Crapfest in Amberville

Amberville -- (Tim Davys) -- Kindle Edition (2009) -- 5
Fiction

The Saga of Eric Bear and his animal friends was readable, I'll give it that. There were also several turns of phrase that made me chuckle (pat and somewhat puny, but I go for that).

Reviews in the chronicle pushed me to purchase Amberville, and while I can't say i'm sorry to have read it, I'd say they steered me wrong. While readable, Amberville is trite. It feels like the outline of a novel, but the plot points don't make sense.

For example, Teddy Bear is obviously nuts and is obviously institutionalized -- this seemed clear from his very first (first person) chapter. So all of his ranting and raving about being married to Emma Bear and working for Wolle and Wolle are questionable from the first. So why in the world would his doctors encourage Emma Bear accept his marriage proposal and go through a fake ceremony? What's the point in that being real (especially when it makes NO sense) when the rest of his crazy is just that? Can't this be just one more delusion?

The messages here about faith and science ring false, and confused. It's an original world with interesting parallels to our own, and I'm tempted to draw conclusions about what the author is saying, but the only moral that seems to make sense is "if it weren't for religion, no one would have to die," which of course makes no sense at all.

The final insult to my intelligence is the epilogue. Eric has to make a choice between the gangster Nicholas Dove and his brother, Teddy. Nick has threatened to harm his beloved, Emma Rabbit. But we find out from Teddy that Nick is Emma's father. So we, the reader, know both that Emma is in no real danger, and also that there is only one morally right decision for Eric to come to. The entire book is really about Eric's decision. It seems to me that we know juts barely enough about Eric to realize he would make the right decision. It's not a surprise that he makes the right decision. What's completely unnecessary is finding out that Eric has been told by Teddy about Emma's paternity. He really didn't need this information to make a decision. It cheapened the entire book.

Amberville is publicised Pseudonymously by "Tim Davys." I'm starting this blog on the day I finished Amberville. My real thought here is that if you're famous enough (as "Tim Davys," is rumored to be) I guess you can get anything published. I guess that's why I chose that name, Pseudonymous, for my blog. Because I don't, either, intend to produce something of quality.

Rant, Over.