Beautiful City Of The Dead (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
A story about a teenage girl, Zee, who makes a new friend, one whom she finds both attractive and dangerous, and who introduces her to a secret world within the everyday world. In this hidden world she has mysterious elemental powers. But...with power...comes immense danger. It seems that the skeevy bio teacher is also more than he seems and he has it out for Zee and her new friends.I found the book somewhat interesting. It had good ideas and some potential to develop into something cool, but I feel it fell short. Rather than being a self contained story it felt rushed and underdeveloped to me, like a failed attempt to launch a series. I felt that the beginning started out well, as a first book in a series, but then the second half of the book (in two separate acts) comprised the second two books condensed into a few short chapters. Things that should have been explained in more detail were rushed through and the reader was forced to assume many things for themselves that should have warranted some explanation by the author.The characters were shaping up in the first part of the story, but development completely stops at that point and only perhaps three out of six characters have any development at all.I was also taken out of the narrative by some terminology choices that I felt were poor. For example in the beginning of the story Relly explains to Zee that they are gods. Gods over the four elements, water, earth, fire and air. However, there are apparently many hundreds more people with similar powers to their own. The bands Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin for a couple. If there are so many people with similar powers...how could you call yourselves gods? Gods are individuals with immense powers, who are ageless and have many smaller minions to do their bidding. Although the issue is not huge and didn't greatly affect the reading of the story it still galled me a little. It would have been more effective, I think, if they were called something else. Just about anything else would have worked. Elementals. Mages. Mutants. Even changelings would have been better. I also noticed that the author didn't recall the four horsemen of the apocalypse correctly, which is another mistake, although not huge, that could have been easily fixed and would have made the story that much better. I also was annoyed that whenever the band name was brought up "Scorpio Bone" the characters would say, but scorpions don't have bones...but the band isn't scorpion bone, but Scorpio Bone. Although it's easy to see where the scorpion part comes in there is much more to the word Scorpio than just scorpion. For one in the zodiac it is considered a feminine water sign. Gee, isn't that convenient? Couldn't the author have used that to their advantage in the story? Did Watts do so? No. No one who didn't know that will know that. If, in fact, Watts even knew that.Another bizarre thing was the connection the book had with the dead. There are many references, including the title, that lead the reader to expect some sort of ghost story. In fact, the only ghost scene comes at the very end and is ...as if it immigrated from some different book. It didn't make sense at all and could have just been the delusions of an paranoid schizophrenic. Other than the references to "Ghost Metal" which seemed to just be a cool name and the use of 'grave poetry' (of the most incredibly insipid nature) the dead seemed to have no place in this bizarre story.Overall, although I read the entire book (which took only about five hours in total, being very short and simple), I felt that the only part the author really shone in was describing Zee's feelings while she played as part of a band. But having read other books with such descriptions even in that the author fell short of other writers. In the end it was rather short, underdeveloped and rushed. Some parts didn't make much sense and many of the characters seemed like they were replaced by mannequins in the second act. With all I've said (and all that I remembered was odd later) I think Watts should recall all the books and ...treat this publishing as a rough draft. I bet you could do better.
So yeah, teenage metal band fights evil. *snort* Heck of a tag line.I liked it, really it's more of a 3 1/2 star book. Kinda stark on the prose, but most rock songs are, and I can dig it.Zee plays bass, meets Relly at school - they instantly bond over being in the "parents who named us weird" club. The creepy biology teacher hates them both, so they have more in common.Zee joins Relly's band, Scorpio Bone.Then it gets weird... like elemental magic weird.But... really, the book is not too heavy (I almost wish it was.) The "I kinda like this boy" subplot doesn't develop, and I'm actually thankful for that, it would have ruined the bigger picture.Author has a good grasp for teen angst, school suckage and the joys of being in a band. Satisfying but not too epic. Ending is a bit weird, but... meh, no biggie. It's one of those "recommend for teens who don't wanna read because most of the crap written for them is dumb." Not condescending, not fanciful, not too geeky. Just a book. Not every book has to change the world or win awards. Take it or leave it.
What do You think about Beautiful City Of The Dead (2006)?
This story was okay. I have a weakness for young adult novels but this one was young even for a young adult book. It was a group of elemental kids who are very unbalanced. Two of the protagonists are detailed the other two just seem to be there as plot devices masquerading as main characters. I had the same feelings for the book when I finished it as when I started. I did not hate it but I did not love it. It was a fairly "meh" creation. I appreciated that the author used metal (music) as a central plot item since its odd to have that used in a teen novel but the writing just did not bring the story to life like it could have.
—Andrea O'Brien
Beautiful City of the Dead is definitely one of the most wonderfully written books that I have ever read. It combines two of my favourite things in the world: Heavy Metal and the Paranormal. I've never even heard of the two combined in a single storyline.Leander Watts is a truly lyrical writer and I found the entire storyline to this masterpiece absolutely flawless. The references to bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath continued to further my engrossment in the book. Beautiful City of the Dead is a truly unputdownable story.
—Crystal Hay
This is the story of Zee and 3 other teens who start a band, only the leader of the band wants to event a whole new concept for Metal, called Ghost Metal. As Zee and her 3 companions continue to hone their skills and get more gigs, things start changing inside Zee. She later finds out that she is a water god, and the other 3 represent the other elements. This results in a last showdown between another set of gods - very old and powerful ones. Both sets of gods want Zee alive and with them - or not at all. I found this book very easy to read. I read it more as a time killer than anything, since it's nothing too heavy or thought provoking. That is both it's blessing and downfall. It's a story that you like to read, and can remember clearly what it's about. I would probably read it again to be honest, but it's not something that sticks with you, and makes you sit on the edge of your seat.It's much like a fairy tale to be honest, only with out the ending of a moral. I recommend renting this from your local library, before you buy it.
—Rachel
