Up until this week the only things I'd ever read by Robert Ludlum were the first two Jason Bourne books, The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, primarily on the recommendation of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mamishka. I remember thinking at the time that Ludlum had an annoying way of using way too many exclamation marks and way too much italics in his prose, but he was certainly capable of putting together a decently intriguing plot. Certainly not a stellar writer, but solid enough if what you're looking for is a diverting thriller.
I was in the mood, so I picked up The Ambler Warning. I started the book off thinking, "I liked this story better when it was called The Bourne Identity"--'cause certainly, the overall idea of "agent who's had his past wiped out is out to try to figure out what the hell happened to him and who's trying to kill him and oh yeah he has to stop the big evil mastermind while he's at it" was the same overall idea in the older book. However, as I got further into it I decided that reaction was unjust. There's that superficial similarity, yes, but the world Ambler's operating in is certainly a different one than Bourne's. It's over twenty years later, and modern politics certainly do give a different flavor in general to what's going on.
Plus, whatever ghost writer is working under the name of Robert Ludlum these days actually has a bit cleaner prose than the actual Ludlum. Way fewer exclamation marks, and I didn't spot any italics at all. ;) This prose is not without its flaws--more than once you get smacked upside the head with huge infodumps, and the main interesting line of action keeps getting interrupted with short side scenes involving the minor characters. But to the ghost writer's credit, I'll also note that I eventually found myself quite drawn into the plot and anxious to find out how it was going to resolve, so well done there!
And! I never ever noticed the Bourne books sending me to the dictionary, but this book did it three times with factotum, seriatim, and velleity. Half of me appreciated the use of words I didn't recognize, though it didn't quite work for me completely--I mean, let's face it, who actually uses words like factotum and seriatim and velleity in actual everyday usage? Still, though, given a choice between an overly pretentious vocabulary and badly spelled and badly edited crap, I'll take the pretentious vocabulary any day of the week. ;)
( A few spoilers back here... )
All in all, a solid and entertaining read. I'd give it four stars, but the shaky bits in the writing make me pull it down to three and a half.
mamishka. I remember thinking at the time that Ludlum had an annoying way of using way too many exclamation marks and way too much italics in his prose, but he was certainly capable of putting together a decently intriguing plot. Certainly not a stellar writer, but solid enough if what you're looking for is a diverting thriller.I was in the mood, so I picked up The Ambler Warning. I started the book off thinking, "I liked this story better when it was called The Bourne Identity"--'cause certainly, the overall idea of "agent who's had his past wiped out is out to try to figure out what the hell happened to him and who's trying to kill him and oh yeah he has to stop the big evil mastermind while he's at it" was the same overall idea in the older book. However, as I got further into it I decided that reaction was unjust. There's that superficial similarity, yes, but the world Ambler's operating in is certainly a different one than Bourne's. It's over twenty years later, and modern politics certainly do give a different flavor in general to what's going on.
Plus, whatever ghost writer is working under the name of Robert Ludlum these days actually has a bit cleaner prose than the actual Ludlum. Way fewer exclamation marks, and I didn't spot any italics at all. ;) This prose is not without its flaws--more than once you get smacked upside the head with huge infodumps, and the main interesting line of action keeps getting interrupted with short side scenes involving the minor characters. But to the ghost writer's credit, I'll also note that I eventually found myself quite drawn into the plot and anxious to find out how it was going to resolve, so well done there!
And! I never ever noticed the Bourne books sending me to the dictionary, but this book did it three times with factotum, seriatim, and velleity. Half of me appreciated the use of words I didn't recognize, though it didn't quite work for me completely--I mean, let's face it, who actually uses words like factotum and seriatim and velleity in actual everyday usage? Still, though, given a choice between an overly pretentious vocabulary and badly spelled and badly edited crap, I'll take the pretentious vocabulary any day of the week. ;)
( A few spoilers back here... )
All in all, a solid and entertaining read. I'd give it four stars, but the shaky bits in the writing make me pull it down to three and a half.
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