Review: I love this series, mainly for the grand escape into the fantasy realm of thee caribbean where quests abound. The characters are always well developed and evolve to suit their circumstances. This installment fell a little flat in comparison to those before.
The constant proselytizing rhetoric was just too much. We all agree that quite a few instances in our collective history were really bad. However, as much as everyone can agree on those repugnant instances, it should not give a writer license to belabor the crimes as to pull down the story line with cloying narrative. This series has always been really good at defining the space between entertainment and the rigors of life. The harsh realities of India’s particular life are used as a tool to enhance the novel in a myriad of ways. You use it, the story moves forward yada yada. You don’t grind your reader under the anvil with pointed dialogue that is consistent and unrelenting.
Review: Reviews or assessments of an author’s work are subjective but often based on the quantitative. Fail in building an opinion on a flawed base will render said reviewer bereft of consideration. I rarely call out other reviewers because everyone has an opinion that is unique as are their life predilections. But when a reviewer makes blatant errors in assessing a work, only for their self-aggrandizement, I take exception. Call it defending the defenseless as authors rarely answer the call to defend their works or pointedly respond to diminished attacks.
A reviewer on Goodreads called WiremanReads falls into the realm of most narcissists that ply the emotional ocean in hopes of snagging followers/likes/friends. Let us start with the first statement in Wireman’s review. “…an interesting premise and plot is suffocated prematurely by “this-then-that” prose”. Prose, as defined, is how people talk in everyday life. Usually in novels this takes the form of narration like most of JRR Tolkien’s works, Herman Melville etc. Nowhere, without exception, did I find the dialogue between the characters to be “this-then-that” or normative in exchange. I think most good novels that build characterization have embedded movement or if you prefer “this-then-that“. I think it is called a story line. Oh, and it is “are” suffocated not “is”.
This next brilliant insight dives off a manufactured view that has no basis in fact. This is purely to engender false praise by stringing disparate ideas together. “Often I felt as though I was reading a stop-motion film where the author described the events frame-by-frame, freezing the action to reposition the characters then starting and stopping on repeat—hoping to achieve fluidity but ultimately only generating stuttering prose”. I am still confused about how you READ a film. Besides the obvious non-sensical verbiage this reviewer tends to spew, there is that use of prose again. Is she referencing the movement or the dialogue between the characters? If the prose was stuttering wouldn’t that have been reflected in the dialogue, somewhere? From what I read, the prose was always deliberate and moved the novel along nicely. I get the feeling that this reviewer read about 10-20% of the novel as evidenced by her referent to dragons, in the plural. There was only one dragon.
She goes on to say how she deeply regrets giving a DNF and holds no animosity towards indie authors because her favorite novel was indie blah, blah, blah. Why does this matter? The author is not independent as this novel was published by Gollancz/Orion. What really is the icing on this idiot’s cake is the page of constructive feedback from a reviewer that did not read the novel. She goes on to tell the writer how to write and belabors prose in all its manifestations while sitting on her lofty non-writer perch. So, after about 15 lessons on how to write better she leaves us with this gem, “Keep things simple. Keep them cohesive”. The pot calling the kettle black. And who’s “them“? What, “things”?
This was another great novel by a talented author. Dismiss the narky child that cries for attention.
Review: I made up the cover art as there is none resident.
This was a well-paced novel that sacrificed character development in pursuit of pushing the plot. This novel had a lot to say and get done as the first in a series. The outcome was rushed characterization that may uninvest the reader by subsequently not giving a shjt what happens.
The whole, “suddenly in space” thing, then onto other worlds via super high tech, just did not marry with the juvenile rhetoric of the Torth. “We are so smart that we are totally unaware of our collective narcissism. Die you insignificant alien/slave species!!”. I can’t say for sure that that is mutually exclusive. Buuut, it kinda is when burgeoning neophyte human species have less tech and higher empathy. The Torth are blessed with an assured comfortable existence. The slave master component is formulaic in that it helps expedite the plot. Easy to label a race of beings with superior tech without the complexities of cumulative experiences that birthed their current state. Since this novel is predicated on our descendancy from the Torth it begs for an outcome predisposed to humility. Now if the Torth were worm hole jumping conquerors with slimy silicon-based tentacles, their actions might be normative. A collective of minds that number in the trillions, are a super smart collossus of knowledge, ruminate in mere seconds and then render a verdict of “KILL”! is just not believable.
The novel gets interesting at about the 50% mark when our crew finally escapes the city. The characters remain one-dimensional despite an interesting quest. This lack of development is expressed through Delia. Accusatory and antagonistic is her constant theme that gets older than fuk real fast. The novel would have been better off if she had fallen to her death early on. Characters that are thinly built usually have an over-emoting, singular focus. Cherise is reverting to her sullen emo persona because she can, although her development hinted at internal choices to embrace beauty. She eventually comes around but is mostly relegated to the back seat. Vy, the super ginger, has the hots for a 9 foot tall gentle giant with hidden powers because every YA novel needs a love story, right? Genius boy, once a humble, affable, and caring person is now stern super genius boy. Again, not believable when your formative years have shaped a foundation predicated on empathy only to turn into ‘logic monster’ who tortures his closest friends. <YAWN>.
The writing is good. The story line, highly creative. The aliens that abound are interesting yet fleeting in presentation. There are some portions of the plot/story line that need to be thought out better to really invest the reader. It is too bad that this entire series has already been written and is queued up for publication. IMHO this series needs some intense redirection in both story line and character development. There needs to be some serious fat trimming to invest the reader rather than writing for oneself.
I like this author as I have a thing for gingers. Still only 2 stars as the overall impact of the novel was weakened by lengthy internalizations by weak characters.
Review: World building, character development and a riveting plot round out this debut (nom de plume?) authors first turn at the wheel. This story line follows a post-apoc journey of a digger on a quest to find ancient Americas Fort Knox gold at Area-51. In league with a scrofulous band of murderers, Beamo Roamer must watch his back while looking for advantage over this forced alliance. Add to this, a constant external threat by the Mutant Angels who self-mutilate and collect human skin as a religious identifier.
This has poignant moments where emotive internalization wars with the strictures of forced immorality. Once your feet get soaked in the daily strife of living, you get slapped in the face with an intricate humor that leaves you lol. There are some real strange moments that flirt on the edge of Fantasy without the manufactured base of science.
If this truly is a first time author, watch out. He may end up the finest in the genre.
Review: I dunno why this writing comes off as smug. Perhaps it the author’s initial proselytizing message from a lofty pulpit of woke or the characters that embody familial perfection. For instance, super dad’s wife: Hotty McNursey Dying Diabetic Mayan Princess! Their three kids: Dynamic Adolescent Genius Duo (I know they’re geniuses cuz one is named Brillante!), Magic Power Sulking Gurl (everything’s sus and flexy, tee-hee!). And rounding out the cast is of course Most Evilly Mr. McEvil Panther Man! and his leggy buxom consort/hench gurl, Buxome’. And where would we all be but rotting in a jungle without SUPER Dad (ho-hum) but, but he’s like super-duper Dad who keeps everyone together and like, knows things suddenly at pivotal moments. Maybe he could be “Sudden Inspiration Dues-Ex Man”!!!!
So, as we follow this family of preppers from Montana (the good kind of preppers that are of mixed race and not the racist white kind) we find that the storyline spins in place and that only the venue changes…slightly. We still head back to the ole temple in the jungle with some detours to Germany and Montana. Yawn.
I almost hate to say it, but this story line is overdone. There was no attempt to really make it unique to stand out amongst the chaff. Why are the Roth’s so normalized and constantly put upon? Why not make Suki a goth, always in trouble growing up whom self-cuts and finds her true self in the myriad ways of magic. Maybe these events create a new realization. Fuk, anything other than a sulky high schooler with the hots for a boy. Maybe Roth and his wife separated a long time ago and she lives in the Yucatan with one of the twins, providing medical care to orphan monkeys with AIDS. But she has deeper hidden secrets that drove her down there. Eh? Like Evil Panther man is her hermaphroditic son she had to give up when she was 16 as she is the daughter of a cartel drug lord (whom has mild gout and hypothyroidism). Suki falls in love with Panther Man not knowing he’s her half-brother/sister and a huge cat fight occurs between Suki and Buxome’ which brings Suki’s magical powers to life when hers is about to end. Suki explodes Buxome’s assets with glitter magic as she fades to black….
This whole novel was faintly reminiscent of writers that are producing novels in hopes that Hollywood will pick it up for a movie.
Review: Is this a tipping of the hat to Harlan Ellisons’s “Vic Blood”? I dunno. Like they say, nothing is new under the sun. The boy is now a girl. Her dog is not telepathic despite the constant anthropomorphism and there is a real dystopian feel despite the alienness.
I was trying to get something straight in my head throughout this novel. Alex is a mission hardened dog handler whose expertise is spotting the aliens that are 65′ tall. Check. So why is she constantly trembling or frozen in fear at the cost of those around her?
The story line never goes anywhere and that’s ok. It is more of an internal journey of a young lady as she adjusts and adapts to a new world. What should capture the reader’s attention is the writing. It is fluid and tends to draw you in despite the lack of actionable content.
I had a hard time casting back to the previous novels in order to gain my bearings for this installment as it came late in comparison. Rounded up, it was about 3 years between “The Blackest Heart” and “The Lonesome Crown“. Add in my ability to gain access after the established publish date and you get closer to 4 years.
I know, “Wah!”, right? Even if you had a good handle on all of the myriad factions and players, you would still get a little lost when groups join then suddenly dissolve for no apparent reason. “I feel connected to the weapons….No I do…..Ok I take. bye”. I mean we know the stones and the weapons are wending their way to the rightful descendants of Xena Warr……..er, Warrior Angels, right? A little more brevity and directness would aid in defining these myriad quests.
There were some continuity errors that were intentional as regards to expediting or substantiating a remnant story line. Cromm the Oghul sits in a boat sharpening, what, 15 or so knives secreted on his person. Blah, blah Cromm falls into the sea with all of his armor on after telling Nail he wants to burn his face to match the prophecy. They can’t pull him up so Nail dives in, swims down and cuts the armor away from Cromm and saves the day. Cromm pledges loyalty for a life owed, yadda yadda. So my question is: why couldn’t Cromm cut away his own armor with the plethora of knives secreted about him? I mean he could obviously swim as his hands were free enough to do so while breaking the spine of a mermaid. I assume the leather straps that connected the armor and held it in place were easy enough to access with a knife.
The ease in which Talalalala escapes the castle is deus ex machina at its finest hour. I mean whom can’t find a secret passage from the Queens room to her own in order to grab a sword pivotal to the story line.? And then easy as you please she spends one minute talking to a barmaid and discerns the whereabouts of a dangerous assassin and BAM!, is in their secret lair. This kinda shjt is what happens when there are too many players. Let’s not forget the YA’s ability to repeatedly beat seasoned warriors with no inherent skills and Beer Mugs undying loyalty and nick o’time presence. All said, the scene rendering had to be simplistic to push the narrative. What we get is poor construction and a lack of believability.
The characters are a minor fail what with the YA’s depicted as broken, reluctant heros. They all must have went to the Kevin Costner school of storytelling. Lawri is just plain awful. Denying your present set of circumstances when obivious truths have dictated your actions, is pure idiocy. Was there any reason for this character other than needing an armless shjtwit to weild the gauntlet? So now the fumbling timid idiot can hulk smash shjt with glowing green eyes. There is a constant repitition of facts, sayings and general information that points a finger at your stupid head for not getting it the first time. Perhaps you were in one of Lawri’s special classes.
This was a sad departure from the first two installments. I could continue the rant but what’s the point? The whole process seemed rushed. I think what happened is that it became too unmanageable and events became hyphenated so as to move the story forward. This novel could have used a massive dose of editing from the start of the series. Begin with a truncated cast or have three warrior princ….er, angels rather than five. Too late now.
Viking Jam 