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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4 stars
May Contain Spoilers
I love these Tor novellas. There are times when I'm in the mood for a shorter read, because of time constraints or frame of mind, but I still want something that feels meaty. These novellas hit the spot every time. Brother's Ruin is a magical steampunk adventure with a feisty heroine who puts herself in harm's way again and again to save her family.
Charlotte is living a lie. She's secretly earning a wage as an illustrator, and her latest commission is a sensational hit. Her deeper, darker secret is that she's a mage, and she's been keeping her abilities a secret from everyone but her sickly brother. That's against the law. When her father is convinced that Benjamin is gifted in the magical arts and contacts the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts so he can be tested, Charlotte is frantic with worry. When it's learned that her father made a false report, he'll be imprisoned. In order to keep him safe, Charlotte determines that she must interfere with Ben's tests and make it look like he's much more powerful than he really is. She'll have to do this with utmost caution, because she doesn't want to be imprisoned for keeping her own magic a secret.
Now, Charlotte's father might be a nice guy and all, but he certainly isn't a smart one. After getting into a financial pickle, he takes out a loan from an unsavory lending company. When he can't pay back the loan, the debt collectors are knocking on the family's door. Good thing for her father that Charlotte intercepts the final demand letter and takes matters into her own hands, revealing an operation responsible for the deaths of more than a few of their customers.
Brother's Ruin very nicely sets up an interesting world where Charlotte will have the opportunity to have many more adventures. With her new mentor, she is guaranteed to get into trouble time and again. Whether or not her dreams of a happy, if uneventful, life married to the boring, earnest George becomes a reality is yet to be seen. I'm really looking for to spending more time with Charlotte and Hopkins. Despite the short length, this story was packed with intrigue, danger, and very tense situations Charlotte has to use both her brains and her magic, to emerge from unscathed. There is some nice world building, and I am want to learn more about the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts. These guys don't seem to be on the up and up.
May Contain Spoilers
I love these Tor novellas. There are times when I'm in the mood for a shorter read, because of time constraints or frame of mind, but I still want something that feels meaty. These novellas hit the spot every time. Brother's Ruin is a magical steampunk adventure with a feisty heroine who puts herself in harm's way again and again to save her family.
Charlotte is living a lie. She's secretly earning a wage as an illustrator, and her latest commission is a sensational hit. Her deeper, darker secret is that she's a mage, and she's been keeping her abilities a secret from everyone but her sickly brother. That's against the law. When her father is convinced that Benjamin is gifted in the magical arts and contacts the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts so he can be tested, Charlotte is frantic with worry. When it's learned that her father made a false report, he'll be imprisoned. In order to keep him safe, Charlotte determines that she must interfere with Ben's tests and make it look like he's much more powerful than he really is. She'll have to do this with utmost caution, because she doesn't want to be imprisoned for keeping her own magic a secret.
Now, Charlotte's father might be a nice guy and all, but he certainly isn't a smart one. After getting into a financial pickle, he takes out a loan from an unsavory lending company. When he can't pay back the loan, the debt collectors are knocking on the family's door. Good thing for her father that Charlotte intercepts the final demand letter and takes matters into her own hands, revealing an operation responsible for the deaths of more than a few of their customers.
Brother's Ruin very nicely sets up an interesting world where Charlotte will have the opportunity to have many more adventures. With her new mentor, she is guaranteed to get into trouble time and again. Whether or not her dreams of a happy, if uneventful, life married to the boring, earnest George becomes a reality is yet to be seen. I'm really looking for to spending more time with Charlotte and Hopkins. Despite the short length, this story was packed with intrigue, danger, and very tense situations Charlotte has to use both her brains and her magic, to emerge from unscathed. There is some nice world building, and I am want to learn more about the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts. These guys don't seem to be on the up and up.
Review originally published here
I got this as an eARC from NetGalley and was extremely excited because the setting sounded fantastic! Steampunk Victorian London with magic? Count me in!
The story follows that of Charlotte who is gifted with strong magical powers however she has been hiding them due to the fact that in their society, mages are “bought” by the colleges and are then trained and no longer have their own freedom. Charlotte doesn’t wish this to be her future and so she hides her magic. Unfortunately, at one point it is noticed and blamed on her brother. The penalties for false reporting are high and their family are desperate for money so Charlotte uses her powers to aid her brother in the mage tests so that not only will her secret remain safe, but they will receive a higher price for her brother.
During all this however, there are events going on in the background involving rogue mages and Charlotte becomes entangled with these while attempting to help her father out of his debt.
The story itself was really great and I enjoyed the strong sibling bond and found Charlotte a fantastic character. Through the tests, we were given glimpses of the different schools of magic and a brief idea of the society that they lived in. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and definitely felt that the author had created a rich, vibrant world. The characters were all well written too and had their own agendas which were interesting to see and figure out.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and it was one that I didn’t want to end. It’s a great introduction to a fantastic world and I’m eagerly awaiting the next in the series.
I got this as an eARC from NetGalley and was extremely excited because the setting sounded fantastic! Steampunk Victorian London with magic? Count me in!
The story follows that of Charlotte who is gifted with strong magical powers however she has been hiding them due to the fact that in their society, mages are “bought” by the colleges and are then trained and no longer have their own freedom. Charlotte doesn’t wish this to be her future and so she hides her magic. Unfortunately, at one point it is noticed and blamed on her brother. The penalties for false reporting are high and their family are desperate for money so Charlotte uses her powers to aid her brother in the mage tests so that not only will her secret remain safe, but they will receive a higher price for her brother.
During all this however, there are events going on in the background involving rogue mages and Charlotte becomes entangled with these while attempting to help her father out of his debt.
The story itself was really great and I enjoyed the strong sibling bond and found Charlotte a fantastic character. Through the tests, we were given glimpses of the different schools of magic and a brief idea of the society that they lived in. I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and definitely felt that the author had created a rich, vibrant world. The characters were all well written too and had their own agendas which were interesting to see and figure out.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and it was one that I didn’t want to end. It’s a great introduction to a fantastic world and I’m eagerly awaiting the next in the series.
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
Brother's Ruin was a wonderful short book and a great start to the Industrial Magic series, which kept myself asking only one thing: Where/When can I get the next one? and Is it going to be a full length book? (Okay, these are in fact multiple things but certainly show my enthusiasm).
It had everything in it to make it a very nice read for me. Set in a Victorian England with a Royal Society which enlists everyone with magical abilities, I knew from the start I was going to like it. The Gunns have fallen on some hard times, as a good price is paid for a talented mage, their worries seem to be over when their son Ben seems to develop magical abilities. He's eager to try out, but what he doesn't know is that he's not the mage, his sister is, and she's been hiding it for years.
I was surprised at how much story fitted in the limited amount of pages this book has. Still, I would have loved to see it as a full length novel. The scene was set nicely, and you can see Charlotte struggling between the desire to keep herself safe (and her life predictable) and helping her family. I'm extremely looking forward to the next novel. I would certainly recommend it.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Brother's Ruin was a wonderful short book and a great start to the Industrial Magic series, which kept myself asking only one thing: Where/When can I get the next one? and Is it going to be a full length book? (Okay, these are in fact multiple things but certainly show my enthusiasm).
It had everything in it to make it a very nice read for me. Set in a Victorian England with a Royal Society which enlists everyone with magical abilities, I knew from the start I was going to like it. The Gunns have fallen on some hard times, as a good price is paid for a talented mage, their worries seem to be over when their son Ben seems to develop magical abilities. He's eager to try out, but what he doesn't know is that he's not the mage, his sister is, and she's been hiding it for years.
I was surprised at how much story fitted in the limited amount of pages this book has. Still, I would have loved to see it as a full length novel. The scene was set nicely, and you can see Charlotte struggling between the desire to keep herself safe (and her life predictable) and helping her family. I'm extremely looking forward to the next novel. I would certainly recommend it.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I love the twist towards the end. Hooray for another series with a lead female character who does magic!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I basically sat down and smashed through this in a single afternoon, so whatever else I have to say about this, it's extremely readable. (As one would expect; Emma Newman knows her business.)
For most of the book, I was sure I was going to have negative things to say about its length, because for the first two-thirds it is absolutely smashing through stuff - establishing world and characters and relationships and tensions - that I really do feel would have benefited from being more fulsomely and gently introduced (around a novel-length plot, for instance). But then in its last third it is such a perfect setup for a longer series. This is almost more a pilot episode than a novella. And it sets up so many interesting things, and now I'm just annoyed that there only seems to be one sequel.
However, that smashing-through-stuff does no favours to anything. The relationships are largely flimsy, save that between Charlotte and Magus Hopkins, which is wild and contradictory. The world is fascinating and rich and truly intriguing, but delivered jerkily and bluntly. There's just so much more in the crevices of this, wrinkled up to fit a smaller space. It's been done really, really well, which honestly just makes me wish it had been allowed to be fully sized and that quality.
Anyway, I'll definitely be adding the sequel to read.
For most of the book, I was sure I was going to have negative things to say about its length, because for the first two-thirds it is absolutely smashing through stuff - establishing world and characters and relationships and tensions - that I really do feel would have benefited from being more fulsomely and gently introduced (around a novel-length plot, for instance). But then in its last third it is such a perfect setup for a longer series. This is almost more a pilot episode than a novella. And it sets up so many interesting things, and now I'm just annoyed that there only seems to be one sequel.
However, that smashing-through-stuff does no favours to anything. The relationships are largely flimsy, save that between Charlotte and Magus Hopkins, which is wild and contradictory. The world is fascinating and rich and truly intriguing, but delivered jerkily and bluntly. There's just so much more in the crevices of this, wrinkled up to fit a smaller space. It's been done really, really well, which honestly just makes me wish it had been allowed to be fully sized and that quality.
Anyway, I'll definitely be adding the sequel to read.
It is wondrous just how much world building Emma Newman is able to do within the pages of this novella. The world and its characters feel fleshed out and make perfect sense. It is awesome. Wrapped inside that world is the start of a fascinating story with people that are easy to understand. I am excited to read more.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quick and easy to read, but sort of lacking substance? Definitely my least favourite of Newman's books that I've read.
Really enjoyed this story but gah, this era was suffocating for women! I hope Charlotte gets to kick some male arse in book 2!