Hey folks, I’m back with another book review. But first, please understand that when I picked this one up I was thinking Frank Herbert of Dune fame. No relation, absolutely. In fact, James’ writing is so different from Frank’s that it’s easy to see that they are no relation. At the time of purchase I was thinking, ‘Oh cool, I have a book store down the street from me, let’s see what I can get. This looks cool.’ In other words, I wasn’t thinking. I was enthralled by a book store down the street from me, and in my giddiness I picked up Portent. In my opinion, not a good choice.
This book has vexed me on so many levels. Firstly, as I’ve stated above, by not knowing the author. Then there’s the story. And discovering he’s a NYTimes bestseller and an acclaimed writer from England with two books turned movies. And finding something similar in this story and a movie I watched long ago. And the weird metaphors (more on that later). There were moments where I saw what was coming, being a jaded person who’s seen or read a lot of stories in book or movie form. And not through foreshadowing, although, foreshadowing may have played a part in the book, you just don’t know it until you get invested in the story. And once I got invested in the story I was like, “Really?”
So no, this is not going to be a good review. James Herbert doesn’t need me to be a fan, he’s already got millions. So who am I, just some guy who didn’t like his book. A pissed off guy who read it in it’s entirety and wondered why this thing was even on paper. It reminded me of one of those sappy mini-series you see on TV, where one thing leads to another, the guy gets the girl, evil is vanquished, and it all ends with unicorns and rainbows. To be fair, he is a good story teller, if by that I mean he can tell a story, and if he can stay on point (more on that later). Perhaps it’s his style that offends me so much. No, it’s not that.
Ughhh! Just let me get into this. First, he creates these real characters.People who have likes and dislikes, loves and losses, people who have much and those who don’t. He creates these rich backstories for these people that make you relate to them. And then he kills them off. All through the book, the chapters switch between the main story and these people who meet untimely fates. It was very distracting to the point of it being a wordy tale. People who have nothing to do with the story, except for being victims of the very thing the book is about, all over the world. Individuals and groups meet their fate, and I guess you can feel for them after they die. I was more of, ‘why are you telling me so much of this or that person and then kill them off?’ For me it was very annoying.
Second, the main characters meet, a man and a woman, in one of those comical romance movie styles. So now I’m like ‘Is this a tragedy or a romance?’ Several scenes in fact tend to swing both ways, which I found to be unnecessary. Perhaps someone else can find the romance in this. I found it to be a hindrance.
Third, there are these children who have a psychic connection, which the main characters switch between believing it and not. There abilities are displayed over and over, and depending on whether it’s relevant to the story, they are either taken seriously or not. Please, pick a side!
Lastly, one character has one part in the story, and it comes at the very end. She appears every here and there in the story, but has no play in the plot until the very, and I do mean the very end. And even then her part is pointless.
So I didn’t like it one bit. In fact when I was done with it I slammed it down on the table and yelled at it. Never have I been more disappointed in a story.
But again, who am I? James Herbert has movies made from his books, he’s a best seller in England, a NYTimes best seller, and he’s done very well with his stories. Now I hate to speak ill of the dead (he passed in the mid 2000’s), so I won’t. I will speak about this story, and say I wish I never had it.
PS: He has an interesting style of metaphor. I’ve never heard “a stuttering of lightning” before, not that I have to. I guess the image it incurs is self-evident, but it’s not something I would think of. Perhaps I lack that kind of imagination. Or perhaps he’s being like Shakespeare and creating his own vocabulary. I don’t know, I just find it as interesting.
Arid Testimony 