Robert Arthur is finally starting to settle in at Lovecraft
Middle School. He’s managed to secure a solid friendship with the boy who once
demanded a regular “dweeb tax”, found a new two headed rat for a pet and enjoys
the company of the lovely, if slightly dead, school ghost. All while defeating
the plans of an evil outer being posing as a science teacher (aren’t they
all?). But now Sarah and Sylvia Price have reappeared noticeably altered.
Worse, Sarah is running for student body president so that she can abduct the
entire student body. Robert has less than a week to get the students of the
school to notice him and beat the two most popular girls in school and not get
eaten or possessed in the process.
Like the previous LMS book, this one is a breeze and a joy
to read. It’s fun with a hint of crazy, has some inventive and interesting
monsters. Gilman keeps walking that line between silly and frightening in a way
that never leans too much on either side and the tension is built and released
well. Also, the more I distance myself from my Lovecraftian purist
predisposition, the more I have been able to enjoy myself. Yes, it is Lovecraft
in little more than name and lacks the deep sense of existential dread that
made his works so great, but, damn it, it’s fun.
I also very much appreciate the wry, underhanded comments on
the American political system and our approach to it. We have a student body
that ignores the one person whose agenda seems to be in their best interest in
favor of charisma, give aways and empty promises. My favorite moment is during
a debate in which the titular sister answers her questions with gracious aplomb
and style while not saying anything at all. Marvelous.
On the down side, the characters are still coming across
rather flat. Our heroes don’t seem to be growing or facing any real internal
struggle. The villains are all slimy, goopy, scaled or otherwise easily denoted
with no actual motivation. This lack of depth to the characters makes it hard
for me to particularly care for them all that much. I’m mostly waiting for the
next monster to appear. Also, as absolutely amazing as the cover art may be, I'd have a tough time justifying the $15 purchase price for a book I read in a single afternoon.
To sum up: Like a twinkie, this entry into the LMS mythos is
quite fun, but fairly empty and quite expensive. Still, fun is a heck of a word, so do what you will with that.
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