And Put Away Childish Things, Adrian Tchaikovsky
Received to review via Netgalley
In the end, And Put Away Childish Things didn’t really work for me. In part, probably because I’m not actually that cynical and I still like the idea of Narnia and don’t want to think about a Narnia-like world getting all gross and run down. And sure, the main character isn’t actually meant to be likeable, as far as I can tell, but all the same, I don’t like him and I don’t like reading about him.
As a result, I was only mildly engaged with the story, and thus it never came together for me at all. I think there are some neat ideas — Tchaikovsky usually has those! It’s just all a bit grim, and the unpleasant main character never appreciably wises up, and the most interesting characters are all kind of on the side.
Not for me, though I’m confident others will love it.
Given The Problem of Susan was the first story to ever get me interested in Tchaikovsky’s work, Childish Things was tempting – but it sounds like it hits the notes I’ve hated about the other Tchaikovsky novellas I’ve read: it’s all a bit grim and the MC is so unlikeable and yes there are some neat ideas but gosh I don’t enjoy any of it. So thank you, I’ll steer well clear and get back to the Final Architecture (because I don’t dislike all Tchaikovsky, happily)