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Loading... The Rook: A Novel (The Rook Files, 1) (original 2012; edition 2012)by Daniel O'Malley (Author) carol. | Nov 25, 2024 |   If you mixed James Bond and Archer with Harry Potter and X-Men, you'd probably get something akin to The Rook. It's a tale of amnesia and aliens and finding your way through the minefield of interpersonal relationships at work. This book has a lot going for it, but it also has just a lot. I got fatigued holding it in front of my face. If you like sci-fi series or urban fantasy, you'll probably enjoy this book. (  ) JamesMikealHill | Jan 3, 2025 | I'll save the detailed summary; this is one time when the blurb gets it right. It starts rather hard-core action movie: woman coming to consciousness in a midst of a circle of bodies, no memory of self or events, dripping from the rain and blood. She discovers an envelope in her pocket from the Myfanwy-That-Was. Soon it evolves into a James Bond-style government agency spy thriller crunched with identity disorientation of The Bourne Identity. Halfway through I realize O'Malley is channeling [b:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)|Douglas Adams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531891848l/11._SY75_.jpg|3078186], or at least Men In Black, and that the flashbacks felt a lot like X-Men. (I'm finding it disturbing that I'm describing a book by referencing movies. Is that acceptable in a book review?) Narrative shifts between letters from Myfanwy-That-Was to the current scramble of Myfanwy-That-Is to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill her. While that had the potential to become a tiresome device, O'Malley uses it well, giving context to Newbie just before she needs to use it, cuing the reader at the same time. Sometimes Senior relates an incident, sometimes she lays out structure and organization, or gives a dossier on other characters. For the most part it was able to maintain pace and tension through the shifts. At times, O'Malley is tongue-in-cheek: right as Myfanwy thinks, "I suppose I should do some more homework on how this organization actually works," the next section is from one of the letters, under the title of "How This Organization Actually Works." I actually found it rather delightful, highlighting the mental similarities in how they process information. As the story develops, Myfanwy starts to take on her own personality, more abrupt and direct than the prior, who she now thinks of as "Thomas," their last name. I thought the transition between the two was handled well, and as the story developed, I cared just as much about what happened to Thomas and wanted to know her story, even though I knew where it would end (here's where my habit of peeking at the end of books comes in handy; it's kind of like the book is a spoiler for it's own self because we know Thomas is 'dead,' or at least, gone). I enjoyed Myfanwy's character breaks, and it set the stage for gentle humor as she responded almost--but not quite--in character: "An emergency has emerged, and both you and Rook Gestalt have been summoned to an interrogation," the secretary replied in an unruffled manner. "Oh. Okay." Myfanwy looked down and her desk, thought for a moment, and then looked up. "Are we getting interrogated, or are we doing the interrogating?" she asked. Then there is: "It's time for your dinner with Lady Farrier." "Oh, crap," she sighed, then noticed Clovis's shocked expression. "I mean, oh, good, this should be delightful." The humor isn't out front in the beginning, which now strikes me as one of the delightful parts about the writing. Tightly wound around an action core at the start, O'Malley sneaks in humor one subtle comment at a time, gradually becoming more absurd. The first hint that we aren't in London any more comes about three chapters in when we meet Rook Gestalt, really one of the more innovative creations in sci-fi/fantasy literature that I've happened upon. One mind, four bodies. I found myself trying to wrap my head around that one (somewhat distracted by comparing it with Zaphod and his two heads) and just got rather smacked with the possibilities. By the end, the absurd veered out of control at a couple of points, but for the most part O'Malley was able to maintain the balance between chuckles and tension. Before too long, the American version of the Court comes to call, and the subtlety gloves come off when the American Bishop Shantay and Myfanwy take on some fungus--after lunch, of course. "'That is experience talking,' said Shantay. 'In these situations the glass is always half-empty.' 'Always?' 'Always,' confirmed the Bishop. 'Right until it fills up with some sort of spectral blood that grows into a demon entity.' Or a threat: 'I'll kill you first,' promised Myfanwy in a cold voice. 'I'll kill you twice if I feel like it.' Truly riveting fun, exactly what I needed after an awful start to the week--it was the ideal book experience of immersion and diversion. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a dose of humor with their surreal action-spy-mystery thriller. Four out of five stars. Or are they? Update from Dec. 2015 re:read: I think I nailed it fairly well the first time, except that part about humor. It's seriously funny almost all the way through, in that very British way. Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/the-rook-by-daniel-omalley-or-the-firs... Update from September 2019: idk 'almost all the way through.' There is a lot of back story. (  ) carol. | Nov 25, 2024 | ) cgalvin | Nov 9, 2024 |  ) rannaluv | Sep 25, 2024 | ) TristenKozinski | Sep 18, 2024 | ) superadmin_group3 | Jun 20, 2024 | ) SiannaSue | Apr 12, 2024 | Myfanwy is one of these people with special abilities, but we learn things at the same time as Myfanwy, who recovers her past through a series of notes and letters left by herself, before she lost her memory. The result is being dropped into the middle of the action, however I found some of the letter chapters a little slower than the present. By the middle of the novel, the use of the letters drops of dramatically and the pace really picks up. I really enjoyed entering this world O'Malley created in The Rook and would love to read or see more set in this world. ( ) sawcat | Apr 8, 2024 | Rook Thomas deserves all the kudos, specially pre-memory loss. I really love when I can be in the shoes of someone so efficient and well prepared. I'm intrigued about the next books but I'll miss the letters format for sure. This is one of the books that I loved the most this year! ( ) omseijas | Feb 3, 2024 | ) epear | Jan 22, 2024 |  ) yarmando | Jan 21, 2024 | ) mslibrarynerd | Jan 13, 2024 | ) karenhmoore | Jan 1, 2024 | ) stardustwisdom | Dec 31, 2023 | I could never connect with Myfanwy, and that made it hard to care about anything that happened to her. I really dislike the whole "body snatcher" thing. It just didn't make sense to me. The person who now inhabited Myfanwy's body never even thought to wonder who she was BEFORE she opened her eyes. How did she know so much about the world if she had just woken up in this body? It made absolutely zero sense. I would have been fine with an amnesia storyline, and I would have loved to follow Myfanwy as she struggled to figure out what happened to her. But this wasn't that. This was a story about two distinct characters inhabiting one body at different intervals--and that, I just couldn't get past. Add to this the fact that much of the book read like an X-Men rip-off (complete with the special academy for "gifted" children), and I just lost interest. I struggled through until the end because I wanted to see if some of the questions I had about Myfanwy would be answered. They weren't--at least not to my satisfaction--and I was incredibly disappointed throughout. (  ) Elizabeth_Cooper | Oct 27, 2023 | From a (somewhat) objective viewpoint this book doesn't deserve more than 2 stars imo but I enjoyed this book nonetheless. Maybe because it pushes all the right buttons but it has quite a few glaring flaws. This book seems like a first draft that should have had at least two more iterations and lots and lots of intrusive editing. Let's get straight to the issues in this book that annoyed me the most. It is written in two alternating perspectives with a few strange insertions that defy all conventions. One of the two is describing the current events and the other consists of reading letters that explain the past and mostly work as infodumps. Lots and lots of awkward and uninspired tediously detailed infodump that in large part bears no relevance to the story. In the beginning, the letter sections are placed in a way that suggests the heroine herself is reading the letters in her spare time or if she needs some particular information but this concept is completely discarded down the line and instead, they randomly interrupt intense scenes with cliffhangers completely obliterating the pacing. If these stretches are so long and tedious that you need to force your reader to endure them with cliffhangers you might want to consider shortening them and/or making them less tedious instead. Another issue of these letter-infodumps is the narration pov. They are meant as an explanation of everything There are other kinds of info-dumping going on e.g. weird one-sided conversations that are painfully obviously only there to inform the reader completely ruining believability of dialogue in places. There are lots of remnants of experimentation throughout the script that should have been edited out as they no longer serve a purpose in the final script. I believe this is something a good editor should have spotted. I think the concept of having the mc look up stuff she needs to know by reading the binder or the letters is an excellent tool for dense exposition without seeming unnatural. Instead, there is a horrible mess of different exposition techniques all of which are mixed and none of which are executed well. Another issue that a lot of books in this genre have is present here as well. All relevant men in this story are "gorgeous", literally. I would be surprised if there was a single grown man with screentime in this story that hasn't had this adjective assigned to him at one point. It's bad. This again is something a good editor should have spotted. Even without this issue of word-choice, everyone is beautiful or stunning or sexy or handsome etc. which just seems unnecessary and unbelievable. The story suffers from a severe case of obvious conclusions and decisions being praised as ingenious. This is glaringly obvious especially in the beginning but it occurs less over time. There are quite a few issues with the supernatural elements as well as plot conveniences and the like. You can not get past the plot with a fully enabled brain but if you just relax and enjoy the ride it is not a glaring issue. The heroine behaves somewhat erratic regarding her confidence and willingness to take charge while at other times she suddenly appears uncertain and shy which could have been salvaged by separating the two in how she acts and what she thinks and/or by presenting different faces to different people. Throughout the story, there are a lot of different plot breadcrumbs thrown out that are never picked up again which is a shame. I guess I should mention good things as well... I thoroughly enjoyed the kind of sarcastic and flat humour. I liked a lot that action scenes didn't suffer from Talking Is a Free Action which is a constant companion in this genre. I despise this with a passion because it destroys all the tension and makes the entire sequence feel fake to me. Except for the bad infodump interludes I enjoyed the fast pacing and dynamic scenes. If you start thinking about all the things too much you will have a bad time but as a distraction and light entertainment, this works. You have to just dial down your brain and enjoyed the ride for this one. In conclusion, I am a bit disappointed with how this book turned out because I believe that with a bit of polish this could easily be a 3-star book for me. It feels like wasted potential which drove me to write this review. ( ) omission | Oct 19, 2023 | This is really true perfection: a spy novel-y romp of deception and double-crossing, with some lovely world building (on the heavy side of expository, but well-explained by the protagonist's amnesia) and a female character that's nuanced and has agency and kicks butt and takes names. The sort of book that's like a warm cup of spicy cinnamon tea in my hierarchy of comfort. I'm so in for the series, but I think the framing device of amnesia really made this book shine, not sure how it'll keep up in the future. ( ) settingshadow | Aug 19, 2023 | ) beentsy | Aug 12, 2023 | ) NG_YbL | Jul 12, 2023 | Snarkie humor, intrigues and bloody action - great mix! ( ) Wolkenfels | Feb 25, 2023 | ) eleanorg | Feb 15, 2023 | ) bangerlm | Jan 18, 2023 | I was hooked from beginning to end and am a little sad to say goodbye to some of the characters. I've heard the second book in the series isn't like the first - still good, but pretty different - and I don't think I'm ready to tackle that one just yet. One thing I didn't expect was to laugh as much as I did. What a great story and a great main character. I certainly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys political intrigue and science fiction. Oh, and the narrator did a great job on the many different voices. Her inflections during narration, though, kept pulling me out of the story. Not too badly but enough to think repeatedly, "please change that!" I understand that she doesn't do the second book so I'll be interested to know how I like the new narrator once I get around to it. ( ) amcheri | Jan 5, 2023 | ) amcheri | Jan 5, 2023 | The two versions of Myfanwy were distinctly characterized and both likeable, and I loved the character of Ingrid. The ending was a little drawn out, with more time spent explaining than I liked, hence the 1/2 star downgrade. But there was still so much humor and cleverness, it didn't bother me too much. Highly recommended. Looking forward to the next installment. It will be interesting to see what he does now that ) Harks | Dec 17, 2022 | |
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1
I'll save the detailed summary; this is one time when the blurb gets it right. It starts rather hard-core action movie: woman coming to consciousness in a midst of a circle of bodies, no memory of self or events, dripping from the rain and blood. She discovers an envelope in her pocket from the Myfanwy-That-Was. Soon it evolves into a James Bond-style government agency spy thriller crunched with identity disorientation of The Bourne Identity. Halfway through I realize O'Malley is channeling [b:The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|11|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, #1)|Douglas Adams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531891848l/11._SY75_.jpg|3078186], or at least Men In Black, and that the flashbacks felt a lot like X-Men. (I'm finding it disturbing that I'm describing a book by referencing movies. Is that acceptable in a book review?)
Narrative shifts between letters from Myfanwy-That-Was to the current scramble of Myfanwy-That-Is to solve the mystery of who is trying to kill her. While that had the potential to become a tiresome device, O'Malley uses it well, giving context to Newbie just before she needs to use it, cuing the reader at the same time. Sometimes Senior relates an incident, sometimes she lays out structure and organization, or gives a dossier on other characters. For the most part it was able to maintain pace and tension through the shifts. At times, O'Malley is tongue-in-cheek: right as Myfanwy thinks, "I suppose I should do some more homework on how this organization actually works," the next section is from one of the letters, under the title of "How This Organization Actually Works." I actually found it rather delightful, highlighting the mental similarities in how they process information.
As the story develops, Myfanwy starts to take on her own personality, more abrupt and direct than the prior, who she now thinks of as "Thomas," their last name. I thought the transition between the two was handled well, and as the story developed, I cared just as much about what happened to Thomas and wanted to know her story, even though I knew where it would end (here's where my habit of peeking at the end of books comes in handy; it's kind of like the book is a spoiler for it's own self because we know Thomas is 'dead,' or at least, gone). I enjoyed Myfanwy's character breaks, and it set the stage for gentle humor as she responded almost--but not quite--in character:
"An emergency has emerged, and both you and Rook Gestalt have been summoned to an interrogation," the secretary replied in an unruffled manner.
"Oh. Okay." Myfanwy looked down and her desk, thought for a moment, and then looked up. "Are we getting interrogated, or are we doing the interrogating?" she asked.
Then there is:
"It's time for your dinner with Lady Farrier."
"Oh, crap," she sighed, then noticed Clovis's shocked expression. "I mean, oh, good, this should be delightful."
The humor isn't out front in the beginning, which now strikes me as one of the delightful parts about the writing. Tightly wound around an action core at the start, O'Malley sneaks in humor one subtle comment at a time, gradually becoming more absurd. The first hint that we aren't in London any more comes about three chapters in when we meet Rook Gestalt, really one of the more innovative creations in sci-fi/fantasy literature that I've happened upon. One mind, four bodies. I found myself trying to wrap my head around that one (somewhat distracted by comparing it with Zaphod and his two heads) and just got rather smacked with the possibilities. By the end, the absurd veered out of control at a couple of points, but for the most part O'Malley was able to maintain the balance between chuckles and tension.
Before too long, the American version of the Court comes to call, and the subtlety gloves come off when the American Bishop Shantay and Myfanwy take on some fungus--after lunch, of course.
"'That is experience talking,' said Shantay. 'In these situations the glass is always half-empty.'
'Always?'
'Always,' confirmed the Bishop. 'Right until it fills up with some sort of spectral blood that grows into a demon entity.'
Or a threat:
'I'll kill you first,' promised Myfanwy in a cold voice. 'I'll kill you twice if I feel like it.'
Truly riveting fun, exactly what I needed after an awful start to the week--it was the ideal book experience of immersion and diversion. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a dose of humor with their surreal action-spy-mystery thriller.
Four out of five stars. Or are they?
Update from Dec. 2015 re:read: I think I nailed it fairly well the first time, except that part about humor. It's seriously funny almost all the way through, in that very British way.
Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/02/13/the-rook-by-daniel-omalley-or-the-firs...
Update from September 2019: idk 'almost all the way through.' There is a lot of back story. (