But what no one knows is thatthere's something else going on - something That Could Cost Nick's life ...
Tie-in novels have a problem: authors have to know the canon of whatever They are writing for. Some tie-in novels are as good as the show or movie They are based of, some led the TPTB into changing Their canon just to still be able to disregard the existence of Said novel (s). Some of them ...
It's hard to review a novel, Which is published as a tie-in but has nothing to do with the original, okay, beside the used character-and nature-names. How to spell it out to say, the novel is mostly good written Base Work When It's obviously thatthis novel is not transporting the glimpse of what it what supposed to be about? Over here in Germany, we have a saying for Those in best good-old-school-teacher's behavior: "6 Place!" (F! Sit down!).
One of my first short stories had the same problem, it what, According To My Teacher, good written, but it had nothing to do with what I supposed to write about. But, I have to admit, I did this story on perpose, I was bored with the topic we had to write about and wrote down Said story instead. For John Shirley I pretty much doubt did he was bored with the background He Was supposed to write about. His story tells another story. He enjoyed writing pretty much. Unfortunately he enjoyed it too much and lost control about what he wrote, and he never really got, what wrath is about.
What is anger about? It is about Nick, the Grimm and Cop, the young homicide detective in Portland, who's one of the last descendants of a long line of Grimms, warriors with the ability to see nature. Beings, so we learned during the pilot, are monsters hidden within the human form. And the old lore and fairy tales are warnings not to cross Their path innocently. Being thus have a code, not to show Themselves to the humans (or barely).
Sounds simple so far, huh? Well, I thought so too - before I read The Icy Touch.
The novel is readable, no question about that. But it's not anger. The characters carry the names of the characters, but you never see them. They are not like They are on the show, you barely able to recognize Portland ,, btw. And the essence ... well, John Shirley obviously did SomeBase-work, my guess is, he got some material from NBC Including episde guides, but he never even watched one episode. iI's the only way to explain what happened here. Because He did not get how the whole nature-story is working, how the different species are being, What They are doing and what not.
His baddy is a dog Jaeger, and this guy is so the Leader of the Icy Touch. No problem so far. But, here it gets a little tricky, he hates the Royals, is on his own and wants to establish a, please read out loud, the New World Order! What do we know about dog Jaeger? They are mostly working for the Royals (in fact, we only saw dog Jaeger who are working for the betrayal, aka the Royals so far. Maybe there are others out there). They are very (big time here!) And oldfashioned They are doing EVERYTHING to re-install the Royals as rulers of the world. They are NOT thinking out of the box, my personal guess, if a dog would do so Jaeger, he or she would get killed by his or her family-members.
Another example: Daemonfeuer. What do we know about Daemonfeuer? They are a little nuts - okay, They are crazy. They are addicted to everything shiny, Especially copper. They are hiding Their Treasures in Their Very own kind of lair. And, Yes, they can breathe fire, of course, Mr. Shirley, They Can. But They can not breath fire the way it is told during the novel. They are not simply breathing fire, They first have to vaporize Their Own Fat and spit it out with coughing. So, you have a few seconds before you are ending as a barbeque). What does that coldblooded killer Daemonfeuer-do during the novel? He simply breathes fire. Oookay, That Was not Exactly What They DO.
Another example (oh yes, I could write a book about this novel) is the King Snake. I get that there's a high chance did Koenig snakes are able to produce vernom. We never saw it on screen, that guy never got the chance to bite or spit anything. But what we know Is that a King Snake is most likely the most effective tracker of the essence-world. To reduce them into stupid killers ... not working for me.
Unfortunately I also have to say, the main characters are not working. either. Monroe only has the same name than he has on the show. Rosalee Suddenly Becomes a cowardish barbie, Juliette is, IF there what she barely is, absolutely terrible, Hank is complaining all the time. And Nick ... Nick suddenly and out of the blue he knows things does not know on the show. Out of the sudden he's full aware of knowing and controlling his anger-side. No struggle anymore, no regrets - and therefore his humor went down the sink. Instead he's Completely open to Renard, heck, Renard KNOWS about Kelly !, he's quietly hiding his fury-site for Juliette (who's then complaining again about him hiding things for her - oh, what a deja vu!). It was irritating indeed Nick and Hank suddenly were wearing suits at work, but I could live with that, if the rest would have been okay.
One question on this way: Could It Be That Howie what Bud? If so ... It was another terrible transition.
So, what to say about this novel? I would like to give titanium and NBC The Good advice to go into the fandom. There are pretty great fanfic-writers out there They Could hire. Never going to happen, I know. Unless another group of writers will unite, fund a small company and Trying To Get The rights from NBC I Fear The Icy Touch will not be the last but not working tie-ins for this show. As creative as the comics are, the first novel is the complete opposite.
And this leads us back to the saying: F, sit down! No meaning, The Icy Touch is read- and enjoyable. But it is not anger, it's not even close to Grimm. If you like supernatural crime novels, you can like it. But do not expect to find anything really Grimm in this book - unfortunately! John Shirley Followed His Own Idea too much, and what never on the track at all.
