The Best Thing You Can Steal (Gideon Sable #1)
Book Author: Simon R. Green
🕑 1 minute read || September 13, 2024 || by Daniel Norther
4/10
Forgettable but fun. It’s not a long story. Someone else called it a “beach read”. I didn’t know what that was until I looked it up. Yes! It’s a beach read. Or an airplane-read. Or a hotel-read. Quick fun easily digested. It’s the homemade hamburger of books. It tastes decent, looks okay, and is better for your intestines than fast food. But it’s not a full meal. Despite that, it’s good, and if you’re into this genre of supernatural heists with dashing-daring protagonists, then this is for you. Kind of like “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, except Gideon Sable is better than “League OEG” because the characters are better and the world is more fantastical, but goths and vampire-lovers might disagree. The audiobook actors did an amazing job, too. Funner than most high-budget TV shows.
It never dips far into negative emotions. Some people like lighter-hearted stuff. There are graphic depictions of violence, gore, and death. The content is more tame, but weirder, than most TV shows nowadays. I’m comparing it to TV shows because this is not good enough for a major film, but is plenty good enough for TV.
We don’t learn much about the characters. That’s because most of them are open books. Some of the characters’ inner logic is weird, especially the “Damned” character. Some character revelations that are intended to hit like hammers end up hitting like fly swatters or ticklish feathers, but that’s okay, because the story isn’t depending on its ability to surprise us. The whole story is playing to its strengths of being fast, frolicky, and bizarre. It’s obvious that the author had fun; always a good sign. In my opinion, he also didn’t take it more seriously than it deserved; another good sign.
Written without AI
