Science Fiction
*Lost in Vegas!* is a funny title for a favourites shelf, because it sounds like it should be pure chaos and nothing else. Instead it has that odd mix I keep coming back to: science fiction, detective story, and juvenile fiction all packed together without feeling like a novelty.
That combination shouldn’t really work. It does, though. Or at least it works well enough to make me forgive the slightly bonkers premise. I’m still mildly fascinated by books that can be one thing on paper and something else in practice. This one has proper hook to it, not just a gimmick with neon lights on.
That combination shouldn’t really work. It does, though. Or at least it works well enough to make me forgive the slightly bonkers premise. I’m still mildly fascinated by books that can be one thing on paper and something else in practice. This one has proper hook to it, not just a gimmick with neon lights on.
The genre mix is the bit that interests me, not the Vegas bit. A lot of books would use that setting as a neon distraction and hope nobody notices the structure wobbling underneath.
Juvenile fiction plus detective plus science fiction can be a decent engine if the mystery actually has somewhere to go. If it’s just “look, a weird thing happened in a famous place”, I’m out pretty quickly.
Juvenile fiction plus detective plus science fiction can be a decent engine if the mystery actually has somewhere to go. If it’s just “look, a weird thing happened in a famous place”, I’m out pretty quickly.
The detective angle is what makes me pause here. Juvenile fiction with a mystery spine can be much sharper than people expect, especially when it doesn’t stop to explain itself to death. Vegas also feels like a setting that could either add texture or swallow the whole book. I’m curious which way this one leans.