Review: The Violent Century

The Violent Century by Lavie Tidhar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It really does feel like what I imagine a comic book would be like if it were written instead of drawn. The story takes an interesting Third person approach. The narrator does not give a lot of insight into the characters, but rather leaves it up to the interpretation of the reader, much like someone viewing the panes of a comic book would. I think I would have like the whole story better if it didn't keep referencing the fact that it was referencing comic book structure. The story itself is interesting enough, though the quick cuts back and forth through time are a little disorienting. There were several characters that were introduced that I believe we were supposed to have a strong, but unearned, sentimental attachment to just because they had once been previously mention a hundred pages ago. The slow reveal used through the use of random flash back became more wearisome than entertaining by the end. Honestly, parts of the story it felt like the author had completely forgotten about certain character until that point and then decided, 'hey, maybe I should have them do something?' The whole thing was entertaining enough, but I wish the style had been attempted with a tighter story.

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