Mythera Chronicles has a strong foundation, with solid worldbuilding and fairly complex characters, but the pacing is too quick, often diminishing the values of these foundations by allowing only superficial or glancing attention to be payed to them. Our main character visit a major dwarf settlement while in the course of their journey but only […]
From page one, The Umbral Storm immersed me in its world, a world full of fantastical imagery and strong creative depth. The scenes of the first couple chapters are alive in the cracking of bark, and chill, blanketing mist in a forest of mountainous trees. The world build is tangible and tactile, allowing the readers […]
I found the first odd third of Broken Souls (basically the prequel stories) difficult to progress through. This is largely due to Lura’s side of the narrative as she is compelled into prostitution and sexually assaulted multiple times, and I just found none of it an enjoyable narrative, and the story style itself is dark […]
A quick, easy read, Beyond the Atmosphere introduces into a complex setting of warring species, internal intrigues, widely distinct cultures. This setting, the variety of the cultures in particular for me, is the book’s strongest feature: from the insectoid Masters to the Founders who retreated to an entirely different dimension, it is an interesting setting […]
There is a good story in Into the Violet Gardens, dealing with government betrayal and the abuse of ‘others’/racism, but its prose and narrative composition make it difficult to enjoy and sometimes difficult to follow.On the subject of its prose, the book makes excessive, and most often weak, use of similes, sometimes as many as […]
Aerovoyant is a complicated review for me: it is well written, the characters are complex (Alphonse in particular) and the pacing is strong, making for an entertaining read from start to finish; but it is also driven by a message (the author expresses as much in the foreword) and there were many times during the […]
Bleeding Iris is a visually and conceptually strong book; there are several scenes throughout that were just cool to imagine and visualize, from the way the iris’ of those who accept their bargains rupture and bleed out, to more specific imagery like a woman dressed in a veil and all-black despite the heat passively pulling […]
While well-written, Hills of Heather and Bone is a fairly standard on a conceptual level with its magic system and core plot revolving around necromancy and magical persecution. There’s some neat bits of creativity where the bones house the memories of the dead, and the necromancers must record or honor those memories in exchange for […]
Starfall is a book that will appeal to a specific type of reader; huge effort was devoted to developing the world in which the story takes place, both in the environment, the technological setting, and how the characters interact with these, the various subspecies, and the cultures of the various nations. The Soonayhin culture and […]
There is a lot of good in The Fall is All There Is. The prose and characters are solid, the fantastical elements of the world building are interesting and unique with their frakenstinian technology and the way it handles its ghosts/specters, and the book depiction of autism feels both immersive and authentic. But the book […]
I found Where the Shadows Beckon well written and fun. The pacing is quick, but steady and well balanced with a good mixture (and variety) of action scenes counterbalanced by character interactions and narrative scenes.The characters themselves are likable with strong individuality despite their number, and generally have good chemistry. (Their interactions, and several other […]
From page one Norylska Groans expertly immerses the reader in its setting, from the brutal drudgery of working in that time period, to the cold, to the Russian theme of the book, and even the noir theme. The result is an immersive and somewhat depressing read.The pacing for the book is good, with plot progressing […]
