Daemons Are Forever

Daemons Are Forever (2008) Simon R. Green

That was thoroughly disappointing.

I really like Simon R. Green’s writing style–I love the Nightside books and liked the first Eddie Drood book, The Man with the Golden Torc. The second Eddie Drood book, however, not so much.

This book was all over the place, and it wasn’t particularly clear why it jumped from one place to another the way it did. Additionally, he brought it characters and concepts from other series, that I suppose were supposed to be enjoyable if you’d read the Deathstalker series, but I hadn’t, and the whole thing just felt forced.

Even more frustrating, for probably the first half of the book Eddie was being an annoying ass. I just wanted to smack him for being so stupid. And when he ended up proven right (of a sorts) it was almost unbearable, because he didn’t really deserve the happy ending, or for things to work out as well as they did.

You saw the fall coming from a mile away, saw his hubris yet he walked right into and acted all shocked and surprised when it happened.

Yes, there was sharp snappy dialog. Yes, there were lots of amusing references to other science fiction and fantasy characters and series. But the whole thing just felt forced. It was like he’d gotten an idea for a story, wandered off in the middle, and then took a giant leap when he realized how far off course he’d wandered.

Essentially, the characters felt off, the story meandered back and forth for seemingly no reason, and some of the plot just felt ridiculous. I ended up skimming the second half of the book, just so I could find out what happened and then move onto another book.

This book won’t put me off Simon Green’s writing, but I also don’t think I’ll be in any hurry to read the third book in the Eddie Drood series, which is already out in hard back. I also really hope this was an aberration, and not a sign of how his books to come are going to go.
Rating: 4/10

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