Cruel Zinc Melodies (twelfth novel in the Garrett P. I. series)

(Originally posted on Saturday, 10 August 2013)

Please read my post from April 2009 to find out about my rating.
Please read my post from May 2009 to learn about Glen Cook’s style of writing.

My rating: 8/10 (high re-reading value)

Well, it turns out that I didn’t write a review of Cruel Zinc Melodies earlier, even on paper. But I did write down the title and my rating (8/10) next to it. I remember exactly how great this book ended and how much I enjoyed it overall. After reading some reviews (with spoilers) it all came back to me. I still can’t remember the details, but the frame of the story is really good.

What’s good:
1. Glen Cook’s style of writing.
2. An intriguing plot.
3. Giant bugs, ghosts, a youth gang, families of sorcerers, rat people, a troll, dwarves and some other things are combined into a very thought out story.
4. To me the ending is very enjoyable, because it connects to one of the best Garrett novels - Old Tin Sorrows (the 4th one in the series).
5. Garrett is getting more and more mature and thoughtful (in a good way).

What’s bad:
1. I believe the ending can be enjoyable rather to mature readers. Most teenagers will probably hate it.
2. The fighting is mostly about dealing with an infestation of giant bugs. Again, it may be not enjoyable to some people.
3. A silly, tiny side-topic at the end of the whole book. Maybe it was supposed to be gritty in a different way, but it ended up just silly. Something about the lack of toilets in a theatre. Oh, man. It’s just a couple of sentences, but it comes out of the blue and I will remember it forever. Damn it.

Overall I enjoyed Cruel Zinc Melodies very much and it’s another Garret novel I want to re-read. I can’t remember exactly, but there must have been some good humour, because I don’t remember this book to be sad or depressing, rather the opposite. I rate Cruel Zinc Melodies as a novel more than just good, with high re-reading value.
(8/10)