Well, I liked it.

Well, I liked it. I hadn't read any Leonard before, though the praise he gets from people I respect had him on the should-get-to-that list. I know this is a little out of his regular line, but I got a deal on the audiobook and decided to jump in.

I really liked the dialogue, dry and pithy, the humour, and the history. Some other reviewers have complained about the extended exposition in places, and, upon reflection, I'll agree that a couple of the characters tend to run their mouths a lot in a way that covers a good deal of the historical background. It didn't bother me much, though, I think because Leonard did go to some trouble to create characters who had a reason to behave that way. Virgil Webster, an enthusiastic young marine, is a total nerd about military equipment and proudly spouts all manner of information about various ships and their armaments in a way that seemed very reminiscent of kids I've known who were Very Into Dinosaurs, or Medieval Weaponry, or whatever. The other character who gives us a whack of historical knowledge is the American journalist Neely Tucker, who rants at some length about the mishandling of the war by incompetent leaders, and the misrepresentation of events by the newspapers back home. He's frustrated at not being able to sell his view of things and unloads on another character, who is clearly not in the least interested. Pretty funny, really, although, yes, perhaps a bit too long. I wanted to get on with the story, but I did think I'd like to go back and go over that part again, for the historical information. Unfortunately, that's harder to do with an audiobook than a paper one. You can make a bookmark for returning to a particular spot, but I never think of it until later....sigh.

As an audiobook, this is very successful; the reader, George Guidall, has the perfect delivery for Leonard's prose: understated, slightly amused, dry, and each character's voice very distinct, with appropriate accents. Splendid.

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