Mad God Walking Lacks Depth and Complexity
Mad God Walking
Walking Sideways
by Connor Drexler
City Owl Press
Romance, Sci Fi & Fantasy
Pub Date 04 Oct 2016
Review
I wanted to like Mad God Walking. I loved the book's description so my expectations were high. I was disappointed. It isn't that Mad God Walking is bad. Parts are very good. They are simply outnumbered by the parts best described as "meh". The story progresses slowly, with a lot of time spent on the small and inconsequential. Admittedly Damon is not exactly human, and he isn't supposed to see things the same way others do....The best way I can put it is that the characters behave far younger than their assigned years making it difficult to empathize with them. The situation and the division between the sides is starkly drawn. There is not a lot of depth or complexity. And as a romance, well that was more insta-love than chemistry despite the duo almost going up in flames.
Streamlined, Mad God Walking has potential as a young adult fantasy romance. As it stands, Mad God Walking doesn't have the depth, complexity or maturity adult scifi readers expect.
3/5
I received a copy of Mad God Walking from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review
--Crittermom
Description
Deep in the Sideways beyond human imagination lies the Night Hotel where madness reigns. Madness Damon longs to forget.
A stranger on earth and a refugee from a twisted Sideways world, Damon slowly builds a life in Brooklyn with his only friends, Thom and Sarah. Learning how to live as a human does not come easy to the being from the Sideways. Memories of the Night Hotel where he grew up, and his guardians—Aunt and Uncle, still haunt him. Despite his bitter childhood, Damon is determined to forget and become worthy of Sarah's love and Thom's friendship.
When his new life is threatened by an Inquisition of human wizards convinced Damon is the same Mad God once responsible for the Dark Ages, he is forced to use the sorcery of the Sideways to protect it and his friends. But each time he uses the addictive magic of his home, he loses a little more of his hard won humanity. Can he save them all before he turns into the Mad God the Inquisition believes him to be?
