Hey Brook,
Yes, I've moved on from films. I'm not sure why but I don't enjoy them like I used to anymore. I still watch them from time to time, just not as religious as I used to. No more digging for indies and no longer pausing life until it ends. I have better things to do now.
In this post, I will TRY (apologies in advance) to review the book, "The Interdimensional Detective" by Ten, which is the first locally published English novel I've ever read. Since I'm on a mission to write one myself, I figured I'd need to research the types of stories the local crowd prefer. Unfortunately, I'm unsure if Ten is Malaysian. I have to be honest though, I am quite distant from the entertainment industries of my own country. I only spent three and a half years in England as a child but it must've been impactful enough to shape my sense of humour and way of thinking that I preferred British entertainments more than anything. Well, for the longest time, I used to. Ever since the world has waken up to the double standards of the western world regarding the rights to self-determination and international law in general when it comes to the onslaught of the Palestinians, I've mostly moved away from that too. Or maybe even before that. I remember having an epiphany while watching season 4 of the Netflix series "The Crown": My country was colonised by these idiots who care more about their petty etiquette than the livelihood of the people from the different and rich cultures they conquered. [insert crickets]
Moving on. This book, yes. I chose to read it because of its absolutely beautiful cover and my love for space and science fiction/fantasy. Of course, it was cousin Dhuha, again, who told me about the Bookiut publications. From the title itself, I did wonder and even asked Dhuha if it was anything like Dr. Who, to which she ignored for not being familiar with it. Having lived in England, Dr. Who has become part of my general pop culture knowledge even without watching a single episode. So, after a few chapters in, I was convinced, this is indeed a fanfic (fan fiction).
Not that it's a bad thing to draw inspirations from other narratives, a lot of great films were inspired by other films. I was initially excited for recognizing the similarities. But there is a line between quality storytelling and a self-gratifying self-insert. A big fat line. Even if I looked beyond the glaringly obvious switcheroos: The Doctor to The Detective; the police box to the porta-potty; the sonic screwdriver to the microwave multi-tool; and the T.A.R.D.I.S. to the V.O.R.S.T., the fact of the matter is that this story lacks heart and purpose.
Here is the story, abridged. Ava woke up to her brother, River, missing. She called for help via a number from a dodgy ad for The Detective, an hour after she couldn't find her brother. The Detective arrived, asked a few questions, had some ego-fuelled banter, and off they went to find River, who The Detective was convinced was kidnapped by space slave traders. The two travelled across dimensions in V.O.R.S.T., emerged in the slave trader ship, had a tussle, freed slaves, saved River, had a boss fight, hijacked the ship, then back to Earth. The story is pretty straightforward but is almost impossible to flesh out since it is only a 110 paged short novel, yes, very unfair.
This is a heavily plot-driven story. We don't get any background to make us care about River, who barely exists in this story, although being the main plot of it, and contributes nothing after he was found. He might as well be replaced by a dog and the story will still be the same. But we do get pages of technical mumbo jumbo, without any exposition, on how The Detective was saving the ship. The Detective herself has an attitude, great, maybe it's the same ego that got her off The Doctor's T.A.R.D.I.S. in the first place, but it was never highlighted. Ava, I'm guessing, is the self-insert because she's the brave one, the smart one, and the only emotional one. I know this because I have self-insert "head films" that none of you will ever hear about except for a selected few.
This novel has been labelled as fiction. A certain site has labelled it as young adult fiction, which I embarrassingly missed. So, what is their message to their young readers? There are potentially a few but none were truly emphasized. There was barely any interaction between Ava and River, I couldn't feel the familial bond. Even after they got back, River continued as if nothing happened and Ava got over their separation so quick that she then selfishly disappeared from her brother. No heart, no purpose. The author tries to be funny at times but some totally went over my head. Maybe a Dr. Who reference?
There is potential here, absolutely there is! Ten's writing reminds me a little of Douglas Adams', just a smidge. Maybe it's just the British humour. But Ten spelt "colour" as "color", which bugged the heck out of me. That reminds me, the editor has been slacking off! In the final chapter, "We've alive?" [insert facepalm]. And on page 100, there is a line that writes, 'Just as the captain said that, the lights were completely pulled.' The last person to talk was The Detective, a few paragraphs above. Something definitely got deleted.
The Interdimensional Detective already has a 150 paged sequel that was published earlier this year but it hasn't gotten any reviews on Goodreads yet. I am wondering if they've improved but I'd rather wait for reviews first and not be persuaded by the ridiculously beautiful cover art, again.
Later days.
