Getting into a Jam

I've started to read Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's Jam.

I'm currently just over 100 pages in, and it's been a fine read thus far. The most notable thing however, is that he uses the first person perspective. Normally this would only be worth a minor note, but Croshaw handles the perspective gingerly enough to keep it from getting exhausted.

His analogies however, are somewhat scatter shot. And maybe this is only because I'm not from Australia, but some of the references and slang just don't click with me. Hell, if I wasn't an avid Doctor Who viewer, I'd probably not have automatically known what bin liners are.

So far the story's been more than what I had expected.

It starts in media res, like you do, and develops not because of plot alone but because of various of the characters' desires and the apparent needs required to survive. Though, to be fair, whether or not these characters' survival is important or not has yet to be seen.

Mary, the Goliath bird eating spider, is a curious cast member, but since the jam was repelled by Travis' mouth, I'm guessing that the spider's saliva or some such is going to be important down the line. Or maybe the spider will just be let loose in the shopping mall so as to terrify the people masquerading as "plastic men."

The introduction of the "plastic men" was very effective, though. And honestly, for a book about semi-sentient carnivorous jam destroying at least one Australian city, the story hasn't gone over the top yet. Travis seems to just be drifting, Tim is desperate to be the survivalist, Don only wants the build of the game he was working on, and Angela merely wants to chronicle things as they happen to launch her journalism career (I guess). The ancillary characters, X and Y, seem like your standard military types throughout the first 100 and some pages, but I'm not really expecting that to change any time soon.

Croshaw's writing style is all right so far. Nothing's really jumped out at me just yet, aside from the scatter shot analogies. Though, to be fair, he makes frequent use of similes, and this seriously contributes to my feeling that they're a little unfocused. Not unlike the character of Travis, who just so happens to be our humble narrator.

I'm waiting for an awesome twist, and glad that the Mogworld reference has come and gone, but unless there's a major upset down the line, Croshaw's writing style alone isn't going to win any accolades from me. The first 100 pages are just competent, with a few good sprints thrown in.