I finished reading Dead Dwarves Don’t Dance by Canyon, Derek J. this morning and after a great read for 99% of the book, it fizzles out at the end and doesn’t wrap up cleanly. A shame really since the author really is a good writer and can paint vivid images of the scenes his imagination captures for us.
This was not surprising although disappointing because MANY of the Shadowrun novels I have read end the same way; story for 230 pages and then abruptly ends in literally a couple of paragraphs. I think this cheapens the experience for everyone. But hey, whatever, it’s not my book.
To be fair I should base this book on its own merits, where there are many and not lump it into the same old bin of let-me-down authors. To reiterate the good points; good descriptive scenes, good dialogue between characters, smooth flow throughout the book, small bite-size chapters allowed for multiple story lined without making things convoluted.
These are the few criticism’s I have; the abrupt ending. I think it does a disservice to the whole of the book to not wrap things up. Granted some things you want to leave open, like a recurring villain(s), but not things that make no sense at all. In thing case >SPOILER< Earless getting her psyker abilities back and with a kick in strength to boot. That seemed cheap to me. Like a teaser of something we might see in a later book if she hadn’t got scragged.
Having said that I will definitely read more of Derek J. Canyon, especially in this genre that I love so much.
More to come…