Looking back
 

So, having finally read through the book, I can safely say that I don't know how it makes me feel. One one hand, the world is safe from the crazed mauraders of not-earth, but weighing down the other scale is the fact that every other person even mentioned in the story, with the possible exception of Crushtacean, and definite exemptions of Nukie, John, Ima and Veronica, has since become one with the sweet embrace of death.

I can say for sure that I wasn't exactly happy when I finally put the book down. I stood up, fatigued, lost. Maybe I was just empathising with Sparky. All I know is past the point where Rachel kicked it, I found myself hoping that it was all some crazy dream - or that Angus and the rest would somehow return.

I'm not sure I even read the last 100 or so pages. It's all a blur.

But I woke up this morning, the whole dilemma rationalized in my mind.

John may well have been right when he said he killed Rachel. Had he simply run instead of drawing attention from Nihel, she may well still be alive, but at what cost?

I realize now that everyone's death had a purpose. Had Nihel not seen fit to demonstrate his powers on the one Atomik Lad most cherished, he may well have succeeded with his plans for the galaxy. While it didn't do so immediately, Rachel's death eventually led to John saving everybody. If he hadn't taken the hit for Nuklear Man, well. Suffice to say Nihel would've gained Arel's power and destruction, pain, killing, yadda, yadda.

Angus sacrificed himself to give MMMM and Shiro time to escape. Shiro ate it by redirecting the Negabomb to a place not in the vicinity of Nukie's person. Norman, uh. Died in vain, I guess. Whatever. In the grand scheme of things, this is what's important: had John not lost it, Nihel would've gained it. And then the universe would've lost it.

I think the Apology was unnecessary. Anger is not one of the words I'd use to describe my emotional state at the end of the book. Now that I've had time to reflect on it, it is indeed kind of funny to me, the way the book worked.

Happy endings are for pussies. I love you, Brian. Curse you and your niche in writing!

I daresay my $32.50 was well-spent. Anybody who can't front that sort of pocketchange really needs to prioritize their life.

Anybody else have thoughts they'd like to share about the book?

...like the hundreds of spelling errors one might find, even after all this time supposedly spent editing? Nyah.

What's MMMM stand for?

Why, Tungsten Titan, of course!

(edit: It may also stand for "Mighty Metallic Magno Man" or something equally cheesy that I can't be bothered to remember off-hand.)

Ok, so in other words it isn't an acronym for say, four words that begin with the letter M. cause if it was i'd be worried.

Happy to see that the 600+ pages worked the way they were supposed to :)

One correction though, Kirby. Shiro isn't dead at the end. He's already in the sequel.

Oh yeah, the typos. I'm not happy with 'em, but they are there. Perhaps if my first two editors didn't flake out/die on me, and if I hadn't been forced into doing the editing 100% by myself in a week on a laptop older than God at my parents' house while evacuating from a hurricane.

But, hey, have you seen first edition Terry Pratchett novels lately? He may have me beat on a pages/typo ratio.

yea i have to agree with kirby. I finished the book today, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

I do agree with his point that what happened was necessairy for everything to sort itself out, but on the otherhand I feel as if it was the reverse of what you intended. You said the whole thing is like I joke, but I feel as if the end was set up as the ultimate ironic punchline. Instead of being funny it was the reverse. I don't know it just felt outta place. And the whole thing with Psiko was just SO outta place it was ridiculous.

Wait, I thought at least one of the editors you worked with, managed to come through, or am I mistaken? Well, at least you can look at it this way, if you get a hold of a decent editor, you can submit a typo-free 2nd printing onto an unwitting public, and make a killing in sales.

Extra Gold Foil Special Edition, my foot!

SWB
Got the book just today, and aside for the occasional tortured prose (but believe me, I have seen worse), its not too bad. Of course, I've only read the first chapter, so for all I know, a horror show of the worst kind could still be in store for me.

Is it out in Canada yet? I havent' checked, and I'm o-so waiting for it! I've always wondered what Brian writes like off the internet..

Naw, most of the tortured turns of phrase are early on.

Y'know there's a Amazon.com for Canada.

http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASI...170076-5855537
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASI...170076-5855537

You should go there. You should go there now!

SWB
And unless he has *VERY* neat & tidy handwriting, I'm pretty sure the book was typed, not written.