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hyzie's review
4.0
This is kind of genre kryptonite for me: the moment I saw the description, I proceeded to fall down and read to death. It is extremely hard to classify, it is complex, it is full of a bunch of different trappings from a bunch of different genres, and in the hands of someone who didn't know what they were doing, things could have gone south very quickly.
Andrea K. Höst knew what she was doing.
I have a little bit of trouble saying precisely what age group I would recommend this to. It is certainly suitable for mature young adults, but I would hardly consider it a young adult book. It has children narrators, but I think most children would find the complexity a bit overwhelming. It also has dual viewpoints in that the other primary narrator is a full-grown woman, which lends an interesting perspective throughout as neither the children nor their aunt understand each other a bit, but we get to see both sides of things.
It's a mystery set in an alternate universe that bears a great resemblance to our own, had things gone very, very differently. It has Egyptian culture because Egypt is a world power because they have vampires. Vampires that are part court-manners-oriented and part ripping open skin and have their own mythology that is partly Egyptian and partly something else I have yet to clearly identify.
Also, there are steampunk-ish robots powered by some mixture of cool magic-y stones and science.
You see my confusion in describing this book in any really rational way?
But the thing is: it was great. It was really, really great. I loved the characters, I loved the alternating viewpoints, I loved the world that was built up and all of the guessing on what precisely was what, on what parts were drawn from a wide range of our own history and mythology and what parts were simply part of the mythology written for the book. Things are weaved together so beautifully I had trouble telling, which is honestly one of the best (and most difficult!) ways to manage mythology in a fantasy series.
I was impressed with how clever the characters were. Often intelligence and cleverness are informed traits in novel characters; I genuinely felt like these people were making good decisions and considering the ramifications as best they could with the information they had throughout. Even the children were clever, which is even harder to manage than clever adults.
The little hints of potential romance were sweet, but this is not a romance novel at all, and they were not the focus here. It added a certain flavor to the story and the world as well as expanding on the characters just a tad, but was never heavy-handed and (probably because of how clever the characters were) did not ever interfere in the real business of the novel.
The real business is solving the mystery and conspiracy that lead to the deaths of the relatives of the main characters, and it gets extremely twisted and complex the farther things go. I was not expecting the revelations towards the end, and I love getting caught up by surprise by something like that. It was a rather dark secret being kept, but I adore that sort of thing.
It is not an easy read. I don't mean that in a bad way at all, but because of everything that is going on, because of the terminology and mythology and character relationships built up, it is not something you can really read while doing something else. It requires some focus, and it is worth every bit of that focus. This is the only reason it took me so long to read: I wanted to give it the focus it deserved. Also, I didn't really want it to end.
I rarely give five stars to books; I'm exceedingly particular, but this book is absolutely worthy of them, and Andrea K. Höst has a new fan.
This book was provided to me for free by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
kazemiko's review
4.0
Arianne "Rian" Seaforth was selected to become the next person to serve a vampire lord, though this all goes wrong when she is attacked by a Sphinx. She becomes bound to another vampire who is from London. While in London with her three charges, she discovers who is after her and what it is they are hiding.
Left in her care is a piece of round fulgite, a stone used to power electric devices. There have been rumors of fulgite being haunted and causing automatons to act without being programmed to. One such automaton, a converted mannequin, is left in the care of Rian. It is in its back that she finds this rare, completely round fulgite.
Through a series of strange almost coincidences, she discovers the person she thought responsible was one of the ones trying to help figure out who in fact was the guilty party. This novel combines elements of Greek, Roman, Welsh, Gaelic and Egyptian pantheons together in a way that make it a highly unusual story.
I loved and hated this book. I loved the way it was so original, until I'd read the little bit in the back...I would never have guessed that Prytennia, the country she is from, is modern day Wales. It wasn't exactly obvious when the only two places they mentioned that ANYBODY would know were London and Sweden. And Rutherford University.
This novel is listed as LGBTQIA, but the only hints of it is about 75-80% of the way through when a pair of crushes are mentioned. In both a young woman is crushing on someone of a much higher status than her own and there is very little chance of them getting together. I would not put the LGBTQIA tag on it for that. It's insignificant to the story.
The plot sometimes seems just barely linked together to keep the story going. There were moments when reading it, when I actually felt a headache developing trying to link the various pieces together. The character of Arianne was stiff and I couldn't relate at all to her or her plight. I could not sympathize with her no matter how hard I tried because she was just too closed off. It was like I was trying to get an impression from a picture of a painting. If she had been given more emotion, I probably would have liked her much better.
When Comfrey Makepeace made appearances I wasn't sure if I liked him or not. He seemed the kind that only does things to suit his motives, and not of anyone who's employ he may have been in. I half expected that he was part of the group that was trying to get the fulgite in the beginning.
I rated this book a 4/5 because the I did like the way the story was presented, but not the story itself. I would definitely be recommending it to friends of mine who are interested in alternative history stories and the like. Overall it was a good book and I was glad to have the opportunity to read it, but I would not suggest it to anybody who does not like Roman or Egyptian history.
Left in her care is a piece of round fulgite, a stone used to power electric devices. There have been rumors of fulgite being haunted and causing automatons to act without being programmed to. One such automaton, a converted mannequin, is left in the care of Rian. It is in its back that she finds this rare, completely round fulgite.
Through a series of strange almost coincidences, she discovers the person she thought responsible was one of the ones trying to help figure out who in fact was the guilty party. This novel combines elements of Greek, Roman, Welsh, Gaelic and Egyptian pantheons together in a way that make it a highly unusual story.
I loved and hated this book. I loved the way it was so original, until I'd read the little bit in the back...I would never have guessed that Prytennia, the country she is from, is modern day Wales. It wasn't exactly obvious when the only two places they mentioned that ANYBODY would know were London and Sweden. And Rutherford University.
This novel is listed as LGBTQIA, but the only hints of it is about 75-80% of the way through when a pair of crushes are mentioned. In both a young woman is crushing on someone of a much higher status than her own and there is very little chance of them getting together. I would not put the LGBTQIA tag on it for that. It's insignificant to the story.
The plot sometimes seems just barely linked together to keep the story going. There were moments when reading it, when I actually felt a headache developing trying to link the various pieces together. The character of Arianne was stiff and I couldn't relate at all to her or her plight. I could not sympathize with her no matter how hard I tried because she was just too closed off. It was like I was trying to get an impression from a picture of a painting. If she had been given more emotion, I probably would have liked her much better.
When Comfrey Makepeace made appearances I wasn't sure if I liked him or not. He seemed the kind that only does things to suit his motives, and not of anyone who's employ he may have been in. I half expected that he was part of the group that was trying to get the fulgite in the beginning.
I rated this book a 4/5 because the I did like the way the story was presented, but not the story itself. I would definitely be recommending it to friends of mine who are interested in alternative history stories and the like. Overall it was a good book and I was glad to have the opportunity to read it, but I would not suggest it to anybody who does not like Roman or Egyptian history.
thefourthvine's review
4.0
This is a very, very fun book. One of the two main characters sets out to sell herself (as a -- blood donor to a vampire, no sex involved) as part of her effort to solve the mystery of her brother and sister-in-law; this does not go as planned, and Rian (and her nieces and nephew) are off an adventure that includes mysterious vampires, airships, automata, pyramids, and many factions with assorted interested. It's a romp, a fun mystery-fantasy in a steampunk setting (that manages to avoid a lot of the pitfalls of steampunk, let me add).
Probably what I liked most about this was the voices of both of the point-of-view characters; it's unusual to find a woman in her thirties and girl in her teens as the two narrators, and more unusual for both of them to be very believably their ages, very believably who they are.
Well, no, who am I trying to kid? I really did like the narrative voices, but what totally sold me on the book was the worldbuilding -- the depth of it, the sense of a real history behind it, the feeling that there's a lot more to come. And I liked the novelty of it -- yes, vampires, but not your customary vampire; yes, robots, but unusual robots. I'm a worldbuilding fan first and foremost, so nothing really had a chance to top that.
Basically, this is a compelling, engaging, fun book in a fun world. I hope the rest of the series will be as good; I will certainly be buying the next one as soon as it comes out. (...Or as soon as I notice it's out, anyway.)
Probably what I liked most about this was the voices of both of the point-of-view characters; it's unusual to find a woman in her thirties and girl in her teens as the two narrators, and more unusual for both of them to be very believably their ages, very believably who they are.
Well, no, who am I trying to kid? I really did like the narrative voices, but what totally sold me on the book was the worldbuilding -- the depth of it, the sense of a real history behind it, the feeling that there's a lot more to come. And I liked the novelty of it -- yes, vampires, but not your customary vampire; yes, robots, but unusual robots. I'm a worldbuilding fan first and foremost, so nothing really had a chance to top that.
Basically, this is a compelling, engaging, fun book in a fun world. I hope the rest of the series will be as good; I will certainly be buying the next one as soon as it comes out. (...Or as soon as I notice it's out, anyway.)
adancewithbooks's review
4.0
I was given a free review copy through Netgalley.
The title instantly grabbed my attention as I was browsing through netgalley. The synopsis told me I had to read this. It has so many things in it that catch my attention. Vampires, pyramids and hints of a great world. I was certainly not disappointed.
This book has a very intricate world building. At the start it felt like it was assumed that we, the readers, already knew about the world as not a whole lot was immediately explained. There was enough there thought to keep my interest. Later on things are explained so that the start falls into place more. And I am fairly certain I am in love with what I have grasped of this world so far. But I do think I need to reread the book to be able to grasp the whole world completely.
The world provides an odd mix of steampunk, weather vampires and mythology. There are different countries and they all have their own beliefs. Before hand one could easily say it might not work, but everything is very well thought out. Nothing feels forced in this world. Another thing that stood out to me is how LGBT was normalized. There was no forcing a label on someone. The young girl has a crush and the sex of the other does not matter. I like that a lot.
There was a moment at the start where I wondered if it was going to walk the familiar route of female being bitten by vampire and her being enthralled by him and so on. However it did not go there. I appreciated the response Rian had towards the vampire. Her apprehension throughout most of the book was a normal response to what had happened.
As for the characters I liked Rian and the twins. The vampire and the royal family were very interesting. There are however a lot of characters introduced throughout this book, and though there was never an instance that it became confusing, there was not enough time to delve into some of these characters.
This book could have been a 5 star book for me if I had a better grasp of the world and if I was more attached to the characters. But it is certainly a great start to a series and I can’t wait to read the second book! Which comes out next year. Such a long wait.
The title instantly grabbed my attention as I was browsing through netgalley. The synopsis told me I had to read this. It has so many things in it that catch my attention. Vampires, pyramids and hints of a great world. I was certainly not disappointed.
This book has a very intricate world building. At the start it felt like it was assumed that we, the readers, already knew about the world as not a whole lot was immediately explained. There was enough there thought to keep my interest. Later on things are explained so that the start falls into place more. And I am fairly certain I am in love with what I have grasped of this world so far. But I do think I need to reread the book to be able to grasp the whole world completely.
The world provides an odd mix of steampunk, weather vampires and mythology. There are different countries and they all have their own beliefs. Before hand one could easily say it might not work, but everything is very well thought out. Nothing feels forced in this world. Another thing that stood out to me is how LGBT was normalized. There was no forcing a label on someone. The young girl has a crush and the sex of the other does not matter. I like that a lot.
There was a moment at the start where I wondered if it was going to walk the familiar route of female being bitten by vampire and her being enthralled by him and so on. However it did not go there. I appreciated the response Rian had towards the vampire. Her apprehension throughout most of the book was a normal response to what had happened.
As for the characters I liked Rian and the twins. The vampire and the royal family were very interesting. There are however a lot of characters introduced throughout this book, and though there was never an instance that it became confusing, there was not enough time to delve into some of these characters.
This book could have been a 5 star book for me if I had a better grasp of the world and if I was more attached to the characters. But it is certainly a great start to a series and I can’t wait to read the second book! Which comes out next year. Such a long wait.
prationality's review
3.0
Ok my love of Host's books is pretty well documented. Next to Brandon Sanderson she's auto buy at retail price for me. And this had everything I could want. Egyptian mythology! Vampires! Pyramids and steampunk and London and oh so much.
The problem for me was I didn't particularly like any of the characters. Eluned I liked the best, but even she wore thin on me as the mystery deepened. Part of it I think was because despite being the most reasonable and like their Aunt Arianne (or Rian as she called herself often) she flip flopped between understanding/concerned and distrustful/indifferent.
Full review to be posted
The problem for me was I didn't particularly like any of the characters. Eluned I liked the best, but even she wore thin on me as the mystery deepened. Part of it I think was because despite being the most reasonable and like their Aunt Arianne (or Rian as she called herself often) she flip flopped between understanding/concerned and distrustful/indifferent.
Full review to be posted
panxa's review
4.0
I found the story a little slow to get into, but by the time Rian and the kids joined up, I was well hooked. This is an exciting adventure set in an alternative world that branched off at Hatshepsut's reign, and where gods and magic are real. Because the Egyptian empire has been politically dominant for centuries and presumably because gods can give tangible protection against invasion, white European supremacy isn't so much a thing in this world. And the author shows it in fun little ways throughout the book, such as including Africans and Asians in the ranks of well-know art masters all students learn about and having members of the "British/Prytennia royal family, including a reigning Princess, be people of color. It's also queer friendly, with two main characters having same sex attractions that are clearly normal in this world. And same sex marriage is apparently totally cool in Prytennia, although possibly not in other places. Prytennia does seem to have better civil rights than the other parts of Europe and South East Asia that we hear about. I hope further books show us more of the world, like the Western hemisphere. NA is called Stromruria!
I'm just bummed that the other books in the series aren't out yet, although this one can stand alone. The end of the book leaves you at a good breathing spot without answering all the questions.
I'm just bummed that the other books in the series aren't out yet, although this one can stand alone. The end of the book leaves you at a good breathing spot without answering all the questions.
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