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oddroad's review
5.0
I got this book through TBRindR which means I got it for free which means nothing as I still will write whatever the fuck I want
Normally I’d start by telling you what kind of book I just read. Here I’d say “Oh that’s a fantasy-book” or maybe I would be more specific and while Symphony of the Wind clearly belongs to some sort of fantasy I’m not so sure on what label to put on it exactly but for now I’ll go with “Fantasy-Resident Evil-Spy Thriller with some Science Fiction”
This probably sounds weird and some of it may be just because of my exposure to certain media but that’s what it felt like.
Here I have to say that the world-building probably too much for some people in the beginning but as soon as that’s out of the way the story starts to pick up speed and never really slows down afterward. So yes the beginning can be overwhelming, confusing and be a bit to much but that allows the rest to breathe a little easier.
As I said too much for some people, I personally like when the world feels like it has a history and thus is a real place I can visit and that is the case here. Dalthea (hope I wrote that right) where most of the book takes place feels real and stays that way except maybe for the Resident Evil inspired stuff. Also I love airships (or ships in any form) in books.
Some of the things the characters (and the reader) knows or get told in the beginning gets challenged throughout the story and I found it very well written as I got that sense of “Aha!” or “Oh crap!” the same way as the characters.
There is very little magic in the story and it only really gets on full display in the final moments as such the magic is very soft and throughout the book you’re sometimes led to believe there is no magic and yes most of it is explained by science and someone never explained why they lead a mage guild and then there is a little bit of magic in the end.
With a book this length (and in this genre) there are quite a few characters so let’s start with something I didn’t like.
The main antagonist never really struck me with a reason as to why he is doing everything or at least I don’t feel as it’s explored enough. He has no pov-chapters but is featured in the conclusion to the book and just seems so off in the midst of all the other characters which are well written (or at least don’t need exploring) and I guess the reasoning of the villain will be enough for some people but I just like my evil a little more human than here.
Serena as one of the main characters happens to be also my favourite in the book. She is an orphan and clearly with green hair born to lead a book but I always felt like she reacted like a real person to events that happened to her. Most of the interactions by characters that are not trained fighters/assassins/military felt very possible an well written (and the others felt like an action movie or game). Serena starts out as a finished character there is little character growth with here but it fits her. She is a resilient girl that can take anything thrown at here and still go on. Throughout the story her view of herself gets challenged and I’d love seen that explored more in the sequel, I don’t want to spoil but not building on her new sense of self or how certain knowledge impacts here would make her feel more shallow than she deserves.
Gallows and Damien are bounty hunters and both deal with their own devils. The problems they face may be typical of male characters in need of growth in fantasy stories but both don’t really feel forced (okay maybe Damien). Especially Gallows while a typical problem to overcome is well written as his hurdles are written in the history of the country and don’t feel so arbitrary because of that.
Most of the side characters are some shade of “tough guy/gal” as you mostly deal with soldiers of some sort or other professions where I can see this type of person working or seeking out that form of employment.
That leaves us with a sometimes pulpy book I can’t put a label on with great characters if the author keeps writing in this way and maybe one tough guy too much that I really enjoyed and I love the mix of different genres I can see inspiring this book.
Normally I’d start by telling you what kind of book I just read. Here I’d say “Oh that’s a fantasy-book” or maybe I would be more specific and while Symphony of the Wind clearly belongs to some sort of fantasy I’m not so sure on what label to put on it exactly but for now I’ll go with “Fantasy-Resident Evil-Spy Thriller with some Science Fiction”
This probably sounds weird and some of it may be just because of my exposure to certain media but that’s what it felt like.
Here I have to say that the world-building probably too much for some people in the beginning but as soon as that’s out of the way the story starts to pick up speed and never really slows down afterward. So yes the beginning can be overwhelming, confusing and be a bit to much but that allows the rest to breathe a little easier.
As I said too much for some people, I personally like when the world feels like it has a history and thus is a real place I can visit and that is the case here. Dalthea (hope I wrote that right) where most of the book takes place feels real and stays that way except maybe for the Resident Evil inspired stuff. Also I love airships (or ships in any form) in books.
Some of the things the characters (and the reader) knows or get told in the beginning gets challenged throughout the story and I found it very well written as I got that sense of “Aha!” or “Oh crap!” the same way as the characters.
There is very little magic in the story and it only really gets on full display in the final moments as such the magic is very soft and throughout the book you’re sometimes led to believe there is no magic and yes most of it is explained by science and someone never explained why they lead a mage guild and then there is a little bit of magic in the end.
With a book this length (and in this genre) there are quite a few characters so let’s start with something I didn’t like.
The main antagonist never really struck me with a reason as to why he is doing everything or at least I don’t feel as it’s explored enough. He has no pov-chapters but is featured in the conclusion to the book and just seems so off in the midst of all the other characters which are well written (or at least don’t need exploring) and I guess the reasoning of the villain will be enough for some people but I just like my evil a little more human than here.
Serena as one of the main characters happens to be also my favourite in the book. She is an orphan and clearly with green hair born to lead a book but I always felt like she reacted like a real person to events that happened to her. Most of the interactions by characters that are not trained fighters/assassins/military felt very possible an well written (and the others felt like an action movie or game). Serena starts out as a finished character there is little character growth with here but it fits her. She is a resilient girl that can take anything thrown at here and still go on. Throughout the story her view of herself gets challenged and I’d love seen that explored more in the sequel, I don’t want to spoil but not building on her new sense of self or how certain knowledge impacts here would make her feel more shallow than she deserves.
Gallows and Damien are bounty hunters and both deal with their own devils. The problems they face may be typical of male characters in need of growth in fantasy stories but both don’t really feel forced (okay maybe Damien). Especially Gallows while a typical problem to overcome is well written as his hurdles are written in the history of the country and don’t feel so arbitrary because of that.
Most of the side characters are some shade of “tough guy/gal” as you mostly deal with soldiers of some sort or other professions where I can see this type of person working or seeking out that form of employment.
That leaves us with a sometimes pulpy book I can’t put a label on with great characters if the author keeps writing in this way and maybe one tough guy too much that I really enjoyed and I love the mix of different genres I can see inspiring this book.
albertmarti's review
2.0
Abandoned at 37%. There is a lot of merit in this book (worldbuilding, interesting characters, action…) but it developed too slowly for me and I gradually lost interest. I’m having a bit of a crisis with fantasy novels lately, with so many 500 plus pages books that demand more energy from the reader than the one they provide.
teri_b's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Well, this was an interesting read. The title sounded promising as did the summary of the story I would encounter.
Then I started reading. Parts of it were intense and all fight and battle and really quite good, then there were other, slower parts, and there the story fell apart for me, as it felt that the author tried to squeeze in as many fantasy tropes he ever could squeeze in, which for me was ways beyond what is sensible for a first book in a series.
And then there came the issue of representation of females/femininity in this book. And I had to find that females only got the traditional roles assigned that a female can have in an utterly male focussed point of view and that is that of wife, virgin or prostitute. And this, tbh, is just too boring.
Then I started reading. Parts of it were intense and all fight and battle and really quite good, then there were other, slower parts, and there the story fell apart for me, as it felt that the author tried to squeeze in as many fantasy tropes he ever could squeeze in, which for me was ways beyond what is sensible for a first book in a series.
And then there came the issue of representation of females/femininity in this book. And I had to find that females only got the traditional roles assigned that a female can have in an utterly male focussed point of view and that is that of wife, virgin or prostitute. And this, tbh, is just too boring.
thejexican18's review against another edition
Never really grabbed my attention. Couldn't get into the characters or world
esop's review
5.0
A really intriguing, exciting steampunk adventure with airships, zombie-esque creatures, political intrigue, and even some monsters. Basically everything you could want in a fantasy adventure can be found in Symphony of the Wind.
I read the prequel novella "The Fury Yet to Come" before reading this book, but they can be read in any order and you're filled in on all the events of the novella throughout this book; given that, I would recommend reading the novella first if you were planning on reading both, so that you aren't reading it knowing everything that happens. I also felt that having the background knowledge of the novella helped flesh out Tyson Gallows' character as I read this book, understanding his reactions and motivations before they were fully revealed.
This was a great start to a new series that I'll surely be keeping up with as new entries are released. McKinnon did a great job of creating a fully-realized and lived-in world, providing plenty of details about Dalthea to transport the reader down to its corrupted streets while sprinkling in bits of history and elements of other regions and cultures to craft a vast, believable world with clashing cultures, countries, and beliefs. The novel basically takes place in one city, and it was fun getting to see a lot of different corners of it in such detail.
The characters are varied and great across the board. We have Tyson Gallows, the main character of the prequel who still suffers from PTSD from its events and spending each day not caring if he lives or dies; Serena, a young girl who wants nothing more than to be part of a Raincatcher crew on an airship but is being sought after by powerful, corrupt people throughout the city; Damien, a highly-trained assassin with warring personalities trying to push him over the edge into becoming a relentless psychopath; and that only scratches the surface of the different points-of-view we get into. Veronica, Tiera, and all the others offer unique perspectives and personalities and motivations that are equally compelling and exciting to watch unfold.
The storyline is complex, with a ton of different threads weaving throughout the book, which did cause a little bit of confusion for me, but it seemed intentional--I was just as in the dark as many of the characters about WHY these events were happening, and by the climax of the book all the different threads converged in an exhilarating, satisfying way.
And the ending really was satisfying, which is not always true in a series. But in the case of Symphony, a lot of the major threads were resolved, while still leaving a handful of questions dangling and setting up what promises to be an exciting adventure in book 2 with a much larger scope.
I read the prequel novella "The Fury Yet to Come" before reading this book, but they can be read in any order and you're filled in on all the events of the novella throughout this book; given that, I would recommend reading the novella first if you were planning on reading both, so that you aren't reading it knowing everything that happens. I also felt that having the background knowledge of the novella helped flesh out Tyson Gallows' character as I read this book, understanding his reactions and motivations before they were fully revealed.
This was a great start to a new series that I'll surely be keeping up with as new entries are released. McKinnon did a great job of creating a fully-realized and lived-in world, providing plenty of details about Dalthea to transport the reader down to its corrupted streets while sprinkling in bits of history and elements of other regions and cultures to craft a vast, believable world with clashing cultures, countries, and beliefs. The novel basically takes place in one city, and it was fun getting to see a lot of different corners of it in such detail.
The characters are varied and great across the board. We have Tyson Gallows, the main character of the prequel who still suffers from PTSD from its events and spending each day not caring if he lives or dies; Serena, a young girl who wants nothing more than to be part of a Raincatcher crew on an airship but is being sought after by powerful, corrupt people throughout the city; Damien, a highly-trained assassin with warring personalities trying to push him over the edge into becoming a relentless psychopath; and that only scratches the surface of the different points-of-view we get into. Veronica, Tiera, and all the others offer unique perspectives and personalities and motivations that are equally compelling and exciting to watch unfold.
The storyline is complex, with a ton of different threads weaving throughout the book, which did cause a little bit of confusion for me, but it seemed intentional--I was just as in the dark as many of the characters about WHY these events were happening, and by the climax of the book all the different threads converged in an exhilarating, satisfying way.
And the ending really was satisfying, which is not always true in a series. But in the case of Symphony, a lot of the major threads were resolved, while still leaving a handful of questions dangling and setting up what promises to be an exciting adventure in book 2 with a much larger scope.
queenterribletimy's review
5.0
Actual rating: 4.5
The full review is available on my blog: starlitbook.com/2018/09/19/symphony-of-the-wind-by-steven-mckinnon/
I've read it as part of SPFBO, however my rating doesn't affect the later results. Check out my SPFBO4 page where you can follow FBR's progress.
I was a bit weary when I started to read Symphony of the Wind. Partly because it’s 660 pages long, and partly because I had no idea what to expect. I probably wouldn’t have picked it if it weren’t for Emma, and while we tend to have similar opinions, that’s not exactly a guarantee. Thankfully this book exceeded my expectations, and wouldn’t be surprised to see it rise in SPFBO this year.
Dalthea is trying to recover after a war in which thousands of people lost their life, most of them thanks to a bomb set off in the bay by the rival kingdom, Idari. Thanks to this, the poison veil hanging over the bay and the destruction made in other places, Dalthea suffers a great loss, the people as well as nature. The land lays barren, and the only source of water comes from rain, produced by the help of Spires which generate storms. It’s the job of the raincatchers to gather the water and bring back to Dalthea where it’s portioned and given to people in exchange of water tokens. Dalthea has a post-war-steam-punk kind of feel to it. This threw me off at the beginning, because couldn’t really decide if it’s novel set in a modern-post-war world, or a 18th century feel steampunk-post-war world. In the end it doesn’t really matter, and the truth is probably somewhere in between. The Spires and the airships – especially the warship Schiehallion – represent “advanced” technology with their complex build. Also, there are Info Towers all around the town informing people about the news in every hour and giving orders in time of need. This aspect reminded me a bit of The Giver for some reason.
The war might be over, but peace is relative. The Prime Minister is pretty adamant on Idari wanting to erase Dalthea off the map, and is not afraid to take desperate measures. Let’s just say, people die in this book. Some have ugly death, some uglier. No one is quite what they seem to be and good luck with keeping up with all the revelations. There are several layers to the plot and I’m not exactly sure I got every nuance, so this one definitely needs a reread at some point. Once you are settled down in the story, and the different plotlines starts to come together, and you think you figured things out, there always will be some kind of twist that will throw you off.
We primarily follow the story through two main characters’ eyes: Serena and Gallows. The former is a 17-year-old orphan girl who works for the raincatcher until an accident happens and things go to hell. She not only ends up neck-deep in a plot against Thackeray (Dalthea’s Prime Minister) and finding out unpleasant truths about her past and heritage. Extra points for McKinnon to use choosing a not so cliché creature! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her in the future. Serena is, well, a quite typical 17-year-old girl, who is headstrong, knows everything better and doesn’t really care about rules. She has a rebel heart which makes her pretty likable. Having a sense of sarcastic humor doesn’t hurt either.
"’Bite your tongue off and swallow it,’ said Serena.
Enfield’s eyes wrenched open.
’Guess it ain’t words, then.’ Serena sounded disappointed."
It’s a pity we don’t spend much time in her POV, especially in the second half of the book, she becomes kind of forgotten with everything. She slowly realises what powers she wields and experiments with it, but we only get glimpses. She has so much more to her though.
The other main character is Gallows, ex-soldier, currently works as a Hunter alongside Damien. Both of them are mysterious, and harbour their own secrets and scars. We learn quite a lot about them during the book. They have rocky friendship, but their bond proves to be strong and the chemistry works well between them.
"’Are you feeling okay?’ asked Damien.
’Fine. You?’
Damien’s voice was coarse like crushed glass when he spoke. ’Somewhat nervous. Treason. Violence. Death. And above all, I can’t remember if I left the stove on.’"
Symphony of the Wind is written in third person, omniscience and besides the main characters, we follow several who each get their POV at some point. Can’t say I’m a fan of this kind of writing, because it makes it hard to connect with characters. And maybe that’s one of my biggest critic for this book: even though I liked the characters and they are really well fleshed out, I just couldn’t get all that invested emotionally. Not saying I didn’t root for them, or hate them with a passion, because oh boy, I did. Pierro and Korvan definitely creeped me out no doubt about it. And Thackeray’s way of thinking… don’t let me start on that. What kind of monster does things like that? He and Hitler probably could have been besties if they knew each other. Besides there were too many POVs sometimes which made the pace a bit dragging at times and while I appreciate that McKinnon tried to show the events from different angles, I could do without some of them. On the positive side, even the side characters have their distinct personalities and I liked them all. Except some of the assholes, but then they weren’t meant to be likeable anyway.
Steven McKinnon is undoubtedly an extremely talented author, who handled the many layers and plotlines very well. The book starts slowly, and it takes about half of the book for the pace to pick up, build up the world and the character arcs. And it does take time because, this world is very well detailed: the religion consists of a handful of gods (I really would like to learn more about this aspect of the world), the kingdom, the society, the way the different guilds and military forces work together. Or not. Anyway, after everything gets in place, there is no stopping. One event follows the next and you can hardly have time to take a breath. What saves the first half of the book is McKinnon’s vivid imagination and fluid writing. A little example:
"Wind forced rubbish to waltz in the street, accompanied by the faint smell of blood. Sharp points of shattered glass in window frames caught sunlight, like threads of a ripped white dress. Funny how the presence of soldiers and coppers made everything less safe."
Or one of my favorite lines which gives back so perfectly the drug addict Buzz’s personality and state of mind:
"And Buzz knew, oh Buzz always knew, he knew it all, pray sweet Songstress, beautiful Musa, God of Music and of Poetry and Bliss."
This book really has everything you might be looking for: secret underground places, monsters, chasing, fighting scenes, ruthless villains, dead bodies, heart wrenching and uplifting moments, and a few unanswered questions which makes you want to read the next installment. Symphony of a Wind is a real roller coaster ride and one which require your full attention to catch everything what’s going on. Personally I was waiting some big twist at the end which didn’t come, but I had so many WTF moments during reading that I don’t really mind. Is Symphony of the Wind perfect? Nope. Do I care? Not really. It is an awesome first book from a debuting fantasy author. One for whom I’ll throw away whatever I’m reading at the moment when he releases his next book.
Symphony of the Wind is intricate, surprising, and doesn’t shy away from giving punches. If you like your fantasy dark, don’t mind if the pace is a bit slower, want to be surprised and don’t see what happens next, you should absolutely check this out!
The full review is available on my blog: starlitbook.com/2018/09/19/symphony-of-the-wind-by-steven-mckinnon/
I've read it as part of SPFBO, however my rating doesn't affect the later results. Check out my SPFBO4 page where you can follow FBR's progress.
I was a bit weary when I started to read Symphony of the Wind. Partly because it’s 660 pages long, and partly because I had no idea what to expect. I probably wouldn’t have picked it if it weren’t for Emma, and while we tend to have similar opinions, that’s not exactly a guarantee. Thankfully this book exceeded my expectations, and wouldn’t be surprised to see it rise in SPFBO this year.
Dalthea is trying to recover after a war in which thousands of people lost their life, most of them thanks to a bomb set off in the bay by the rival kingdom, Idari. Thanks to this, the poison veil hanging over the bay and the destruction made in other places, Dalthea suffers a great loss, the people as well as nature. The land lays barren, and the only source of water comes from rain, produced by the help of Spires which generate storms. It’s the job of the raincatchers to gather the water and bring back to Dalthea where it’s portioned and given to people in exchange of water tokens. Dalthea has a post-war-steam-punk kind of feel to it. This threw me off at the beginning, because couldn’t really decide if it’s novel set in a modern-post-war world, or a 18th century feel steampunk-post-war world. In the end it doesn’t really matter, and the truth is probably somewhere in between. The Spires and the airships – especially the warship Schiehallion – represent “advanced” technology with their complex build. Also, there are Info Towers all around the town informing people about the news in every hour and giving orders in time of need. This aspect reminded me a bit of The Giver for some reason.
The war might be over, but peace is relative. The Prime Minister is pretty adamant on Idari wanting to erase Dalthea off the map, and is not afraid to take desperate measures. Let’s just say, people die in this book. Some have ugly death, some uglier. No one is quite what they seem to be and good luck with keeping up with all the revelations. There are several layers to the plot and I’m not exactly sure I got every nuance, so this one definitely needs a reread at some point. Once you are settled down in the story, and the different plotlines starts to come together, and you think you figured things out, there always will be some kind of twist that will throw you off.
We primarily follow the story through two main characters’ eyes: Serena and Gallows. The former is a 17-year-old orphan girl who works for the raincatcher until an accident happens and things go to hell. She not only ends up neck-deep in a plot against Thackeray (Dalthea’s Prime Minister) and finding out unpleasant truths about her past and heritage. Extra points for McKinnon to use choosing a not so cliché creature! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for her in the future. Serena is, well, a quite typical 17-year-old girl, who is headstrong, knows everything better and doesn’t really care about rules. She has a rebel heart which makes her pretty likable. Having a sense of sarcastic humor doesn’t hurt either.
"’Bite your tongue off and swallow it,’ said Serena.
Enfield’s eyes wrenched open.
’Guess it ain’t words, then.’ Serena sounded disappointed."
It’s a pity we don’t spend much time in her POV, especially in the second half of the book, she becomes kind of forgotten with everything. She slowly realises what powers she wields and experiments with it, but we only get glimpses. She has so much more to her though.
The other main character is Gallows, ex-soldier, currently works as a Hunter alongside Damien. Both of them are mysterious, and harbour their own secrets and scars. We learn quite a lot about them during the book. They have rocky friendship, but their bond proves to be strong and the chemistry works well between them.
"’Are you feeling okay?’ asked Damien.
’Fine. You?’
Damien’s voice was coarse like crushed glass when he spoke. ’Somewhat nervous. Treason. Violence. Death. And above all, I can’t remember if I left the stove on.’"
Symphony of the Wind is written in third person, omniscience and besides the main characters, we follow several who each get their POV at some point. Can’t say I’m a fan of this kind of writing, because it makes it hard to connect with characters. And maybe that’s one of my biggest critic for this book: even though I liked the characters and they are really well fleshed out, I just couldn’t get all that invested emotionally. Not saying I didn’t root for them, or hate them with a passion, because oh boy, I did. Pierro and Korvan definitely creeped me out no doubt about it. And Thackeray’s way of thinking… don’t let me start on that. What kind of monster does things like that? He and Hitler probably could have been besties if they knew each other. Besides there were too many POVs sometimes which made the pace a bit dragging at times and while I appreciate that McKinnon tried to show the events from different angles, I could do without some of them. On the positive side, even the side characters have their distinct personalities and I liked them all. Except some of the assholes, but then they weren’t meant to be likeable anyway.
Steven McKinnon is undoubtedly an extremely talented author, who handled the many layers and plotlines very well. The book starts slowly, and it takes about half of the book for the pace to pick up, build up the world and the character arcs. And it does take time because, this world is very well detailed: the religion consists of a handful of gods (I really would like to learn more about this aspect of the world), the kingdom, the society, the way the different guilds and military forces work together. Or not. Anyway, after everything gets in place, there is no stopping. One event follows the next and you can hardly have time to take a breath. What saves the first half of the book is McKinnon’s vivid imagination and fluid writing. A little example:
"Wind forced rubbish to waltz in the street, accompanied by the faint smell of blood. Sharp points of shattered glass in window frames caught sunlight, like threads of a ripped white dress. Funny how the presence of soldiers and coppers made everything less safe."
Or one of my favorite lines which gives back so perfectly the drug addict Buzz’s personality and state of mind:
"And Buzz knew, oh Buzz always knew, he knew it all, pray sweet Songstress, beautiful Musa, God of Music and of Poetry and Bliss."
This book really has everything you might be looking for: secret underground places, monsters, chasing, fighting scenes, ruthless villains, dead bodies, heart wrenching and uplifting moments, and a few unanswered questions which makes you want to read the next installment. Symphony of a Wind is a real roller coaster ride and one which require your full attention to catch everything what’s going on. Personally I was waiting some big twist at the end which didn’t come, but I had so many WTF moments during reading that I don’t really mind. Is Symphony of the Wind perfect? Nope. Do I care? Not really. It is an awesome first book from a debuting fantasy author. One for whom I’ll throw away whatever I’m reading at the moment when he releases his next book.
Symphony of the Wind is intricate, surprising, and doesn’t shy away from giving punches. If you like your fantasy dark, don’t mind if the pace is a bit slower, want to be surprised and don’t see what happens next, you should absolutely check this out!
barb4ry1's review
3.0
I’m still not sure how I feel about Steven McKinnon’s Symphony of the Wind. An ambitious and gritty epic fantasy series starts here, in the technologically advanced world. People conquered skies and filled them with airships. Different fractions and ethnicities fight for power while citizens suffer. Tormented heroes must stop a conspiracy before the kingdom falls to ruin.
Sounds simple? Well, it isn't. Unless you're a battle-hardened Malazan veteran, that is*. Slowly revealed and nuanced plot with multiple arcs and even more characters requires undivided attention and a trained memory. It's easy to lose track of the secondary characters' motivations and backstories.
The world-building is simply amazing. I have no other words to describe the world, the science, dark magic, monsters and airships. Mind-blowing stuff guys.
McKinnon’s prose is visceral, precise and descriptive, feeling both spare and lush. His pacing varies from breakneck to measured at the beginning of the book. The closer to the end we get the faster it becomes. Near the end, the events told from different POVs flash before our eyes.
Story's characters – flawed, complicated, human – are enormously compelling, and their self-discoveries and betrayals are fascinating to follow. Some of them turn their beliefs into weapons and inflict their will upon others. Others try to remain human despite their urges or conditioning. I can't choose a favourite character, but if you insisted I would probably indicate Damien - poised and cultural psycho-killer and a living weapon. His fight scenes became my instant-favourites.
Both secondary characters and villains feel fully fleshed out as well.
At this stage, some of you may start to wonder why on earth I gave SotW three stars if everything's so exciting?
Let's get to it.
I like multiple third person POV, but switching characters too frequently irks me. McKinnon does it all the time. Too quickly. Sure, there’s no real rule about how long a particular scene should be for any character, but switching back and forth between characters makes the prose confusing.
I loved the world and the story and I was interested in the individual characters but the sheer amount of them and constant jumps between different POV's wore me down.
To be fair, the scenes for each POV are clearly separated. Despite this, I struggled with the story 's structure and abrupt perspective changes. It felt fragmented and unclear. As a result, I started feeling distant and disengaged from its action and characters.
Let's clarify things - McKinnon is an imaginative writer and, paradoxically, this is hurting his ability to tell a convincing story. The writing, as impressive as it is, with its constant perspective changes, just keep getting in the way.
This book has so much awesome stuff that I would love to praise it. But I can't because of the aspects of the book that I can’t handle and that pull the rating down.
* In this case, approach it like a childish puzzle with a twist. Or two.
Disclaimer: I'm one Fantasy Book Critic SPFBO judges, but this review doesn't reflect our collective rating or opinion. It's just my opinion.
Sounds simple? Well, it isn't. Unless you're a battle-hardened Malazan veteran, that is*. Slowly revealed and nuanced plot with multiple arcs and even more characters requires undivided attention and a trained memory. It's easy to lose track of the secondary characters' motivations and backstories.
The world-building is simply amazing. I have no other words to describe the world, the science, dark magic, monsters and airships. Mind-blowing stuff guys.
McKinnon’s prose is visceral, precise and descriptive, feeling both spare and lush. His pacing varies from breakneck to measured at the beginning of the book. The closer to the end we get the faster it becomes. Near the end, the events told from different POVs flash before our eyes.
Story's characters – flawed, complicated, human – are enormously compelling, and their self-discoveries and betrayals are fascinating to follow. Some of them turn their beliefs into weapons and inflict their will upon others. Others try to remain human despite their urges or conditioning. I can't choose a favourite character, but if you insisted I would probably indicate Damien - poised and cultural psycho-killer and a living weapon. His fight scenes became my instant-favourites.
Both secondary characters and villains feel fully fleshed out as well.
At this stage, some of you may start to wonder why on earth I gave SotW three stars if everything's so exciting?
Let's get to it.
I like multiple third person POV, but switching characters too frequently irks me. McKinnon does it all the time. Too quickly. Sure, there’s no real rule about how long a particular scene should be for any character, but switching back and forth between characters makes the prose confusing.
I loved the world and the story and I was interested in the individual characters but the sheer amount of them and constant jumps between different POV's wore me down.
To be fair, the scenes for each POV are clearly separated. Despite this, I struggled with the story 's structure and abrupt perspective changes. It felt fragmented and unclear. As a result, I started feeling distant and disengaged from its action and characters.
Let's clarify things - McKinnon is an imaginative writer and, paradoxically, this is hurting his ability to tell a convincing story. The writing, as impressive as it is, with its constant perspective changes, just keep getting in the way.
This book has so much awesome stuff that I would love to praise it. But I can't because of the aspects of the book that I can’t handle and that pull the rating down.
* In this case, approach it like a childish puzzle with a twist. Or two.
Disclaimer: I'm one Fantasy Book Critic SPFBO judges, but this review doesn't reflect our collective rating or opinion. It's just my opinion.
filipmagnus's review
4.0
Originally published over at booknest.eu for SPFBO 4.
Symphony of the Wind is impressive in its scope, a novel that’s intricate in its characters and ambitious in its worldbuilding; more impressive is the fact that it’s Steven McKinnon’s first self-published book. Ambition, McKinnon certainly does not lack.
The biggest compliment I can throw at McKinnon is this – reading Symphony reminded me of the first time I picked up Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon; the action starts early on and it hardly ever lets up. McKinnon throws us readers deep into a world that feels fully formed though unknown and he’s not afraid to let us sink or swim on our merit. He’s provided the tools to dig deep into a fictional world that runs on ignogen, a material that’s as unstable as enriched uranium; its myriad applications make the dangers of its extraction and use worthwhile, however.
I haven’t read such an interesting twist on steampunk since Senlin Ascends (though no two stories could be less alike). Symphony of the Wind is a story of rebellion, of corruption and the excesses of power and religious zeal but more importantly – of men and women struggling in the dark, attempting to make it out into the light. Thank all things dark and evil that it’s 660 pages, else I don’t know how the author would’ve tackled as much as he did as well as he has.
McKinnon writes well. I tell you, he does! His prose is elegant and visual; reading some of the action scenes in the later half of Symphony was like getting shot after shot of adrenaline right into my spinal cord. One high stakes chase scene in particular, as well as a secondary villain by the name of Pierro, made for a spectacular sequence that had me cheering for heroes Serena and Gallows throughout. And Pierro…rarely have I disliked a large chap as much as this one. I just wish someone smacked his big stupid face with a brick!
Speaking of Pierro, Symphony’s villains are a memorable lot, and one that I loved to hate every step of the way. Again, I’ll draw a parallel with Malazan; none of these bad people are evil for evil’s sake. It’s either fate or purpose or...okay, there’s a pair of villains that’re just led my vainglorious personal ambition and greed for power, as well as an absolute psychopath that’ll give any Resident Evil 2 player a flashback to Mr X, but—BUT—about half the villains of the novel truly believe that what they’re doing is for the best. That’s the stuff of truly memorable fantasy villains.
What didn’t mush quite well enough for?
Gallows, one of our two main PoV characters, was somewhat polarizing. At times, I really liked him but at others, he seemed overwhelmingly judgemental of the behaviour of other characters, or their skills, when he was guilty of similar behaviour or worse. There’s an argument to be made that this makes him more realistic but there was a little something that bugged me about the sudden switch from badass action hero to judgy lad.
Several of the characters and their PoVs played a small enough part that they didn’t leave an impression. It was almost as if their existence were a reason for major protagonists and antagonists to have further connections to one another, reasons to push them further into conflict. I can’t help but feel that McKinnon is compelled to show where every thread of the story eventually goes in detail; sometimes, less is more.
One more thing worth mentioning is, there was something off with the speech of a couple of the characters. Too many ‘reckon’-ings perhaps, a few too many interesting characters given cliched military jargon and other choices in vernacular that were used without nearly enough measure.
From this point onwards, I can only see Steven McKinnon improving. He’s set up a world I’m excited to read more about, characters I want to follow, and though I dislike a few things, these don’t take away from the enormous amount of enjoyment and thrills I got in my time with Symphony of the Wind.
My score for Symphony of the Wind is an 8 out of 10 for SPFBO 4, and 4/5 stars on Goodreads! I can heartily recommend this to:
• Anyone who loves well thought-out fantasy with wonderous world-building;
• Dark stories that’ll get darker;
• How-to guides to nearly successful dictatorships;
• Cool leads, cooler antagonists;
• I’m serious, you’ll just want to punch, claw at and stab all the villains! They’re just so sleazy and nasty, all of them!
• So much excellent action! Gunpowder, treason and plot! Plots. Multiple plots.
• And more! Prob’ly!
Symphony of the Wind is impressive in its scope, a novel that’s intricate in its characters and ambitious in its worldbuilding; more impressive is the fact that it’s Steven McKinnon’s first self-published book. Ambition, McKinnon certainly does not lack.
The biggest compliment I can throw at McKinnon is this – reading Symphony reminded me of the first time I picked up Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon; the action starts early on and it hardly ever lets up. McKinnon throws us readers deep into a world that feels fully formed though unknown and he’s not afraid to let us sink or swim on our merit. He’s provided the tools to dig deep into a fictional world that runs on ignogen, a material that’s as unstable as enriched uranium; its myriad applications make the dangers of its extraction and use worthwhile, however.
I haven’t read such an interesting twist on steampunk since Senlin Ascends (though no two stories could be less alike). Symphony of the Wind is a story of rebellion, of corruption and the excesses of power and religious zeal but more importantly – of men and women struggling in the dark, attempting to make it out into the light. Thank all things dark and evil that it’s 660 pages, else I don’t know how the author would’ve tackled as much as he did as well as he has.
McKinnon writes well. I tell you, he does! His prose is elegant and visual; reading some of the action scenes in the later half of Symphony was like getting shot after shot of adrenaline right into my spinal cord. One high stakes chase scene in particular, as well as a secondary villain by the name of Pierro, made for a spectacular sequence that had me cheering for heroes Serena and Gallows throughout. And Pierro…rarely have I disliked a large chap as much as this one. I just wish someone smacked his big stupid face with a brick!
Speaking of Pierro, Symphony’s villains are a memorable lot, and one that I loved to hate every step of the way. Again, I’ll draw a parallel with Malazan; none of these bad people are evil for evil’s sake. It’s either fate or purpose or...okay, there’s a pair of villains that’re just led my vainglorious personal ambition and greed for power, as well as an absolute psychopath that’ll give any Resident Evil 2 player a flashback to Mr X, but—BUT—about half the villains of the novel truly believe that what they’re doing is for the best. That’s the stuff of truly memorable fantasy villains.
What didn’t mush quite well enough for?
Gallows, one of our two main PoV characters, was somewhat polarizing. At times, I really liked him but at others, he seemed overwhelmingly judgemental of the behaviour of other characters, or their skills, when he was guilty of similar behaviour or worse. There’s an argument to be made that this makes him more realistic but there was a little something that bugged me about the sudden switch from badass action hero to judgy lad.
Several of the characters and their PoVs played a small enough part that they didn’t leave an impression. It was almost as if their existence were a reason for major protagonists and antagonists to have further connections to one another, reasons to push them further into conflict. I can’t help but feel that McKinnon is compelled to show where every thread of the story eventually goes in detail; sometimes, less is more.
One more thing worth mentioning is, there was something off with the speech of a couple of the characters. Too many ‘reckon’-ings perhaps, a few too many interesting characters given cliched military jargon and other choices in vernacular that were used without nearly enough measure.
From this point onwards, I can only see Steven McKinnon improving. He’s set up a world I’m excited to read more about, characters I want to follow, and though I dislike a few things, these don’t take away from the enormous amount of enjoyment and thrills I got in my time with Symphony of the Wind.
My score for Symphony of the Wind is an 8 out of 10 for SPFBO 4, and 4/5 stars on Goodreads! I can heartily recommend this to:
• Anyone who loves well thought-out fantasy with wonderous world-building;
• Dark stories that’ll get darker;
• How-to guides to nearly successful dictatorships;
• Cool leads, cooler antagonists;
• I’m serious, you’ll just want to punch, claw at and stab all the villains! They’re just so sleazy and nasty, all of them!
• So much excellent action! Gunpowder, treason and plot! Plots. Multiple plots.
• And more! Prob’ly!
jamestomasino's review
1.0
DNF. I listened to this from Audible and I'm returning it. The reader chose exttremely odd voices for each of the main characters. They were at odds with the descriptions of their voices, ignored regional accents that were clear in the text itself, and just sounded ridiculous. It then became clear the reader wasn't paying attention to the text at all. He whispered sentences that were "exclaimed". He broke up sentences oddly in the middle because, I can only assume, of a line break. It was just bad.
I suspect this story is decent. I'll have to try again with the text. For now this gets 1 star for the audible version.
I suspect this story is decent. I'll have to try again with the text. For now this gets 1 star for the audible version.
asimab's review
"A bounty hunter with a death wish. A girl with fearsome powers. A kingdom on the brink of destruction". The description caught my attention and I had high expectations but...I just could not force myself to read more than a few pages...I had to drop it as it was making no sense and so many characters were mentioned in such a short span of time.Also the language was not understandable somehow,I don't know why but it didn't seem and feel like normal English.I barely understood the overall happenings but was totally unable to get the details,and so I did not like it basically because I didn't understand it.