This wasn’t my favorite book in the series. It reminded me a lot of the second book, but I’m not really sure why. There weren’t many similarities in the story. It’s been a little while since I finished reading it, so forgive me if my thoughts are a little scattered.
All of the strong points of the series are still here. Odd is a likeable protagonist who relies primarily on his wits to succeed. His powers are used more to set up the mystery of the book rather than to solve it. I didn’t feel like he really grew as much as he has in previous installments. While he was challenged, and had to learn new things in order to figure out what was going on, I didn’t think he was put in the moral dilemmas that he’s had to face in the past. Maybe that’s a good thing. The timeline between the last few books has been pretty tight, and giving Odd a bit of a respite from the assaults on his conscience was probably needed.
Like Odd Interlude, this book is a sci-fi novel, rather than a fantasy/horror book. I’m not sure I like the change, but it has been nice to add the variety. The problem that I have with the change in genres isn’t in the individual books, but in the series as a whole. When the books were more fantasy oriented, it felt like the stakes were continuously increasing. The series felt like it was building towards some kind of revelation into Odd’s powers or greater understanding of the fantastical world that Odd was able to glimpse. As the series has shifted to science fiction, that’s gone away. Odd Apocalypse was the first book in the series that I felt didn’t increase the stakes at all. Even though Odd receives glimpses of a possible future, it didn’t seem to add any tension to the over-arching story of the series.
Even though I felt like this was one of the weaker installments, I continue to enjoy the series, and look forward to reading the final books.
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