Review of 'The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear'
Now I finished this book a week or so ago so this will not be as descriptive as it could be but here goes.
Reading ‘The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear’ reminded me of reading Roald Dahl’s ‘The BFG‘ (the Big Friendly Giant not the Big Fucking Gun) or at least it style did. It kind of reads like a kids book (it even has pictures!), though it has some comedy intended for adults. Time has erased all examples except for one biblical reference; one of the species of demons inhabiting Atlantis is called Gogmagogs. Odd, I know but I found it amusing. But for the most part these allusions are pretty hidden so they don’t distract from the main draw of the book, distraction. The book is insane (if you could not tell from the cover or the title… though the title is misleading. He is neither a Captain nor does he die once during the book). It is narrated by Bluebear whose narrative style does an good job of making this insanity seem almost mundane. It is natural to live in a perpetual tornado or watch a battle of wits between an intelligent element and a seven brained scientist riding partially tamed darkness. But in the end the book is not that memorable. I recommend reading it if you are in the mode for an amusing distraction and, if the rating from American Idol are correct, a lot of people are.
