From: Roxanne Feldman <fairrosa>
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 21:51:05 -0500

I agree with Angela and many other people I've talked to about the book that once Matt left Opium, the world suddenly becomes less?fined (and those many new characters, the boys, the guards of the orphanage, Maria's mother, etc. all suffer the same fate of appearing without having real personalitie, unlike Tom Lin, Maria, and other characters inside Opium, so tangible and believable.)

I was so taken with the book up to the point of the New Life part that this
"flaw" -- some others think it's minor and most of my very enthusiastic young readers don't see at all -- truly disappointed me.

What I hoped (against the rule of a good critical practice) was to have Matt leaving Opium as the ending to BOOK I of a possible Saga, and for Farmer to develop the outside world with the same care and details as she did Opium in a sequel....

The conveniently end-it-all ending did not bother me -- it was, um, cool :)

-- fairrosa
Received on Fri 17 Jan 2003 08:51:05 PM CST