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sofia_casanova's review against another edition
2.0
You can find this review on my blog.
Disclaimer: Netgalley gave me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating: 1.5/5.
Wings Unseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell sounded quite intriguing. Fantasy is a genre I tend to orbit around and I was keen to be immersed in a new fantasy world. I did enjoy some parts of the book and I though the magic was pretty cool, but overall I was rather disappointed.
First off, the aspects of magic and religion were interesting.
I enjoyed Farrell’s ideas of a female god and the forces of magic working together in this society she’s created. However, there was a lack of context or explanation when necessary. I understand that in fantasy we’re usually left to fill in the gaps ourselves, but these gaps were too wide and it was hard for me to comprehend what was happening in some moments. I did enjoy the use of magic towards the end of the book more so.
The characters have specific voices, which was great in guiding the story across three perspectives.
Wings Unseen features three voices: Janto, the heir to the throne; Serra, the prince’s betrothed; and Vesperi, the daughter of a Meduan lord. I had a lot of hope for these characters considering the trials they were about to face, but there were inconsistencies with their development and I found the short and quick shifts between them to be jarring. Their development was better towards the end though, and I particularly liked reading Serra’s perspective. Also, a couple of the plot directions and changing relationships added an element of surprise I enjoyed.
The lack of world-building and descriptions was frustrating.
It could be because there was no map, but I found this world to be completely messy and confusing. There wasn’t much in regards to orienting the reader with the land, or longer descriptions about the Meduans, the Lanserim and the other races. The politics between these countries was also left to the imagination.
Basically, this book is in need of further polishing as quite a few sections were convoluted. I had to reread many sections to fully understand what was occurring simply because sentences were too long or descriptions were confusing. An example of a description I questioned is: “Uzziel waved the club so lustily that he drooled.”
Furthermore, the opening chapter simply does not work. It will either turn readers away or leave them confused. Upon reading, it felt like walking into the middle of Game of Thrones season 2 and being expected to know the politics, relationships and issues within the world. Also, it is marketed to young adults, yet some sections feel like they were closer to New Adult, whereas other parts catered to more Middle Grade. It was all over the place and I found it difficult to pinpoint the audience.
Overall, Wings Unseen has an interesting story that would benefit from more descriptions about the world itself and polishing of the text so it’s more comprehensive for the reader. Farrell has created some really cool characters and I would love to see them fleshed out more and given longer sections for us as readers to settle in. The use of magic and religion was also fascinating and it would be great to see this with some more explanation or context.
Disclaimer: Netgalley gave me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating: 1.5/5.
Wings Unseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell sounded quite intriguing. Fantasy is a genre I tend to orbit around and I was keen to be immersed in a new fantasy world. I did enjoy some parts of the book and I though the magic was pretty cool, but overall I was rather disappointed.
First off, the aspects of magic and religion were interesting.
I enjoyed Farrell’s ideas of a female god and the forces of magic working together in this society she’s created. However, there was a lack of context or explanation when necessary. I understand that in fantasy we’re usually left to fill in the gaps ourselves, but these gaps were too wide and it was hard for me to comprehend what was happening in some moments. I did enjoy the use of magic towards the end of the book more so.
The characters have specific voices, which was great in guiding the story across three perspectives.
Wings Unseen features three voices: Janto, the heir to the throne; Serra, the prince’s betrothed; and Vesperi, the daughter of a Meduan lord. I had a lot of hope for these characters considering the trials they were about to face, but there were inconsistencies with their development and I found the short and quick shifts between them to be jarring. Their development was better towards the end though, and I particularly liked reading Serra’s perspective. Also, a couple of the plot directions and changing relationships added an element of surprise I enjoyed.
The lack of world-building and descriptions was frustrating.
It could be because there was no map, but I found this world to be completely messy and confusing. There wasn’t much in regards to orienting the reader with the land, or longer descriptions about the Meduans, the Lanserim and the other races. The politics between these countries was also left to the imagination.
Basically, this book is in need of further polishing as quite a few sections were convoluted. I had to reread many sections to fully understand what was occurring simply because sentences were too long or descriptions were confusing. An example of a description I questioned is: “Uzziel waved the club so lustily that he drooled.”
Furthermore, the opening chapter simply does not work. It will either turn readers away or leave them confused. Upon reading, it felt like walking into the middle of Game of Thrones season 2 and being expected to know the politics, relationships and issues within the world. Also, it is marketed to young adults, yet some sections feel like they were closer to New Adult, whereas other parts catered to more Middle Grade. It was all over the place and I found it difficult to pinpoint the audience.
Overall, Wings Unseen has an interesting story that would benefit from more descriptions about the world itself and polishing of the text so it’s more comprehensive for the reader. Farrell has created some really cool characters and I would love to see them fleshed out more and given longer sections for us as readers to settle in. The use of magic and religion was also fascinating and it would be great to see this with some more explanation or context.
waclements7's review against another edition
3.0
The description of this book was really intriguing. General plot can be found in description of the book; I don't need to hash it out here.
What I found extremely frustrating was the lack of world building, which stood out more in the first half than the second. Taking a bunch of made-up names for creatures and countries without really giving descriptions of them is confusing and frustrating. Especially to have regular things like butter and apricots thrown in. It's sort of like starting to watch Game of Thrones in Season 3 without having seen the first two seasons, but at least there you have visuals to guide you.
It would help a lot if there were a map.
But, on the plus side, once I started to keep the characters straight, it is a good, compelling story, and it did keep me reading to the end. I appreciate the fact it wasn't a cliffhanger ending very much. The ending may have been a little easy, but the characters went through a lot. I really liked that the characters grew as the book progressed. I'm normally not very interested in religion as an agent of change (although it really could be argued that the religion was really a means of better introspection in the grand scheme of ones place in the world). I was genuinely surprised by one of the characters whose role seemed uncertain. I did like Enjoin and the concept of different "planes" of existence.
The thing that really bothered me the most was the lack of world building, but I think by the second half I just paid attention to the characters and didn't let it get to me as much.
Early Reviewers ARC copy from publisher.
What I found extremely frustrating was the lack of world building, which stood out more in the first half than the second. Taking a bunch of made-up names for creatures and countries without really giving descriptions of them is confusing and frustrating. Especially to have regular things like butter and apricots thrown in. It's sort of like starting to watch Game of Thrones in Season 3 without having seen the first two seasons, but at least there you have visuals to guide you.
It would help a lot if there were a map.
But, on the plus side, once I started to keep the characters straight, it is a good, compelling story, and it did keep me reading to the end. I appreciate the fact it wasn't a cliffhanger ending very much. The ending may have been a little easy, but the characters went through a lot. I really liked that the characters grew as the book progressed. I'm normally not very interested in religion as an agent of change (although it really could be argued that the religion was really a means of better introspection in the grand scheme of ones place in the world). I was genuinely surprised by one of the characters whose role seemed uncertain. I did like Enjoin and the concept of different "planes" of existence.
The thing that really bothered me the most was the lack of world building, but I think by the second half I just paid attention to the characters and didn't let it get to me as much.
Early Reviewers ARC copy from publisher.
shatari's review against another edition
2.0
I received an arc copy of Wings Unseen from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating 1.5 stars.
The cover and blurb got me interested in reading this book. There are different POV's which worked well, particularly for a fantasy setting. There is a lot going on when the story starts, which makes it quite confusing to work out what is going on and who everyone is. Due to this, I only read to about the 20% mark, and then skim read the rest. This is currently classed as young adult, but there was some content and language here that would make me uncomfortable recommending it to teens e.g. the use of the "c" word.
The author has created an interesting world and magic system, but it feels like it needs stronger editing to make it easier to read.
Actual rating 1.5 stars.
The cover and blurb got me interested in reading this book. There are different POV's which worked well, particularly for a fantasy setting. There is a lot going on when the story starts, which makes it quite confusing to work out what is going on and who everyone is. Due to this, I only read to about the 20% mark, and then skim read the rest. This is currently classed as young adult, but there was some content and language here that would make me uncomfortable recommending it to teens e.g. the use of the "c" word.
The author has created an interesting world and magic system, but it feels like it needs stronger editing to make it easier to read.
daphneereads's review against another edition
2.0
Wings Unseen by Rebecca Gomez Farrell was excruciatingly slow. It had great potential but it was lost in way too many details and nonsense. The characters were all pretty boring, except Vesperi who had a good overall character evolution. I wouldn’t waste my time for this one. I almost DNF’ed a couple of times.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free ebook.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free ebook.
themaliciousreader's review against another edition
3.0
*3.5 Stars*
I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
How to summarize this?.........
Welcome to Lansera and Medua. These two places used to be one before they were separated, putting the bad people in Medua and the nice ones in Lansera.
Veseri lives in Medua. She’s the daughter of Lord Sewyll. As a woman in Medua, she has no rights. She basically belongs to her father and should be spending her days in the kitchen with all the other women.
But Vesperi doesn’t like to keep her mouth shut and do what’s expected of her, and her father, to keep her out of his hair gives her “some freedom”. It actually helps that Veseri can reduce someone to ashes with just a wave of her fingers; though no one but her knows it.
In Lansera, the prince, Janto, is about to get married to Serra but first, he has to go do his Murat (some kind of weird ritual thing that make boys grow into men I guess?).
As she waits for her betrothed to come back from his Murat, Serra is asked to go to a convent of sorts, where she finds out she has a weird ass destiny.
Our three characters turn out to be linked in more ways than one and have to find a way to get along to save the world and shit.
I mostly enjoyed this. I had A LOT of trouble getting into it but once I was, I had a great time and flew through the chapters.
The characters were well painted and even if it took me some time to get attached to both Serra and Janto, they grew on me.
At first, I was living for the Vesperi chapters who I immediately fell for. But I found them to be too rare and short.
There were a couple clichés but they didn’t really bother me.
What did bother me was that the romance was central to the story but seemed rushed; like it was just an afterthought. I didn’t really feel what the characters were supposed to feel…
All in all, a classic-ish story set in an interesting but enraging world with loveable characters.
I was provided an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
How to summarize this?.........
Welcome to Lansera and Medua. These two places used to be one before they were separated, putting the bad people in Medua and the nice ones in Lansera.
Veseri lives in Medua. She’s the daughter of Lord Sewyll. As a woman in Medua, she has no rights. She basically belongs to her father and should be spending her days in the kitchen with all the other women.
But Vesperi doesn’t like to keep her mouth shut and do what’s expected of her, and her father, to keep her out of his hair gives her “some freedom”. It actually helps that Veseri can reduce someone to ashes with just a wave of her fingers; though no one but her knows it.
In Lansera, the prince, Janto, is about to get married to Serra but first, he has to go do his Murat (some kind of weird ritual thing that make boys grow into men I guess?).
As she waits for her betrothed to come back from his Murat, Serra is asked to go to a convent of sorts, where she finds out she has a weird ass destiny.
Our three characters turn out to be linked in more ways than one and have to find a way to get along to save the world and shit.
I mostly enjoyed this. I had A LOT of trouble getting into it but once I was, I had a great time and flew through the chapters.
The characters were well painted and even if it took me some time to get attached to both Serra and Janto, they grew on me.
At first, I was living for the Vesperi chapters who I immediately fell for. But I found them to be too rare and short.
There were a couple clichés but they didn’t really bother me.
What did bother me was that the romance was central to the story but seemed rushed; like it was just an afterthought. I didn’t really feel what the characters were supposed to feel…
All in all, a classic-ish story set in an interesting but enraging world with loveable characters.
marie_thereadingotter's review
2.0
Review:
I received this book from NetGalley for review.
Welp, that was the most confusing book I have read all year.
I don't know if I can call it "bad" outright, as there were some things that I did like about the book, yet the plot as a whole felt a little underwhelming. The opening felt like the middle of the book rather than an opening. None of the characters in the first few chapters really grabbed me they were all fairly flat. Vesperi was interesting in the opening, but her sections of the book were not what I was expecting in a YA book, I don't mind reading content like that but I just don't expect it from YA.
The writing was just okay in my opinion. It took far too long for the "big bad" to show up, and I had already started to not care how things turned out at that point. The politics were a little confusing, and the world building was a little weak beyond not covering the politics the way they should have been.
It took me a long time to get through this book, and I must say that I don't really remember details of what happened, things started to blur together at some point.
I received this book from NetGalley for review.
Welp, that was the most confusing book I have read all year.
I don't know if I can call it "bad" outright, as there were some things that I did like about the book, yet the plot as a whole felt a little underwhelming. The opening felt like the middle of the book rather than an opening. None of the characters in the first few chapters really grabbed me they were all fairly flat. Vesperi was interesting in the opening, but her sections of the book were not what I was expecting in a YA book, I don't mind reading content like that but I just don't expect it from YA.
The writing was just okay in my opinion. It took far too long for the "big bad" to show up, and I had already started to not care how things turned out at that point. The politics were a little confusing, and the world building was a little weak beyond not covering the politics the way they should have been.
It took me a long time to get through this book, and I must say that I don't really remember details of what happened, things started to blur together at some point.
sarabook's review
2.0
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wings Unseen drew me in with an interesting blurb and attractive cover (I'm all about the cover love). Warring nations, magic and the promise of some badass characters is a sure fire win for me. But unfortunately I don't think the story quite matched up to the blurb. The first few chapters were really confusing, and I couldn't keep track of all the characters and their names. I think this was down in part because of the chopping between so many characters for each chapter. If we'd stayed with one character for more than one chapter I probably wouldn't have felt so disorientated at the beginning.
I enjoyed the magic, but felt the world building was a bit lacking and again confusing. There was little description describing the politics of the lands and about the different cultures/races. I wanted to know more about the people populating these lands.
Vesperi was my favourite character, but even she came across as a little bit more sullen and bad tempered than badass.
All together, a good concept that falls flat a little in execution.
Wings Unseen drew me in with an interesting blurb and attractive cover (I'm all about the cover love). Warring nations, magic and the promise of some badass characters is a sure fire win for me. But unfortunately I don't think the story quite matched up to the blurb. The first few chapters were really confusing, and I couldn't keep track of all the characters and their names. I think this was down in part because of the chopping between so many characters for each chapter. If we'd stayed with one character for more than one chapter I probably wouldn't have felt so disorientated at the beginning.
I enjoyed the magic, but felt the world building was a bit lacking and again confusing. There was little description describing the politics of the lands and about the different cultures/races. I wanted to know more about the people populating these lands.
Vesperi was my favourite character, but even she came across as a little bit more sullen and bad tempered than badass.
All together, a good concept that falls flat a little in execution.
hauntedbybooks's review
4.0
This was a very interesting fantasy. The characters are what really stood out to me. I really liked that we got different points of view. The beginning of the book I struggled getting interested in the story. But a few chapters into the book I was hooked. I had to see how it ended! Overall, I enjoyed this book.
ruthsic's review
2.0
Reading that blurb, I was very interested in this book. A multi-POV fantasy novel set in a different world with a unique belief system and an ancient prophecy that involves the protagonists - that is a concept I am fond of. But you know why I gave this book 2 stars? Because it disappointed me in all the points that I judge fantasy books on. It took me 10 days(!) to finish this 320 page book, which I felt was a lie because this felt like reading 600+ pages to me. I kid you not, I checked TWICE to confirm that it is indeed 320 pages (since I have an e-copy to read). Even 600 page novels haven't dragged on as much as this one has, and I hate it.
Firstly, remember that unique fantasy world I was excited about? Well, I would have appreciated it a lot more if I knew what meant what. Within the first quarter of the novel itself, concepts, peoples and characters are dropped en masse, expecting the reader to know what they mean or who they are. And yes, I went to check whether it really was the first book of the series and I am not missing some important exposition somewhere. There is no glossary for the terms at the end, either! If you are going to introduce your own made-up words, at least give readers the courtesy of telling what they are through a glossary if not through the story. Basically, I was lost 50% of the time while reading this novel (the other 50% I was skimming through the text, but I'm getting to that soon)
The characters are, in a word, boring. Farrell tries to make them more than one-dimensional, but that effort fizzles out pretty soon. Vesperi felt like she might have some interesting POV to read through, but in second half it is mostly berating herself for becoming soft and blaming the Lanserims. Janto and Serra are yawn-inducing - honestly, if I was Vesperi, I would have smoked them into ashes a few days in. And then the plot tries a love triangle with these three, never mind that there was never any development on either side. I mean, I see how it would make sense (as a reader ruminating on the possibilities of the direction of the plot) but there is no actual plot to support it. Time jumps everywhere, so one scene Serra is nearly attacking Vesperi and a few pages later, she is comforting her. Character development, RIP, because your ghost did all that stuff in lost off-page time.
And as much as I crib about things missing from the book, I still don't understand how this managed to be so long. It is a conundrum. I can't distinctly remember what exactly made it so long, besides a vague recollection of some rite of passage, a bizarre initiation, some half-hearted backstory, and a ridiculous plan to take down a kingdom. The writing was also - uh, weird, is all I can say; when I try to visualize the scenes (as I often do), it became difficult to do so. The scenes were choppy, with no flow and the ending left me confused - WHAT ABOUT THE CLAREN? (I almost swore at this point) By the time the epilogue rolled around, I was like - what the heck, just end this book! Not picking up the sequel, because one confusing book was enough for me.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Meerkat Press, via Netgalley.
Firstly, remember that unique fantasy world I was excited about? Well, I would have appreciated it a lot more if I knew what meant what. Within the first quarter of the novel itself, concepts, peoples and characters are dropped en masse, expecting the reader to know what they mean or who they are. And yes, I went to check whether it really was the first book of the series and I am not missing some important exposition somewhere. There is no glossary for the terms at the end, either! If you are going to introduce your own made-up words, at least give readers the courtesy of telling what they are through a glossary if not through the story. Basically, I was lost 50% of the time while reading this novel (the other 50% I was skimming through the text, but I'm getting to that soon)
The characters are, in a word, boring. Farrell tries to make them more than one-dimensional, but that effort fizzles out pretty soon. Vesperi felt like she might have some interesting POV to read through, but in second half it is mostly berating herself for becoming soft and blaming the Lanserims. Janto and Serra are yawn-inducing - honestly, if I was Vesperi, I would have smoked them into ashes a few days in. And then the plot tries a love triangle with these three, never mind that there was never any development on either side. I mean, I see how it would make sense (as a reader ruminating on the possibilities of the direction of the plot) but there is no actual plot to support it. Time jumps everywhere, so one scene Serra is nearly attacking Vesperi and a few pages later, she is comforting her. Character development, RIP, because your ghost did all that stuff in lost off-page time.
And as much as I crib about things missing from the book, I still don't understand how this managed to be so long. It is a conundrum. I can't distinctly remember what exactly made it so long, besides a vague recollection of some rite of passage, a bizarre initiation, some half-hearted backstory, and a ridiculous plan to take down a kingdom. The writing was also - uh, weird, is all I can say; when I try to visualize the scenes (as I often do), it became difficult to do so. The scenes were choppy, with no flow and the ending left me confused - WHAT ABOUT THE CLAREN? (I almost swore at this point) By the time the epilogue rolled around, I was like - what the heck, just end this book! Not picking up the sequel, because one confusing book was enough for me.
Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review from Meerkat Press, via Netgalley.
willdrown's review
3.0
Wings Unseen is a debut novel by Rebecca Gomez Farrell about a kingdom that is prophecied to be saved by three heroes: a slayer, a seer, and a weapon. And, as the unlikely characters come together and submit to the pressure of destiny, a rather standard but well-executed plot unfolds.
The setting is Lansera, once huge, now split into Medua, which is dying under the tyranny of religious fanatics and oppression the likes of which you only see on the evening news. There are no doubts about morality here, Meduans are portrayed as horrible people that treat women like furniture, flay friends for fun (a good alliterative pastime is always key!), and are just evil in general.
Lanserim, though, are kind, welcoming, and would never run around and hurt you, unless it's for the prophecy.
As strange occurences fill the land three POV characters have to come together: Janto, a gentle prince; Serra, his betrothed; and Vesperi, a mean young woman, whose whole life was miserable, because everybody in Medua is miserable because Medua is evil.
This is some pretty typical genre fare with a few Chosen Ones, magical creatures (a silver stag!), and some reaaaally basic look at gender roles (Lanserim treat women the way like people, Meduans treat them like North Korean government treats North Koreans, no deep musings there). But it's written competently, it's not overly long, and the action, while surprisingly sparse, is always fun. It is quite impressive, though, just how easily Farrell does three different, distinct characters.
The problems are present as well, though.
A) The characters are varied, the POVs are barely so. Once the trio converges it gets increasingly tough to tell who is leading the chapter as everybody gets pretty equal "screen time", so it doesn't really feel vital to give each character separate chapters.
B) The fourth POV, which was so brief, inconsequential, and aimless that one would be forgiven to see it slip their mind at the end of the book. See, about halfway through we get 2-3 chapters from the perspective of some villain mook. These do nothing to humanize him, they don't progress the plot in some unique way, and they definitely didn't justify their existence. Trimming those would do wonders for the book, especially considering that his plotline could barely even be classified as such.
C) The ending is super rushed. Farrell spends about 20% of the book setting up the world with dozens of new phrases and names, as well as namechecking events that are never expanded on (not that they needed to be). Because of all this worldbuilding the start of the book feels more like a chore. This is remedied rather fast as Janto's Murat begins, but up to that point it's all quite dreary. This leads to the problematic pace at the climax, as the "big battle" takes up less space than Serra's mind-numbing adventures with the Brothers. There is barely any true lead-up as the characters just suddenly go "BTW, let's go visit this place and save the world, yeah?". This robs the climax of some gravitas and makes it seem as if the book was mean to be longer/split into two novels. Either way, unfortunate, as the climax itself is fun, if formulaic.
D) The lovestories were a tad unnecessary, honestly. Especially that of Serra, she seemed just fine without it and tacking it on as an epilogue just seems kind of disrespectful to the character.
Overall, this is nothing extraordinary, but if you're a fantasy fan itching for a well-executed stand-alone novel that won't take up too much of your time - give this a try!
The setting is Lansera, once huge, now split into Medua, which is dying under the tyranny of religious fanatics and oppression the likes of which you only see on the evening news. There are no doubts about morality here, Meduans are portrayed as horrible people that treat women like furniture, flay friends for fun (a good alliterative pastime is always key!), and are just evil in general.
Lanserim, though, are kind, welcoming, and would never run around and hurt you, unless it's for the prophecy.
As strange occurences fill the land three POV characters have to come together: Janto, a gentle prince; Serra, his betrothed; and Vesperi, a mean young woman, whose whole life was miserable, because everybody in Medua is miserable because Medua is evil.
This is some pretty typical genre fare with a few Chosen Ones, magical creatures (a silver stag!), and some reaaaally basic look at gender roles (Lanserim treat women the way like people, Meduans treat them like North Korean government treats North Koreans, no deep musings there). But it's written competently, it's not overly long, and the action, while surprisingly sparse, is always fun. It is quite impressive, though, just how easily Farrell does three different, distinct characters.
The problems are present as well, though.
A) The characters are varied, the POVs are barely so. Once the trio converges it gets increasingly tough to tell who is leading the chapter as everybody gets pretty equal "screen time", so it doesn't really feel vital to give each character separate chapters.
B) The fourth POV, which was so brief, inconsequential, and aimless that one would be forgiven to see it slip their mind at the end of the book. See, about halfway through we get 2-3 chapters from the perspective of some villain mook. These do nothing to humanize him, they don't progress the plot in some unique way, and they definitely didn't justify their existence. Trimming those would do wonders for the book, especially considering that his plotline could barely even be classified as such.
C) The ending is super rushed. Farrell spends about 20% of the book setting up the world with dozens of new phrases and names, as well as namechecking events that are never expanded on (not that they needed to be). Because of all this worldbuilding the start of the book feels more like a chore. This is remedied rather fast as Janto's Murat begins, but up to that point it's all quite dreary. This leads to the problematic pace at the climax, as the "big battle" takes up less space than Serra's mind-numbing adventures with the Brothers. There is barely any true lead-up as the characters just suddenly go "BTW, let's go visit this place and save the world, yeah?". This robs the climax of some gravitas and makes it seem as if the book was mean to be longer/split into two novels. Either way, unfortunate, as the climax itself is fun, if formulaic.
D) The lovestories were a tad unnecessary, honestly. Especially that of Serra, she seemed just fine without it and tacking it on as an epilogue just seems kind of disrespectful to the character.
Overall, this is nothing extraordinary, but if you're a fantasy fan itching for a well-executed stand-alone novel that won't take up too much of your time - give this a try!
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