for the enjoyment and the little connections I felt with the characters from time to time. I would have given it more but I found it poorly edited, in order to get 3 stars, it must be rearranged without aberrations such as 1-line pages. Although I had many notes to make, I must admit I read the book almost in one sitting thanks to the great and fluid writing. Smith lets me with a lovely feeling, that's why I'd recommend the book to anyone who's not a child (because of the violent scenes).
******
Smith
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Ambition by Val Grian
