lightreads (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lightreads) wrote2020-02-23 04:42 pm
lightreads) wrote2020-02-23 04:42 pm
Shadow Unit
Shadow Unit
4/5. A multi-author free online set of stories about an FBI unit of profilers chasing down offenders who commit "anomalous crimes" using powers they acquire after traumatic events. There's a whole lot of Criminal Minds DNA here, with supernatural elements. I read this back when it was first posting a decade ago and enjoyed it; I was reminded of it by Claire North's book about a woman who is forgotten as soon as she's out of sight, as there is a similar plotline in this. Some thoughts after rereading:
-They call the novellas (and a few novels) "episodes," and generally speak of the whole thing as if it is a TV series. That is both a little bit annoyingly precious and quite accurate. This has the rhythms of a cop drama – monster-of-the-week punctuated by longer range plotting, cliffhangers, shifting team dynamics. Also, like a lot of cop shows, the last season is not as good. The ending, in particular, makes sense, but some of the groundwork seems to have gone missing.
-This does have a lot of things that cop dramas don't – a diverse cast, people of color in power, a commitment to questioning the use of violence by law enforcement (well . . . to a point). The diversity of the cast is enjoyable, though at certain points the authors felt they needed to explain, say, racism and homophobia way more than I thought necessary.
-The characters are the best part of this. Though be warned that it has been a decade and I am still mad about a particular death, which had the whiff of creating a beautiful relationship just to destroy it. One character in particular is so intensely fannish bait that he comes out the other side into something else, but it worked on me enough to keep reading.
-In general, the whole series is very much interested in trauma, and who survives it and who doesn't. So by definition that means a lot of it gets dished out, and at a few points it becomes a bit much. The answers here about why trauma works as it does on certain people are probably broadly right, from a neurophysiological perspective, though people who are a little more interested in squishy ideas like grit might be less satisfied.
-This is a collaboration among many authors, so there are some rough patches and inconsistencies, and you can see, say, Leah Bobet becoming a significantly better writer year-over-year. That is both cool and frustrating.
-Overall this is worth reading if you like profiling, crime-solving, some neuro geekery, and a long-range mystery.
Content notes: Cop show violence (i.e. serial killers who kill horribly, offscreen rape, major character death, child harm, captivity).
4/5. A multi-author free online set of stories about an FBI unit of profilers chasing down offenders who commit "anomalous crimes" using powers they acquire after traumatic events. There's a whole lot of Criminal Minds DNA here, with supernatural elements. I read this back when it was first posting a decade ago and enjoyed it; I was reminded of it by Claire North's book about a woman who is forgotten as soon as she's out of sight, as there is a similar plotline in this. Some thoughts after rereading:
-They call the novellas (and a few novels) "episodes," and generally speak of the whole thing as if it is a TV series. That is both a little bit annoyingly precious and quite accurate. This has the rhythms of a cop drama – monster-of-the-week punctuated by longer range plotting, cliffhangers, shifting team dynamics. Also, like a lot of cop shows, the last season is not as good. The ending, in particular, makes sense, but some of the groundwork seems to have gone missing.
-This does have a lot of things that cop dramas don't – a diverse cast, people of color in power, a commitment to questioning the use of violence by law enforcement (well . . . to a point). The diversity of the cast is enjoyable, though at certain points the authors felt they needed to explain, say, racism and homophobia way more than I thought necessary.
-The characters are the best part of this. Though be warned that it has been a decade and I am still mad about a particular death, which had the whiff of creating a beautiful relationship just to destroy it. One character in particular is so intensely fannish bait that he comes out the other side into something else, but it worked on me enough to keep reading.
-In general, the whole series is very much interested in trauma, and who survives it and who doesn't. So by definition that means a lot of it gets dished out, and at a few points it becomes a bit much. The answers here about why trauma works as it does on certain people are probably broadly right, from a neurophysiological perspective, though people who are a little more interested in squishy ideas like grit might be less satisfied.
-This is a collaboration among many authors, so there are some rough patches and inconsistencies, and you can see, say, Leah Bobet becoming a significantly better writer year-over-year. That is both cool and frustrating.
-Overall this is worth reading if you like profiling, crime-solving, some neuro geekery, and a long-range mystery.
Content notes: Cop show violence (i.e. serial killers who kill horribly, offscreen rape, major character death, child harm, captivity).