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b3ck's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Animal death, and Violence
lenz's review
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
skylacine's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A masterpiece of fantasy xenofiction. The world-building and these fictional species are superb 👌
The good:
-Great and nuanced characters on both the sides of good and bad. Roup and Arcove are especially well-written antagonists. Sauny was my favorite character.
-Amazing world-building with a lot of thought put into it. Also love the fictional species Hilton came up with. They may not be real but they are well-developed enough to feel real.
-Some slight supernatural elements in the story without it becoming obtrusive. I would count this as a fantasy, but the fantastical elements are rather subtle which I personally like.
-Thylacines (or, at least, thylacine-like creatures named curbs) get some actual representation, big win.
The not-so-good:
-Treace. I don't find him interesting as a villain at all especially compared to how well-written Roup and Arcove are.
-The book does feel a bit lengthy and repetitive at times, I feel it could've been condensed a bit. There's just so many discussions about creasia politics and how the creasia are going to get Storm/the ferryshaft next that it gets boring after a while.
-I found the creasia to be the least interesting of the fictional species, because they're basically "just" big cats (basically an amalgamation of several Earth big cat species), which feels a bit weak compared to the telshees and ferryshaft which are 100% unique. Even the curbs, which could be argued to be simply thylacines, do feel new and unique since they are A) barely ever featured in xenofiction and we know very little about real thylacines anyways and B) there's still unique qualities to them such as multiple subspecies with a unique culture and features to them. The creasia meanwhile mostly operate just as several Earth big cat species do with a few added aspects, not as interesting or unique. Their saving grace really is both Arcove and Roup, by far the most intersting creasia characters in the whole book, otherwise reading so much repetitive creasia stuff probably would've gotten old much, much faster.
The good:
-Great and nuanced characters on both the sides of good and bad. Roup and Arcove are especially well-written antagonists. Sauny was my favorite character.
-Amazing world-building with a lot of thought put into it. Also love the fictional species Hilton came up with. They may not be real but they are well-developed enough to feel real.
-Some slight supernatural elements in the story without it becoming obtrusive. I would count this as a fantasy, but the fantastical elements are rather subtle which I personally like.
-Thylacines (or, at least, thylacine-like creatures named curbs) get some actual representation, big win.
The not-so-good:
-Treace. I don't find him interesting as a villain at all especially compared to how well-written Roup and Arcove are.
-The book does feel a bit lengthy and repetitive at times, I feel it could've been condensed a bit. There's just so many discussions about creasia politics and how the creasia are going to get Storm/the ferryshaft next that it gets boring after a while.
-I found the creasia to be the least interesting of the fictional species, because they're basically "just" big cats (basically an amalgamation of several Earth big cat species), which feels a bit weak compared to the telshees and ferryshaft which are 100% unique. Even the curbs, which could be argued to be simply thylacines, do feel new and unique since they are A) barely ever featured in xenofiction and we know very little about real thylacines anyways and B) there's still unique qualities to them such as multiple subspecies with a unique culture and features to them. The creasia meanwhile mostly operate just as several Earth big cat species do with a few added aspects, not as interesting or unique. Their saving grace really is both Arcove and Roup, by far the most intersting creasia characters in the whole book, otherwise reading so much repetitive creasia stuff probably would've gotten old much, much faster.
frothy's review
5.0
There is nothing better in the world than a long delicious book with a marvellous plot and wonderful engaging complex characters.
At a very high level, this book can be compared with Martha Wells' Raksura books - that is to say, a world with many different people and societies, who are not humans.
They can be considered similar in the same way a curry and a pizza may be considered similar in that both can be eaten for dinner.
Reading this book is one of the good things about 2021 for me.
At a very high level, this book can be compared with Martha Wells' Raksura books - that is to say, a world with many different people and societies, who are not humans.
They can be considered similar in the same way a curry and a pizza may be considered similar in that both can be eaten for dinner.
Reading this book is one of the good things about 2021 for me.
ignescentsky's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
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