Supernatural

Supernatural: One Year Gone: Rebecca Dessertine: Given that this is a novel based on characters in a tv show I watch, I probably shouldn't be as bothered by this book as I am. However, it's been awhile since I read it and the sheer badness of it still appalls me. The funny thing is, it had all kinds of things to appeal to me:

1. the Salem witchcraft trials


2. The year between the end of season 5 and the time Dean finds out Sam is alive


3. Soulless Sam


4. The Necromonicon


5. The endorsement of Eric Kripke, the show's creator

But in the end, none of that meant anything; the book was just plain bad. The characterization was thin -- I know I am and should be familiar with these characters from the show, but please! Give them some personality; don't depend so much on my familiarity with them. I could barely distinguish Sam from Dean, nor was it clear to me that Sam was Soulless Sam -- he could have been anybody given that he was so one dimensional.

And the plot was all over the place. It's as if Dessertine decided she'd throw in all kinds of supernatural creatures -- ghosts (pirate ones at that), a ship that's just a museum that suddenly drifts out to sea while Ben and Dean are touring it, witches. The witch story was the strongest, why not just stick with it? I expected more of a book endorsed by Kripke and written by his assistant. Apparently, I shouldn't have.