tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825564497920015595.post3116597918679713938..comments2024-03-28T07:56:38.659+00:00Comments on The View from the Blue House: Review of A Trace of Smoke by Rebecca Cantrell (Forge, 2009)Rob Kitchinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05567424969308636082noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825564497920015595.post-1909407496993047352009-09-30T20:46:23.037+01:002009-09-30T20:46:23.037+01:00Hi Elizabeth, thanks for the comment and for the h...Hi Elizabeth, thanks for the comment and for the heads up about Rebecca's next book. As I said in the review I'm curious to see what happens to Hannah and Anton next, and although I did have some issues with the book I thought the story was interesting. Great that you think the second book is stronger and I'm always a fan of books that go at a breakneck speed.Rob Kitchinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05567424969308636082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825564497920015595.post-89523139170548668932009-09-30T19:08:21.988+01:002009-09-30T19:08:21.988+01:00Hi Rob and Uriah, I'm Elizabeth Evans, Rebecca...Hi Rob and Uriah, I'm Elizabeth Evans, Rebecca Cantrell's agent. I'm thrilled you read and reviewed the novel. I've enjoyed hearing your responses to the storytelling, the dialogue in particular. Rebecca and I discussed many of these issues while preparing the book for publication.<br /><br />I hope you will enjoy the sequel, A Night of Long Knives. ARCs are coming soon and it pubs next May. I think the sequel is even better than the first. It goes at a breakneck pace and the stakes are higher than ever. Thanks again and all best, ElizabethElizabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03114462882125486278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825564497920015595.post-70953384727266497562009-09-16T15:01:12.756+01:002009-09-16T15:01:12.756+01:00Uriah, there are characters across classes, backgr...Uriah, there are characters across classes, backgrounds and settings in the book, although I agree that many were of a certain class, and I just don't buy that they all spoke so formally or without hesitations or changing what they were going to say mid-flow, etc. I know my rating is out of line with many other reviewers, but it just didn't click for me in the telling. No problem with the story. I guess sometimes, books click and other times they don't. As I said in the review, I was surprised this didn't as it has many of the ingredients that I like.Rob Kitchinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05567424969308636082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-825564497920015595.post-29441425897873770372009-09-16T14:44:01.306+01:002009-09-16T14:44:01.306+01:00I rated this book a lot higher than you and was in...I rated this book a lot higher than you and was interested in your comment about the dialogue. I just think that people in the 1930s, and especially Germans with their ordered society were much more formal and stilted in their speech patterns. The speech patterns in the Bernie Gunther books are much more informal because he usually is mixing with a different strata of the population and cops always have their own slang.<br />I will be reviewing the sequel as soon as the ARCs are sent out.Uriah Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02046023583067265187noreply@blogger.com