Genre: Sci-fi
Overall Rating: Disappointingly Predictable
The last novel of Jonathan Barnes, The Somnambulist, was mind-numbingly, awe-inspiringly, cleverly, allegorical, and though overall Barnes delivered a very well thought out plot and message, The Domino Men seemed to fall short of all it could have been. Barnes is still a brilliant writer, continuing to display his talent for finding the precise words to express himself perfectly and succinctly, rather than settling for a cluster of merely good words. His plot comes together neatly even though it begins from the most peculiar threads of fable spun through other characters, narrators, and long hidden secrets. However, unlike his first novel, his one is far more predictable.
The plot between Joe and Abbey: called it as soon as Abbey referred to him as dangerous
The ‘twist’ of Estella’s true location: Saw it the moment they announced that they were looking for a missing person with a damaged mind
As well as several other minor occurrences, yet there were still several moments of redeemability, which Barnes embraced. Again, he centered his story on a brilliant allegory of complex layers and design which I always approve of. In a way, I suppose the simplicity of the plot, the easy predictability of it, may serve to ease readers into this complex allegory, however more seasoned readers, the ones who would even be able to grasp that such an allegory even existed should also be able to make that easy leap forward. This story did not have the same level of intriguingly bizarre characters and circumstances; perhaps this was due to the different time period, which, though I understood, I also did not find appealing. I noticed also an uncharacteristic lack of humor employed in this story versus the last, and while I understand that humor is not the goal of either story, it adds flavor and captures attention.
Which brings me to another disappointment; though there was much action in this story, there were stretches of time where it seemed very dull, very dry, which could perhaps be a side-effect of its predictability. I still stand my ground on proclaiming Jonathan Barnes to possess an increasingly rare and astounding talent for writing, indeed simply for literature itself; however I believe that the The Domino Men does not display the true extent of his abilities as seen in The Somnambulist.
My Favorite Quote: “Often I’ve made myself late watching that liquid history, wondering who has come before me and who shall come after, who has watched that same stretch of river, that same water ebb and flow in its endless mysterious cycle”
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