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Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Here be me honest musings . . .
I have only read one novella by the author and I loved it so I was excited to give his longer works a shot. This is the start of a new fantasy series where the economy is run by glass magic. It was a decent read for me and I will be reading the next in the series.
The characters were the best thing about the book. Demir (who feels like the main character) was a member of the elite and a promising general before a betrayal broke his mind. He lives as a self-imposed outcast until his mother's murder brings him back into politics. Other POV characters include Kizzie (a type of investigator), Tessa (who works with glass magic), and Idrian (a soldier who uses magic). There is a larger cast portrayed though. A favorite was Baby Montego who should come across as ridiculous but instead is endearing. I also enjoyed that men and women are fairly equal in society. The female characters in this book actually tended to be the more interesting. None of the characters seemed to have a lot of depth but I was rooting for them.
But while I liked the characters, the rest of the book felt derivative and rather unoriginal. Not bad per se but not enthralling. The magic system of using glass felt rather boring overall. The economy runs on it but I never felt that it was particularly practical or even widespread. The rich families have a lot but can't use a lot because of the side effects. The author's idea is that glass making is coming to an end and thus the economy is going to fall apart but I didn't really feel that the world is better off with it or that the stakes of it disappearing would frankly really matter after the initial shock. The glass certainly didn't seem worth dying for.
The murder mystery of who killed Demir's mother and the other mystery of the secret society were also lackluster. I didn't feel that there really was a big mystery and watching the characters flail around and make no real progress was frustrating. And the reveal when it came was rather expected even if the overall why of it hasn't been explained completely yet. And the bad guys all felt rather one-dimensional.
Also the book felt too long and dragged in many, many places. I liked individual moments in character stories and the interpersonal relationships but the overall conflict felt cliché and rather short-sighted. Aye, this book was flawed but I do not regret reading it. I just think I was expected more given how much the crew loves the Powder Mage trilogy. Arrrrr!
I have only read one novella by the author and I loved it so I was excited to give his longer works a shot. This is the start of a new fantasy series where the economy is run by glass magic. It was a decent read for me and I will be reading the next in the series.
The characters were the best thing about the book. Demir (who feels like the main character) was a member of the elite and a promising general before a betrayal broke his mind. He lives as a self-imposed outcast until his mother's murder brings him back into politics. Other POV characters include Kizzie (a type of investigator), Tessa (who works with glass magic), and Idrian (a soldier who uses magic). There is a larger cast portrayed though. A favorite was Baby Montego who should come across as ridiculous but instead is endearing. I also enjoyed that men and women are fairly equal in society. The female characters in this book actually tended to be the more interesting. None of the characters seemed to have a lot of depth but I was rooting for them.
But while I liked the characters, the rest of the book felt derivative and rather unoriginal. Not bad per se but not enthralling. The magic system of using glass felt rather boring overall. The economy runs on it but I never felt that it was particularly practical or even widespread. The rich families have a lot but can't use a lot because of the side effects. The author's idea is that glass making is coming to an end and thus the economy is going to fall apart but I didn't really feel that the world is better off with it or that the stakes of it disappearing would frankly really matter after the initial shock. The glass certainly didn't seem worth dying for.
The murder mystery of who killed Demir's mother and the other mystery of the secret society were also lackluster. I didn't feel that there really was a big mystery and watching the characters flail around and make no real progress was frustrating. And the reveal when it came was rather expected even if the overall why of it hasn't been explained completely yet. And the bad guys all felt rather one-dimensional.
Also the book felt too long and dragged in many, many places. I liked individual moments in character stories and the interpersonal relationships but the overall conflict felt cliché and rather short-sighted. Aye, this book was flawed but I do not regret reading it. I just think I was expected more given how much the crew loves the Powder Mage trilogy. Arrrrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received an eArc of this sci-fi novella through NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings . . .
This is the story of Lydia who works as a translator for the telepathic alien cultural attaché nicknamed Fitz. The entertaining aspect of this book is that working as a translator causes the humans to basically get drunk the longer that they translate. So when Fitz is killed, Lydia finds herself as the main suspect. Only she can't remember what happened that night. Did she really do it?
The highlight of the novel for me was learning about the translating, how training for that job happened, and the actual translating itself. I love word play and cultural differences and so that was the main appeal of the novella. I also enjoyed the relationship between Fitz and Lydia. Ye don't get a lot about the alien culture but I enjoyed what was presented.
The world building, characterization, and murder mystery elements were a bit light. I thought the solution to the murder was a bit odd and nonsensical. But I was rooting for Lydia and did enjoy following her story. A quick fun read. Arrrr!
This is the story of Lydia who works as a translator for the telepathic alien cultural attaché nicknamed Fitz. The entertaining aspect of this book is that working as a translator causes the humans to basically get drunk the longer that they translate. So when Fitz is killed, Lydia finds herself as the main suspect. Only she can't remember what happened that night. Did she really do it?
The highlight of the novel for me was learning about the translating, how training for that job happened, and the actual translating itself. I love word play and cultural differences and so that was the main appeal of the novella. I also enjoyed the relationship between Fitz and Lydia. Ye don't get a lot about the alien culture but I enjoyed what was presented.
The world building, characterization, and murder mystery elements were a bit light. I thought the solution to the murder was a bit odd and nonsensical. But I was rooting for Lydia and did enjoy following her story. A quick fun read. Arrrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
The Penric and Desdemona novellas take place in the World of the Five Gods from the trilogy of that name. Book one of the trilogy, curse of the chalion, is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read and I really enjoyed the remaining two. Penric, a sorcerer, and Desdemona, his chaos demon, are a fantastic duo that I ADORE.
In 2020, these novellas were republished in a two-book omnibus set. The first omnibus contained novellas 1 - 3 in the internal chronological order not publishing order. The second set had the novellas 4 - 6. I normally read in publishing order but have to admit that I strongly feel this series should be an exception if ye be new to it.
This was the first full-length novel and is number 10 in internal chronology. I LOVED all the extra time spent with Penric and Desdemona. This feels like an ending to a series (though I hope it isn't). General Arisaydia is threatened with assassination and has to go back to his homeland to deal with the issue. Penric ends up getting involved despite himself, as usual.
This is not a high stakes adventure as Penric is well-within his powers and literally has the backing of the God. It is, however, a comforting and lovely read. Iroki is very much a new favorite. There are a lot of cameos of prior characters from at least four other novellas. There were a couple of plot twists I wasn't expecting. Neither was Penric! I truly love this series and world and will read as many books as the author care to write in it. Arrrrr!
The Penric and Desdemona novellas take place in the World of the Five Gods from the trilogy of that name. Book one of the trilogy, curse of the chalion, is one of the best fantasy books I have ever read and I really enjoyed the remaining two. Penric, a sorcerer, and Desdemona, his chaos demon, are a fantastic duo that I ADORE.
In 2020, these novellas were republished in a two-book omnibus set. The first omnibus contained novellas 1 - 3 in the internal chronological order not publishing order. The second set had the novellas 4 - 6. I normally read in publishing order but have to admit that I strongly feel this series should be an exception if ye be new to it.
This was the first full-length novel and is number 10 in internal chronology. I LOVED all the extra time spent with Penric and Desdemona. This feels like an ending to a series (though I hope it isn't). General Arisaydia is threatened with assassination and has to go back to his homeland to deal with the issue. Penric ends up getting involved despite himself, as usual.
This is not a high stakes adventure as Penric is well-within his powers and literally has the backing of the God. It is, however, a comforting and lovely read. Iroki is very much a new favorite. There are a lot of cameos of prior characters from at least four other novellas. There were a couple of plot twists I wasn't expecting. Neither was Penric! I truly love this series and world and will read as many books as the author care to write in it. Arrrrr!
Ahoy there mateys! This was the last book of a trilogy. I loved the first book and thought the second book was okay. I was still excited to see how the series would finish. I ended up abandoning this at 30%. This book started out poorly for me with an eight year time jump. And SO much had happened in that interval that it kinda made me noggin hurt trying to swim through the details. And then the big bad felt rather boring to me being a kind of hive mind with no other purpose than to destroy the world. There were some cool concepts here like Greeter and Design and Giva itself. And Clef being awesome as always. But overall I just wasn't enjoying meself. I set it down and never had the urge to pick it back up. I kinda want a spoiler paragraph of how it ended but not enough to read another 380 or so pages. Arrr! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
Ahoy there mateys! This book sounded cool cause dragons, diversity, and a male courtesan as a main character but just ended up not really working for me at all. I abandoned this at 62%. Most of this stemmed from said courtesan, Koré. He is a angsty character who spends half the time talking about how badass his political acumen is and all the secrets he has stolen from his clients and the other half talking about what a horrible person he is and moping about how he is a monster from birth who needs vengeance against the man who created him. And yet Koré doesn't seem to actually DO anything with these supposed secrets or try to actually manipulate to get revenge. He seems to do a lot of posturing on both fronts without accomplishing anything. I got tired of him and didn't care about him as a character. The world building was also strange. I had a hard time understanding how the city was actually set up and how the streets and districts worked. It was an odd mix of drones, dinosaurs, dragons, magic, sci-fi and fantasy. I usually like the blending but it came across as nonsensical, particularly once Koré switches districts. And all the sex scenes felt written for shock value but were just boring. Too many random elements in this book to do any of them justice. Even the diversity was somehow made boring. Arrr! Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.
Ahoy there mateys! This is a story about a grim reaper type dude who kills people when their productivity potential is outnumbered by their debt ratio. Cool concept. Selfish main character. Lirium is naïve and learning more about how the world works. The idea of taking life force being like a high from a drug was interesting. I just got tired of his attitudes around sex and his lack of complexity. He really didn’t seem to grow much. Stopped reading at 14%. Just didn’t work for me. Arrr!
Ahoy there mateys! I have really enjoyed the author’s writing in the past and was excited for this one. I got a copy of this book in 2020 and have been trying to finish it ever since. After a last ditch attempt this weekend, I have decided to officially abandon it 66%. The book is a series of very loosely interconnected stories dealing with famous actress Ruby Castle. Four of the stories were lovely (the Gateway in particular) so I am super sad that this book didn’t work for me. I found the writing itself compelling in parts but not the overall piece. I think. Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the review copy.
Ahoy there mateys! The first novella of this series was a delight and this one be more of the same. Mosscap the robot and Sibling Dex are traveling towards the city to help answer the robots' question of what humanity needs. This is a slice of life where ye watch Mosscap meet folk in the various villages and ye delve more into the relationship of Mosscap and Dex. Mosscap continues to be a pure delight and I loved watching him learn and reflect. Dex is the subtler of the two but no less wonderful. The ending was lovely. This read is a quick, quiet reflection that brings cozy feelings and comfort. Loved it. I hope we get another of their adventures. Arrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Here be me honest musings . . .
This is me first book by the author and a fun start to a new series. I wanted to read this book because the main character, Raine, can see the dead and that ability comes with a death sentence should anyone find out. She also has horrible luck. I went into this book not really knowing more than that and I actually am glad to have made that choice.
What I can say about the book, is that for a lot of it, I had no idea where it was headed. Raine was a wonderful character to follow and I certainly was cheering for her and trying to figure out the world along with her. Her life is rough and she really doesn't ever seem to have good choices. The world building here is rather mysterious (purposefully so) and so there are still questions to be answered. I really want to know more about the magic system and the warrior monks.
I rather enjoyed both the beginning and the ending especially. Minor quibbles include the slow pacing of the middle of the book and how some of the obvious facts to me were not obvious to Raine. Looking forward to the next one. Arrrrr!
This is me first book by the author and a fun start to a new series. I wanted to read this book because the main character, Raine, can see the dead and that ability comes with a death sentence should anyone find out. She also has horrible luck. I went into this book not really knowing more than that and I actually am glad to have made that choice.
What I can say about the book, is that for a lot of it, I had no idea where it was headed. Raine was a wonderful character to follow and I certainly was cheering for her and trying to figure out the world along with her. Her life is rough and she really doesn't ever seem to have good choices. The world building here is rather mysterious (purposefully so) and so there are still questions to be answered. I really want to know more about the magic system and the warrior monks.
I rather enjoyed both the beginning and the ending especially. Minor quibbles include the slow pacing of the middle of the book and how some of the obvious facts to me were not obvious to Raine. Looking forward to the next one. Arrrrr!
Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
Unpopular opinion time! I had previously read the author's malice and thought it was just okay. The plot of that book is completely gone now. But I wanted to give the author a second chance. I got to 63% and abandoned ship. This author's work is apparently not for me. I found the world to be somewhat interesting but not exceptional. The pace was extremely slow and plodding. However the main problem was the characterization.
Ye follow three POVs for this one. One is a slave (thrall) named Varg. One is a warrior woman and mom named Orka. The other is a warrior woman who wants fame and money named Elvar. I liked the set-up for Varg's story but lost interest after his "training" and lack of explanation of his "mysterious" past. Elvar's story was so mundane that I never cared for her. I started to hate seeing her name at the top of her chapters. Orka was by far the best but her fighting skills seemed like superpowers and her reactions never varied. Maybe if it was just her story with more insight into her motivations, I would have liked this book better. I felt at times that their voices were indistinguishable. There are also two warbands (with Varg and Elvar) and I kept getting them confused because they were so similar that, outside of the leaders, the warriors in them were interchangeable.
I also had a problem with the non-English words. I don't normally care about this but they seemed a weird combination of real and made-up words. I kept being annoyed that some would translate online and others didn't. I don't normally want a glossary but I did for this book. I also thought the writing had too many awkward similes and repetitive descriptions. Also the author used the word "thought-cage" for brain 70 times (I counted), as many as 5 per chapter, and for all three POVs. That be approximately once every 7 pages. It drove me crazy!
Even the promised dragon was not enough to get me to finish this book. I will not be reading any more of this author's work. Arrr!
Unpopular opinion time! I had previously read the author's malice and thought it was just okay. The plot of that book is completely gone now. But I wanted to give the author a second chance. I got to 63% and abandoned ship. This author's work is apparently not for me. I found the world to be somewhat interesting but not exceptional. The pace was extremely slow and plodding. However the main problem was the characterization.
Ye follow three POVs for this one. One is a slave (thrall) named Varg. One is a warrior woman and mom named Orka. The other is a warrior woman who wants fame and money named Elvar. I liked the set-up for Varg's story but lost interest after his "training" and lack of explanation of his "mysterious" past. Elvar's story was so mundane that I never cared for her. I started to hate seeing her name at the top of her chapters. Orka was by far the best but her fighting skills seemed like superpowers and her reactions never varied. Maybe if it was just her story with more insight into her motivations, I would have liked this book better. I felt at times that their voices were indistinguishable. There are also two warbands (with Varg and Elvar) and I kept getting them confused because they were so similar that, outside of the leaders, the warriors in them were interchangeable.
I also had a problem with the non-English words. I don't normally care about this but they seemed a weird combination of real and made-up words. I kept being annoyed that some would translate online and others didn't. I don't normally want a glossary but I did for this book. I also thought the writing had too many awkward similes and repetitive descriptions. Also the author used the word "thought-cage" for brain 70 times (I counted), as many as 5 per chapter, and for all three POVs. That be approximately once every 7 pages. It drove me crazy!
Even the promised dragon was not enough to get me to finish this book. I will not be reading any more of this author's work. Arrr!