REVIEW: Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Bakker

Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Bakker
Publishing information: Hardback; 288 pages
Publisher: Forge: 23 November 2010
ISBN 10: 0765321904
ISBN 13: 9780765321909
Standalone
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Inside the Book: "And you wonder why I’m cynical. I’ve literally ‘seen it all before.’ The truth is we all have, every single one of us past the age of, say, twenty-five. The only difference is that I remember.”


No matter how hard he drinks, gambles, or womanizes, Disciple Manning simply cannot forget: not a word spoken, not an image glimpsed, not a pain suffered. Disciple Manning has total recall. Whatever he hears, he can remember with 100% accuracy. He can play it back in his head for an infinite number of times without a single change. This ability makes him a dangerously unorthodox private investigator.


When a New Jersey couple hires Manning to find their daughter, who joined a religious cult before vanishing in a small rust-belt town called Ruddick, he finds himself embroiled in a mystery that will pit his unnatural ability to remember against his desperate desire to forget."

Last year, I read Bakker's Prince of Nothing series which had me up and down while reading it. To this day I am still on the fence as to whether or not I should continue the second trilogy titled Aspect-Emperor. In an attempt to figure out whether I want to read it, I decided to give him another chance to win me over and purchased Disciple of the Dog. After all, a man who remembers everything sounds interesting.

Disciple or Diss Manning is an interesting character. He is very sarcastic and not exactly what I would call sophisticated as he has ex-strippers bounce in and out of his dilapadated office as temporary employees and lovers. Sometimes his internal monologue is witty and other times it is really annoying. I gave him ample opportunity to win me over and as I continued reading I found myself feeling dirtier as a result of my contact with him. Anybody that had an inkling of kindness or exhibited a pinch of goodness was immediately looked down upon and was smeared by either a few thoughts from the main characters or by some slight that a character felt left them open to critique. It wore me down. I hated Disciple Manning nearly halfway through the novel. The first few chapters I thought he was interesting and by the end of the novel I really did not like him. Even the majority supporting characters are rotten to the core. The couple that hires Disciple are tarnished. It was hard to find anyone with normal or outstanding morality.

The heart of Disciple of the Dog is a mystery. The book has a very noir feel to it; however, the setting in present day. Not an easy thing to do and Bakker does a great job of making it work. The set up is interesting and the delivery is impeccable. I think this is the highlight of the story. The book comes in at just under 300 pages and the story telling is very tight. As Diss learns more and more about the case the reader is able to slowly uncover the truth. I also think that Diss grows up a little but I still had no empathy for him by the end of the novel. I would like to tell you more but as I set out to write this review I had a hard time deciding what to write about for fear of giving something away so, I just decided to not say anything at all and avoid risking telling you anything that could ruin the mystery. I will say that there is room for a sequel as the ending is open-ended. If there were some light at the tunnel I could see myself reading the series, but I do not see this happening.

When I finished Disciple of the Dog I found a dark and gritty mystery that had no one I could relate to or even feel pity for. One of the problems I faced when I read his Prince of Nothing trilogy. There are no good characters, only various shades of grey and more often black. I have to have someone to root for and so far Bakker has yet to give me anyone that I can. It makes reading difficult when you cannot find anyone with redeeming qualities. While the mystery is well done and the characters interesting the story itself is just dark and made for an uncomfortable read. It is the reason for the low score. I am still on the fence about starting his new trilogy and leaning heavily towards staying away from it.

Plot 8
Characters 6
Style 7

Overall 5.5/10

REVIEW: The Swarm by Frank Schätzing

The Swarm by Frank Schätzing
Translated from German by Sally-Ann Spencer
Paperback: 881 pages
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks; New edition edition (22 Feb 2007)
ISBN-10: 0340895241
ISBN-13: 978-0340895245
Copy: Bought in bookshop
Reviewer: Cara

From the back of the book:
A novel of the deep
Something strange and terrible is happening deep in the oceans. Tides and currents are shifting, normally peaceful creatures are attacking, ships are sinking, fishermen drowning. The world ecology is in crisis... and this is just the beginning.

Led by the claret-loving Norwegian Sigur Johanson and the Inuit whale expert Leon Anawak, a motley group of scientists find themselves in a race against time to prevent a global cataclysm - and to head off those who want to exploit it in their own pursuit of power.

I read The Swarm in 2007, when it first came out in paperback in the UK. Recent events, such as the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the crisis in cod and tuna fish stocks and the acidification of the oceans led me to revisit this book as I considered it purely speculative fiction three years ago. Now I am not so sure... are we killing the oceans? And will the planet fight back? One thing is for sure, The Swarm is a warning to us all to protect our precious ocean resources.

The Swarm opens with a series of seemingly random events… fishermen going missing off the coast of Peru, whales attacking tourist boats off Vancouver Island, vast colonies of tubeworms accumulating around methane hydrate deposits in the North Sea, zebra mussel swarms appearing on the underside of a large tanker rendering the rudder and propellers useless… the only common factor being they are ocean-related. Something unusual is happening around the world and scientists are beginning to sound warnings. A task force is set up to study the phenomena and the possible causes, under the auspices of the US Government (of course!) and then the disasters start happening.

To cut a (very) long story short, the ocean is fighting back against human encroachment. Pollution, overfishing, oil drilling, noise from ships and submarines are disrupting the delicate balance of the marine ecosystems, but there is more life in the ocean than human science is aware of. A sentient being, the Yrr, is behind the phenomena, but how do humans communicate with such an alien lifeform?

While the plot is strong, the execution is a disappointment. I felt that Frank Schätzing wrote The Swarm with one eye firmly on possible film rights, as there were several references to characters looking like well known movie actors, Jodie Foster being one example. The characters were well drawn and sympathetic and references to film stars undermined their credibility in my opinion. In addition, giving the US Government a controlling role in the research aspect of the plot seemed strange to me, given the author is European, so the idea of the US as the only nation able to co-ordinate such a project jarred with me somewhat.

Although very well researched, too much of the book was taken up with complex and detailed scientific explanations when a brief summary would have sufficed. This happened frequently and served more as a distraction, losing the plot amidst a mire of degree-level marine biological information. At a guess, many readers gave up on the book because of this unnecessary information, something that should have been prevented by a more thorough editing process. Factual information in context is usually good, but there was just too much extraneous detail.

To be fair, I enjoyed The Swarm and have recommended it to friends who I know have an interest in marine science and the ecology of the oceans. Despite the faults mentioned above, it is an enjoyable read and a solid thriller, but only if you have the time and patience to read all 881 pages.

Plot: 7
Characters: 6
Style: 5

Rating 6/10