The Dark Backward
The novel that ties the entire series’s universe together and brings in new blood
(Context: This was written in response to the author, Joshua Grasso’s post on a random book related thing. So this was composed directly to him in a conversational tone.)
Short review: If you told me that the post you did, ‘When We Fall Out of Love With Writing’ was because of the writing of The Dark Backward, I would totally believe it. Not that that book is bad, I really liked it, but it feels like, hmm, I get this vibe that could have been the case with the process.
There were points during it I was like ‘so meta’. The line about the Astrologers Portrait (I have it, I need to read it) was the one that got me I’m like I remember feeling that so hard when my books were for sale on Amazon. The whole focus on books made that meta vibe even more intense. The movie Hail Caesar comes to mind as something similar. A film about film, but also, not really. That makes the book seem bad with that comparison, sorry for that.
It’s not. Why it’s not:
Cast reunions! It feels like a legit sequel to Count of the Living Death, which I think is my favorite of your works. You get Blackbeard, you get Mary, and you get Leopold. No Ivan, though, which is shame, but not really, because you have Lena who is awesome. She owns her role. Magda does too but thieves in general aren’t my cup of tea but I like how she develops over the course of the novel. Lena was great. Would read a book about her adventures in the future.
There’s also Moth. I was like…he’s from the Cutpurse book. Cool. This is the Avengers of your series. It was good and fun in that regard.
I was a little annoyed how it felt like the New Avengers (extending that analogy). Annoyed isn’t the right word. Disappointed? I mean, Blackbeard is there but it’s about torch passing to Magda and the new generation (I accept Lena with open arms). Which is sad when you like the current generation and these new guys don’t have the same raw charisma as the original cast, I mean, how can you get rid of Steve Rogers as Captain America? Ugh. Wrong series. Anyway, that’s how I felt. Magda — okay, cool, but not Blackbeard level.
Yet.
Mary and Leopold’s relationship or lack thereof in some regards was slightly shocking but when I think about it, totally realistic.
Asides from the characters, the wit level is off the charts. Oh my gosh did the dry humor and jobs keep me going. So many shots at aristocracy and bureaucracy and everything. Excellent, excellent.
But why does it feel like there was some pain in writing it? I can’t articulate it in any rational sense right now. Well, the self deprecating humor is a one point (am I analyzing too much?). I could be just projecting my current difficulties onto the work which wouldn’t be surprising at all. Apologies if that’s the case, could be…reading into it too much. Which is highly ironic considering literally everything in this context.
But all in all, a great read and instead of reading something written by a dead guy next, I’ll get around to the Astrologer’s Portrait. As always, enjoy your work–be it novels or posts.
….
I realized this short review turned into a large one. Oh, well. I’ll just post it as is as a relic for posterity.
