Science Fiction
31% into Big Diamond’s boy and it’s already doing that useful thing where the father-son relationship is more unsettling than sentimental.
Cotton idolising Big Diamond could have been straightforward, but it isn’t. There’s a clear tension there, and it makes the book feel less like a cosy family story and more like one where affection has teeth.
Probably best for readers who like their science fiction with character friction rather than shiny ideas floating on top.
Cotton idolising Big Diamond could have been straightforward, but it isn’t. There’s a clear tension there, and it makes the book feel less like a cosy family story and more like one where affection has teeth.
Probably best for readers who like their science fiction with character friction rather than shiny ideas floating on top.
That father-son setup is doing a lot of work here. It’s the sort of premise that can go sentimental very quickly, so I’m glad it seems to have a harder edge. “Fathers and sons” can be a very polite label for something much messier. The best version of that dynamic usually leaves you slightly uneasy, not comforted.
That setup does make me more interested in it than the usual sentimental version. Family stories can get very dull very quickly if everyone is simply correct about each other.
The bit that matters to me is whether the book lets Cotton stay attached to Big Diamond without turning that into stupidity. That’s usually where these things get interesting, or irritating.
The bit that matters to me is whether the book lets Cotton stay attached to Big Diamond without turning that into stupidity. That’s usually where these things get interesting, or irritating.