Customer Reviews

In Hollow Houses (Dark Matter, Book 1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was flat out excellent. It lost a star for having some pointlessness toward the middle, but the ending and characters can make up for everything. The actual storyline uses the campaign steeting that far exceeded the actual game's quality for a base. The Dark Matter setting is one of strict paranoia and rampant paranormal activity, and this lives up to the standard. Plus, this is the precursor to one of the most entertaining books I've ever read, If Whispers Call. Think a less overly mysterious X-files mixed with NYPD Blue. Quality.

I picked up this book because I was curious about the RPG that it's based on and wanted to get some idea what it was all about before plunging into the game. The book just blew me away. If you've read anything from TSR/WOTC in the past, you're in for a big surprise with this book. It's a major departure for the kings of safe fantasy. It is extremely well written and surprisingly thought-provoking. I'm definitely IN and can't wait for the rest of the series. Unfortunately the game falls short of the book's promise, but the first book at least is way more than worth it.

This book is an excellent read. From the very beginning you keep wondering what will happen next. The story is full of unexpected details that truly add to the experience. The book also includes many references to actual details and environments. This makes the book a truly interesting story to read. In Hollow Houses is the perfect mix of truth and fantasy. It makes you really wonder "Could this be true or What If..." I highly recommend this book to any fans of sci-fi literature.

Damn good book. I've played the RPG it's based on, which is in itself an excellent game, and the book lives up to and surpasses it's inspiration. Dark, gritty, and suspensful only begin to describe it. It's only flaw was that the metaphysical musings were overly drawn out. The book also manages to stay true to the game setting, without requiring the reader to know a single thing about the game beforehand (or ever, for that matter). Reminds me a little bit of the X-files, but much, much darker and more suspensful, with cooler main characters and more colorful and developed supporting characters.

Compelling narrative keeps you turning the pages. Plot point management makes you wish you had picked up a different book. If you understand that the book is an introduction to Wizards Of The Coasts new game setting, you can forgive a certain amount loose ends, unanswered questions, stock dialogue, and "X-Files Lite" feel. As game setting intro novels go, this story is better than most in that regard. But the book needed to be about twice as long to satisfyingly cover the science and philosophical implications that it raises. Instead, such issues are brought up, gushed over in a way that interrupts the story as you try to wrap your head around the verbiage, then dropped. I will say that the last chapter was touching enough that I decided to give the second book in the series ('If Whispers Call' by another author) a spin and see if things get any better.

Read this book if you want a few thrills with no emotional commitment to the story or its characters. If you want something deeper, read an X-Files novel.

I'm afraid I was disappointed by this first volume in a series which is already projected to 5 volumes. The plot background, basically a reverse v'ger with an ounce or two of X-files, unfolds in truly tedious fashion. Action occurs in short jerky motions. Tunnel chases get interrupted for philosophical soliliquies, etc. Conspiracy lovers will have a ball, however. The writer picks up on all the old theories and adds dashes of aliens where you would never expect them. Literally nothing is as it seems. If you like dark, baroque, excrutiatingly complex settings this will be a series you might come to love. Our best hope here is that this ponderous writing is corrected in later volumes by other authors and that the core story becomes a rich source of invention. In the meantime, I'm pretty sure you will have to read volume 1 to be able to follow what's coming.