Review: A really good finale to a great series that just could not leave the YA’s behavior normalized. Nope, just had to make them love addled and all knowing. Fug.
This series emobodied good writing coupled with well built characters riding a story line filled with movement. What really brought this flow to a halt was throwing in filler pages out of nowhere that involve the internal hormonal ruminations of YA’s coupled with boners, hot breath and boogers.
Review: Yarvi is all grown up in this installment and a new protagonist is introduced. Thorn Bathu. A character that rises above all the other spledidly built. The world building is epic and is intertwined with a quest up the Divine river.
A lot of moving parts that are as comfortable as a nice cigar in the evening. The slight deduction in point value is mainly due to a bit of YAhole love tristing. Thankfully it is brief and does not drive the story line into the shitter.
Review: The Count of Montecristo returns! Child King betrayed by his closest allies, tossed from a tower and made a slave in horrid conditions only to rise like the Phoenix. It is a fairly entrenched theme that works across the genres of literature. And why not? We all root for the underdog in hopes that they gain a firm resolution in the form of righteous retribution while exhibiting skills gained in exile. In this case, the conquering hero grows into the role through trial and trib.
The only downside is the constant mewling of being half a king, half a boy, excrement beneath everyones shoe all because of his deformed hand. There is no chance lost, especially during internal ruminations, that he is not constantly fixated on that percieved shortcoming. It is tiring and drags the dialogue down a dark hole. Hey, I get it, despair and depression within the bounds of a normal life are acceptable. Yet while attempting to survive in the desloate wastes or getting whipped senseless every instant as a slave there should be no other concern or thought, other than survival. There is no time to feel sorry for something that is and was, entirely out of your control.
What can I say? I fell for an entrenched and used up story line, and probably will again and again. I am a sucker for this trope. Good thing the writing is awesome as every character is built bigger than life. Bravo!
Review: Oh everyone gets a huge boner whenever those She-Devil Moontar bitches hiss, spit and sashay around being all naughty like. Why one just bit me member to taste whether I was mating material or not. I think when you get that far, the deed is already in the doing, know what I mean?
I kinda knew this shjt would get worse and both sides of the fence. On the one hand you have blushing Princes with chubs getting all steamy with super hot elven princesses. Of course, why would it be an ugly common elf? The other side is a gaggle of hot sisters that are half she-devs playing power games with their naughty bits. Within this tripe is kind of a buildup and a fairly centered story line. War, power plays, back stabbing blah, blah, blah.
Review: Well, fug. This turned into a YA fiasco of addled hormonal wits, bulges and she-devils. A vast panalopy of species/characters vying for the title of “Most Evilly” round out the story line. See, there is just no fucking way that all of these massive black-art powers and the various factions that weild said power (Moontars, Slizagoths, Krey etc.) can be overcome with a handful of plucky Princes that blush at the site of boobs. No….fukn…..way.
This is where the writer needed to show some restraint in terms of believability. The whole “impossible odds” shtick is taken to extremes and fails the reader in marked ways. The plot is unsurprising as it never wavers from the beleagured righteous to avenging evil that has no basis in fact for why they behave the way they do. Is it because that is who they are at a visceral level or are they driven by a revenge driven past? Got me.
It is not all bad. I like some of the characters and the paths they follow but they are few and are generally swallowed by the all consuming and unstoppable evil. OH HOW WILL THEY SURVIVE! Fug. And what is with the cover? While Moontar females are hotter than a popcorn fart, the males have tiny lizard/frog heads and massive human bodies?
Review: The beginning of this novel fell flat versus The Emporer of Mu and were farther apart in presentation than a cat at a dog carnival. It is rare that a successful first, fails miserably in the second. Usually there might be a slight dip due to the filler nature of that particular installment, but to have a defenestrated presentation is rare. The prose felt stilted and archaic with characters utilized to cover the backstory’s current intent through awkward exchanges. This reveals deficiencies in constructing a story line that should lean heavily on character development.
THAT SAID, eventually the storyline gets back on track, established characters arise and carry the story line successfully. The stilted exchanges diminish and flow is restored with good movement interleaved with the characterization. The storyline leaned a bit heavily on the YAsshole hormonal, yet it is strangely palatable as you never fully get mired within the glandular. The magic is varied and interesting as are the factions that reside in the world of Mu.
I will go on to the third despite the confusing cover art.
Review: I am really starting to like this author’s creative mind. I say creative in the context that you never quite know what direction the story line will go and what you will find once re-directed.
There is love amidst the chaos of an alien war that seeks to enhance character development in subtle ways. There are the sudden shocking instances of violence that reeks of an alien horror that is both unsettling and riveting.
I really like this authors style of writing and the story lines he creates with deeply involved and embedded characters.
Review: The first three novels are pretty good. Yah you slog through the YA hormones, but the aliens/world building are really good. The only downer in the first series is the constant back story which carries through to the final series. A big distraction. How many times do we have to hear about Lailani’s past or Marco’s parents dying? Ten, twenty?
Rating: 3.5/5
The last three novels in the series is mired under the lengthy back story of the crews shared past in battle or their UNDYING LOVE FOR EACHOTHER. This theme also repeats itself over and over. I get it, YAssholes sell books but there is a major hurdle called suspension of belief, especially where fight scenes are drawn. So you can ride a motorcycle while shooting, loading, steering and accelerating at the same time? You can burn rubber on the forest floor? And then this series really goes off script into fantasy land with giant space whales and yup, fuking weeping anthropomorphic Unicorns. Not to mention the all powerful aliens that can morph an entire world but get their asses handed to them. The hidden space ship on a distant moon-planet (with uber smart tree monkeys) has a fifties themed soda stand/ice cream bar with era correct costumes is dues ex at its finest and ultimately, was the final straw in a slew of chances. Fukity fuk this shjt.
We can forgive certain story line hiccups with countered character development, yet when scifi is diminished by the fantasical, enough is enough. Throughout this series there is a lot of borrowing from other works. Starship Troopers by Heinlien, Star Wars wookies/nandakis etc. This may be intentional in tribute as there are direct references to other works. There is a painted sexual array of straight and lesbianism back and forthing. It is constant and really tiring. It added nothing to the story line plus who gives a shjt?
Viking Jam 