7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Should have had Young Adult on the book, October 25, 2009
I hate to give bad reviews; in fact, I almost never do. I am not giving this less than a three, because the writing is grammatically accurate, there are no large plot holes, and, well, because I hate giving a hard working author a bad review. However, I think that a label of Young Adult would have better prepared me for this book.
It's always a chance with humorous fantasy, that it will cross that line; the line that Pratchett seldom steps over; the one that this book does, into juvenile. Perhaps I'm a bit old school, but reading a book where the main characters use words like "fantabulous" makes me die a bit inside (like I did when "ginormous" got added to the dictionary last year (sigh)). There are fat-butt jokes repeated ad nauseum, and if I ever hear the term "Ducky" again, well, I might jump. There is also quite a bit of filler and fluff- let me rephrase that, QUITE A BIT of filler and fluff: I just spent 5 pages (pages 340-346) reading a stupid, circular argument about whether to take a car ride or not (I might have forgiven one page, but no more than that). This type of filler is not a unique experience, as far as this book goes.
This is not a bad book. It is not poorly written. I just have a difficult time relating to anyone in it, or keeping interested in the natterings of the main characters. As a disclaimer, I am in my 30's and male; however, I know of no one, personally, in my demographic, who would disagree with me. If you're into fantasy series about worlds populated by talking cats, are a fan of Mercedes Lackey, or like Reality TV (with lots of people bickering), then this book might be just your speed. I hope that it works for you. (note: I have not read a Lackey book in 2 decades, so she might have changed in that time)
For the record, I found the first book in the series to be a bit better.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining, July 17, 2009
K. E. Mills' sequel to The Accidental Sorcerer brings to my mind a quote by Thorne Smith, author of "Topper": "Like life itself my stories have no point and get absolutely nowhere. Quite casually I wander into my plot, poke around with my characters for a while, then amble off, leaving no moral proved and no reader improved. You will be equally mystified if not revolted. I am myself."
Gerald, a previously 3rd grade wizard come into his "rogue wizard" powers, is now an undercover agent for the government, while his friends Princess Melissande, Reg, and Monk's sister Bibbie have started their own agency, Witches, Inc. Of course their assignments intersect, and the words "madcap" and "hijinks" are brought to mind. I am a fan of Thorne Smith's work, so I was entertained by this book as well. 543 pages flew easily by, never getting bogged down in details or plot. The story focuses more heavily on the girls of Witches, Inc, but I was still a little frustrated by the lack of growth of Gerald's powers. The first book had him developing the power to create dragons, while in this book the most impressive demonstrations of his powers included mind control and lock-picking. I had also hoped for a little more elaboration on Reg's history. I have high hopes for the third book in this series.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tearing my hair out, June 29, 2011
This might have been a nice book. The story is not horrible, but I've had to resort to skimming the book to glean anything of interest. The grammar is correct and technically it is well written, but this book is tedious, very very tedious. As one of the previous reviewers said, it is full of fluff (or drivel). Every 6 pages someone says something interesting or relative to the plot line. The rest is uninteresting babble between the characters. K.E.Mills seriously needs a good editor.
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