I almost didn’t finish The Art of Destruction.  

The majority of this 2006 novel by Stephen Cole is so boring and uninteresting it felt like I was forcing myself to keep reading. 

The book only becomes good when the strange character of Faltato makes his entrance. But he feels out of place in this novel which so far has been treating itself as serious SF, which I do not enjoy in my Doctor Who. 

The big problem I have with this novel is it’s hard to tell what it’s trying to be.  

It has too much going on, and it just doesn’t blend very well. 

There’s some really serious stuff in here, which does not work alongside the giant worms, and multi-tongued art collector. 

It has its moments, but as a whole, it’s quite difficult to determine if the book is actually good or not. 

Most of it just doesn’t work. 

I would suggest trying it out for yourself, as I think it could be a completely different experience for others.