Pay the Piper by Jane Yolen and Adam Stemple

[usullusa]

When I saw this book at the store I more or less shat bricks. It's Jane Yolen, who is brilliant, and a fairy tale retold and the Pied Piper and rock and roll and basically there was no way this book could go wrong. Except it really did.
The characters all fell flat, despite the fact that they had distinct (and eccentric) personalities. The concept for the plot was interesting but told in a completely uncompelling way. If it had been written differently it would have been amazing. I wanted to love this book so much and I didn't at all. It's too short for one. There wasn't enough time spent making the reader love the characters or building up tension. Plus, it's set in this decade and yet none of the characters sound like real people you would ever meet. I've seen eccentric characters pulled off, but this was just jarring every time any of the characters spoke.

If this book had been more enjoyable I would have had a new ship too! (I bet I could even convince you it's canon.) But there's none of the juicy subtexty stuff that makes you go off and have conversations about characters.

I'm surprised because Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon series was one of my favorites as a kid. And I enjoyed Briar Rose a lot. And yet this was nowhere near on the same level. Disappointment!