The Atrocity Archives

Alright, Patrons, please tell me what I ever did to you? Because this is 2 books in a row now that I didn't really like at all, and the blame lies squarely with YOU, my "friends"! Okay that's not entirely fair, because I didn't hate The Atrocity Archives the way that I hated most of A Dirty Job, but I'm not a huge fan. It's not something that I would pick up again, or recommend, and Krista (who generously agreed to cohost again after the disaster last month) liked it even less than I did. Really when you step back and look at the whole thing, I had a lot of the same problems with this book as I did with A Dirty Job (minus the racial stereotyping). It was a hugely creative idea with a ton of potential, and took place in a world I found really entertaining and compelling. But sadly, this writer couldn't get out of his own way when it came to things like referencing super-nerdy inside jokes (specifically IT jokes) and going way too in-depth about the tech. Maybe the knowledge he brought to the book was meant to be impressive, but nowadays it's not only out-of-date but feels really superfluous to a population that can simultaneously be pretty adept at working with computers while knowing nothing about how they actually work. I really loved the concept of a bunch of Nazis that literally ran away through a portal to another planet and hid there, then got jumped by their own monster. Huge fan of this idea. But really, they get lured there because he has to rescue his kind-of girlfriend? Who is one of only three (okay technically four) women in the entire book? Ugh. I GUESS. Anyway, I would be interested to hear what you all thought of this book, so hit me up and let me know!