The Relic Master

At page 80 and I'm just not interested in what's happening. There's no depth and hardly any description of people or settings; it feels like a sketch instead of an oil painting.

Short Review: mid-range book by Christopher Buckley. When Buckley is good he is very good. When he is bad he is bad. I haven't liked the last couple of his books that I have read. But I picked this up because it was outside of his standard subject area (it is about relic hunters from the dawn of reformation.)

The book starts slow. I don't think the ending really works. There are some good characters, but they feel a bit too modern. It handle's faith issues at the dawn of the reformation pretty well. And there is some humor, but it is not a great book.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-relic-master-by-christopher-buckley/

I would love to know what made Christopher Buckley think, “You know what the world needs? A satire about a Christian relic dealer in 1517...” I also wonder what would drive me to grab it (other than that's what I do every time I see his name – since the 80's). But I did, and I gave it the old college try.

The history is pretty good. But I wonder if I'm too critical, I've spent so much time recently listening to lectures, reading about, the religious atmosphere of the time – that might have hurt my appreciation for his take on the period (then again, most of his satire is contemporary and I lived through that without problems). In that light, I should say that I really appreciated his characterization of Johann Tetzel. But I just couldn't care about the characters, the story – any of it. There was none of Buckley's wit, or his voice – nothing that made me a fan of his other work. Honestly, I'm not sure how he could've kept those things with a historical fiction, but the book sure needed that. Yes, it's entirely possible, that if I'd stuck with it a bit longer, I'd have sung a different song, but life's too short and my TBR pile is too high.

So, for the first time since January 2011, I'm abandoning a book. I might come back to it at some point, I'd like to actually read it. But not now.

(not really a review, but I felt like I should say something)

It took a full quarter of the book before I realized this was written by Christopher Buckley, not Christopher Moore. Moore is known for his genre/historical parodies - including one of my favorite books of all, Fool - while Buckley is better known for his political/modern satire. I count both Christophers among my favorite authors, but in this case the discovery that it was less than Moore caused me some grief.

Buckley can be funny - I'm just not sure why he chose not to be here. It felt like a first draft of a classic Moore, before the dialogue gets punched-up and the plots intricately woven together.

Perhaps it's unfair to compare, but I would in all earnestness urge you to read “Fool” if you're considering this. Then, if you're still looking for more, you can always swing back around to pick this up.