Post by Xenith on Dec 15, 2006 14:20:43 GMT -5
Since all local bookstores seemed to have all but stopped carrying the Charmed books about a month after the show ended, I was excited when a couple months ago I managed to find this one at Half Price Books.
Sure Ostow was the one responsible for the snoozer story "The Crucible" within the Warren Witches book. (The definite lowlight of that otherwise entertaining book, though I was also miffed that "Family History" seemed to completely contradict Pardon My Past as far as P. Russell's fate), but a new Charmed story had to be better nothing right? Or so I thought...
I rushed home and started reading it, but I stopped at about 3/4 of the way through. This book seemed awful. The book got packed away into a cupboard and only recently turned up. With most of my shows in reruns and my DVD player acting screwy I was in the mood for something Charmed. Surely this book couldn't be as bad as I remembered it...could it?
For me the answer was yes it most definitely could! Still this time I finished it, and although the ending wasn't quite as contrived as that of several episodes, it certainly couldn't redeem this book for me.
The main plot about the elves stealing human babies for a demon so she didn't take elf babies to make a demonic army was both rediculous and downright boring. Not to mention the writer just flat out failed to build any suspense at all for me at any point in this novel. Sure I may not be the easiest critic to please, but books like Mirror, and Worlds grabbed my attention, and made me excited for what was going to come next. Changeling made me wonder what was on TV tonight?
For subplots we had Piper struggling with being a mother and running P3. Once again Ostow handled this plot poorly. He just kept repeating the same d**n thing over and over without really diving into anything even slightly deep. I mean with a book you have the ability to not only see the characters talk but to see what they are thinking, books have a whole nother world that TV usually doesn't. And yet I can't help but feel that the TV episode's handling of Piper juggling being a mother, club owner, AND Charmed One was handled so much better.
If that weren't bad enough then toss in a heaping helping of awful characterization. Like the Charmed Ones deciding that they should leave the elves to have their children stolen and let a DEMONIC ARMY be created... It's only after the Elder's tell Leo that they HAVE to help, that they actually save them. I also loved how Piper showed absolutely no concern whatsoever about the exposure of magic when Wyatt was acting strangely...
About the only redeeming things in this book were Phoebe & Paige's subplots. Paige found herself working at Wyatt's daycare center, and Phoebe had writers block... The pretty much obvious came out of both of them, and they certainly weren't worth saving this book from going into the trash can.
In short I think if this book had ever been made into an episode that at least on my list it would have passed "Mr. & Mrs. Witch" and the "Barewitch Project" in terms of suckage...
Sure Ostow was the one responsible for the snoozer story "The Crucible" within the Warren Witches book. (The definite lowlight of that otherwise entertaining book, though I was also miffed that "Family History" seemed to completely contradict Pardon My Past as far as P. Russell's fate), but a new Charmed story had to be better nothing right? Or so I thought...
I rushed home and started reading it, but I stopped at about 3/4 of the way through. This book seemed awful. The book got packed away into a cupboard and only recently turned up. With most of my shows in reruns and my DVD player acting screwy I was in the mood for something Charmed. Surely this book couldn't be as bad as I remembered it...could it?
For me the answer was yes it most definitely could! Still this time I finished it, and although the ending wasn't quite as contrived as that of several episodes, it certainly couldn't redeem this book for me.
The main plot about the elves stealing human babies for a demon so she didn't take elf babies to make a demonic army was both rediculous and downright boring. Not to mention the writer just flat out failed to build any suspense at all for me at any point in this novel. Sure I may not be the easiest critic to please, but books like Mirror, and Worlds grabbed my attention, and made me excited for what was going to come next. Changeling made me wonder what was on TV tonight?
For subplots we had Piper struggling with being a mother and running P3. Once again Ostow handled this plot poorly. He just kept repeating the same d**n thing over and over without really diving into anything even slightly deep. I mean with a book you have the ability to not only see the characters talk but to see what they are thinking, books have a whole nother world that TV usually doesn't. And yet I can't help but feel that the TV episode's handling of Piper juggling being a mother, club owner, AND Charmed One was handled so much better.
If that weren't bad enough then toss in a heaping helping of awful characterization. Like the Charmed Ones deciding that they should leave the elves to have their children stolen and let a DEMONIC ARMY be created... It's only after the Elder's tell Leo that they HAVE to help, that they actually save them. I also loved how Piper showed absolutely no concern whatsoever about the exposure of magic when Wyatt was acting strangely...
About the only redeeming things in this book were Phoebe & Paige's subplots. Paige found herself working at Wyatt's daycare center, and Phoebe had writers block... The pretty much obvious came out of both of them, and they certainly weren't worth saving this book from going into the trash can.
In short I think if this book had ever been made into an episode that at least on my list it would have passed "Mr. & Mrs. Witch" and the "Barewitch Project" in terms of suckage...
