The Philosophical Strangler - Eric Flint Book Review

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Review Summary

Baen, May 2001, 24.00, 342 pp.
ISBN: 0671319868

    Anyone who knows anything about professional assassins knows that Greyboar is usually the best at the trade. However, if the intended victim can engage Greyboar in his passion, not sex but philosophical discussion and debate, the target might survive in a Sherherazade type of way.

    Like any pro, Greyboar has an agent Ignace and he hopes a significant other in the nearsighted swordswoman Cat who he just met at his favorite drinking spot the Sign of the Trough. However, Greyboar has also learned that his estranged sibling, the amazon Gwendolyn has a lover who apparently has vanished perhaps into netherworld or some place even worse geographically. A commission for his sibling is not what Greyboar or Ignace prefers, but family, even a card-carrying member of the dwarf liberation movement, is still family.

    A visit to THE PHILOSOPHICAL STRANGLER is a visit to weirdness where even Rod Serling would wonder if this might be one step beyond the Twilight Zone. The story line is satire at its sharpest as the cast skewer many of modern society's values. The plot is more a series of vignettes tied together by the key cast members rather than a novel, but fans of ironic fantasy will devour this tale and demand more from Eric Flint.

Harriet Klausner

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of The Philosophical Strangler

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 20%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20%

FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Spying & Investigations Yes
What is main char. doing? - deposing an evil leader
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - killer
Age: - 40's-50's
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - can change shapes - fire/thunder/weather cntrl - can cast all sorts of spells - Invisibility - is very quick
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Earth setting: - during "Tolkien" (fairytime) times
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to The Philosophical Strangler
Deathworld III by Harry Harrison
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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