sff | The Obsessive Bookseller

Title: Disquiet Gods

Author: Christopher Ruocchio

Series: Sun Eater #6

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: The end is nigh. It has been nearly two hundred years since Hadrian Marlowe assaulted the person of the Emperor and walked away from war. From his Empire. His duty. From the will and service of the eldritch being known only as the Quiet. The galaxy lies in the grip of a terrible plague, and worse, the Cielcin have overrun the realms of men. A messenger has come to Jadd, bearing a summons from the Sollan Emperor for the one-time hero. A summons, a pardon, and a plea. HAPSIS, the Emperor’s secret first-contact intelligence organization, has located one of the dreadful Watchers, the immense, powerful beings worshipped by the Pale Cielcin. Called out of retirement and exile, the old hero—accompanied by his daughter, Cassandra—must race across the galaxy and against time to accomplish one last, impossible: To kill a god. –Goodreads

The Review:

It took me FOREVER to get through this book. Over a year with a couple of soft DNFs in the mix. I don’t think it was solely the book’s fault, but I finished almost 80 books in that same timeframe, so it wasn’t solely me, either. There was this one part about 30% of the way in where my eyes started to glaze over both times I tried to read it. Once I got past that, I enjoyed myself quite a bit… but it took a while.

At this point in the series, I would definitely say I’m invested to see how it ends. Despite my troubles I actually liked a lot of the stuff in this book. An addition of a new character being my favorite highlight. And actually I like all the characters. They’re all wildly interesting profiles to me, which is perhaps one of the main reasons I kept coming back.

I also still appreciate the writing style. It’s distinctive in its flowing nature and often lyrical delivery. It reminds me a lot of the introspection you get during those interludes in a Drizzt book. The writing is so good it makes it easier to ignore the repetition and generally overindulgent musings. Somehow they always feel like they need to be there even though the points have long been driven home.

Even with all of that, I have to say I didn’t love the plot of this one. It bounced from one thing to the next in a way that was jarring, the subject change so abrupt. Several times throughout the book we were suddenly dealing with something drastically different, sometimes with only a couple of pages of transition. It made it feel very hodgepodge. Like a cleanup novel where the author was scrambling to tie up all the loose ends so that he could launch into the next finale book.

Even though this book wasn’t the strongest of the bunch, I’m still happy to have read all the books to this point and overall have had a great time with the series. I am earnestly looking forward to the final book of the series!

Recommendations: Interesting characters, absorbing writing, wild scifi adventures – this is a series well worth a try if you haven’t already.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Jen, Karen, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, Bee, Poochtee, Kinsey, Alysa, Derek, Kelly, Grace, and Carmen! <3

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by Niki Hawkes

Title: The Fireborne Blade

Author: Charlotte Bond

Series: The Fireborne Blade #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 2/5 stars

The Overview: Kill the dragon. Find the blade. Reclaim her honor. It’s that, or end up like countless knights before her, as a puddle of gore and molten armor. Maddileh is a knight. There aren’t many women in her line of work, and it often feels like the sneering and contempt from her peers is harder to stomach than the actual dragon slaying. But she’s a knight, and made of sterner stuff. A minor infraction forces her to redeem her honor in the most dramatic way possible, she must retrieve the fabled Fireborne Blade from its keeper, legendary dragon the White Lady, or die trying. If history tells us anything, it’s that “die trying” is where to wager your coin. Maddileh’s tale contains a rich history of dragons, ill-fated knights, scheming squires, and sapphic love, with deceptions and double-crosses that will keep you guessing right up to its dramatic conclusion. Ultimately, The Fireborne Blade is about the roles we refuse to accept, and of the place we make for ourselves in the world. -Overview

The Review:

Not what I was expecting and a bit unconventional, this was an interesting novella. I wish it had been a little more engaging.

What it had going for it was a plethora of original dragonlore ideas – stuff I’ve never seen done quite like this. So while it was an absolute standout in concept, it fell short for me in execution and pacing.

The story bounced back and forth between past events and the current happenings with the MC. The bounce happened so often that it effectively stole all momentum from the tale, and as a result I found myself struggling to pay attention. Some of the flashback scenes ultimately ended up enhancing the overall arc of the story, but not all. From a creative standpoint, I like the woven storyline and thought it was a great way to integrate all of the components, but overall, as I said, I wish it had been a little more engaging.

The MC was a bit stereotypical and I feel like I’ve read her profile countless times before. She seemed more like a vessel of perpetuating the plot rather than a character with a lot of depth and dynamics. However my biggest issue was her behavior. This novella read like a literary fiction (starring dragons) and was seemingly trying to present a few themes throughout. The MC said and did things that harmed the message plumping the narrative and also appeared inconsistent with character. It felt like she was trying to be too many things in conflict with each other. And not in an interesting, oh, this character has a lot of duality way, but more in an I’m not sure she’s fully developed kind of way.

For such a short story, I was hoping it would have more of a momentum, better character connection, and a more consistent message. In lieu of all that, I’m at least grateful for an interesting style and plot structure and liked the fresh, gritty take on dragons -> a subject in which I am obsessed, so the uniqueness was appreciated.

I experienced this story on audio and the narrator, Helen McAlpine, was adept and pleasant to listen to. I’m not sure if it was just the arc version of the audio I received or just something about the way it was recorded, but it felt about .25 slower than average, so you’ll fly through it!

Recommendations: this is a creative novella that I found entertaining in concept and technique even though it failed to draw me in. Still worth a look if you’d like a fresh take on dragonlore.

I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio, Charlotte Bond, and NetGalley for the chance to listen to and review an early copy of this novella.

Thank you to my Patrons: Dave, Katrin, Frank, Sonja, Staci, Kat, Betsy, Eliss, Mike, Elizabeth, and Bee! <3

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