The Works of Vermin A: Characters

Apocryphal

As mentioned in our discord, I did not get on with this book (despite it being my pick) and didn't finish. It seems that most of you also didn't get on with it, though perhaps those who pushed to the finish may have found the post of gold at the end of the verminous rainbow.

Not having finished it, it's difficult for me to ask specific questions about the book, but it did cause me to reflect on the kinds of things I look for in fantastic fiction and allow us to discuss the book in those more generic terms. Naturally, if anyone has a specific topic they'd like to bring up, please feel free to start a new question topic.

In general, the things I evaluate in fiction are (A) Characters, (B) Plotting/Events, (C) Prose Styling, and (D) Structure. For fantastic fiction, I also add (E) World Building and (F) a transcendental quality, the F-Factor, if you will.

This question is about (A) The Characters Did you find them well-drawn, believable, or rich in personality? Are there too many or not enough?

RichardAbbott

After about 1/3 of the way through I still didn't feel that I had much idea what the characters were doing. Yes, the one we started with was a kind of low-class exterminator, but then we met various aristocrats (I think this is the right word) and I presume that in the fullness of time the plebs and the aristos would meet up. But I kind of struggled with comprehending their world and their place in it. (Some of the things I was about to say probably fit better under E). I didn't feel that I could relate to or identify with anyone, and I don't think I'd have been upset if one or other had been killed off by some loathsome beast or other.

Apocryphal

Same for me - there was a moment where we met the gang (many of whom had strange names making them hard to identify or mentally form an image of, like Three and Dawn) and I felt we were getting somewhere. But then it was all new characters who seemed unrelated and who are all these people and what’s their relevance. It became too much for me to keep track of. Furthermore, I’m not sure it was all that easy to differentiate the characters.

kcaryths

In a confusing book of weirdness, I thought the characters were one of the parts that worked for me - at least relative to other parts. There were certainly some characters that I couldn't figure out but in general I thought many of them had some interesting personalities and motivations.