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suzjustsuz's review
3.0
2.5 to 2.75 stars
There was too much exposition in this book to keep me engaged, until the last 10% or so of the story when the characters were allowed to have more than a line or two of dialog.
It's an interesting premise, the living gods and how they interact with the populations they claim. I wasn't crazy about the delivery, though.
There was too much exposition in this book to keep me engaged, until the last 10% or so of the story when the characters were allowed to have more than a line or two of dialog.
It's an interesting premise, the living gods and how they interact with the populations they claim. I wasn't crazy about the delivery, though.
robothugs's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
An interesting fantasy story in an interesting world. Lots of world building, with an compelling blend of technology and magic. While the book blurb describes itself as 'sensuous' I think I'd describe the tone as more 'sexual' - that is, a lot of sexual things are described in weird moments, but I didn't find it erotic, it was just...described sex things. A lot of cocks stiffen, nipples harden, erections erect, pudendums are flashed (sigh) but only a few scenes seemed intended to be erotic, the rest was just this constant background of sexualized bodies, practically described. It wasn't bad all the time, but it was weird.
There is violent sexual assault described in this book in some detail.
There is violent sexual assault described in this book in some detail.
thekalebrussell's review
It'd be wrong of me to give this book anything less than two stars. This not a bad book, not in the slightest. The writing is excellent and world Jernigan has created is darkly weird and visceral with a ton of fascinating elements such as mages who can travel into outer space and mystical martial arts. No Return is a fine mix of epic fantasy and science fiction. My only problem was with the pacing and the abrupt ending. The novel started out well, but was bogged down by this long journey that slowed the pace and the plot was going nowhere. I lost interest at that point. Although I did not enjoy this as much as I hoped I would, I'd strongly urge readers not to ignore this book.
myxomycetes's review
4.0
Successfully blends Moebius, Jack Kirby, Todd Macfarlane’s Spiderman, Brian Aldiss, and the advertisements for the weirder RPG settings you used to see in the back of Dragon magazine. (The Empire of the Petal Throne, Talislanta, Jorune, and Dark Sun.) It’s fun. It’s short. It’s worth checking out.
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