Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Immortality Thief by Taran Hunt

4 reviews

_reese__'s review

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

It’s a fun read; mostly just for entertainment though brings up some interesting ethical questions. Overall I’m happy to have read it but nothing to rave about and I’m not on the edge of my seat for the next book despite the cliff hanger. 

A few things:

1) It’s a pet peeve of mine when authors take things exactly as they are from the real world and insert them into sci-fi without changing much besides the name. I understand taking inspiration from the real world but I’d like to see a bit more creativity. For example, in this book the religion centered on “The God who shed Blood for Us”…so basically Catholicism. And Kystrene seems to just be Irish. 

2)
The budding relationship between Sean and Indigo was interesting but after finding out Indigo was the general that lead the battle/mass murder  on Kystrom that wiped out Itaka (the largest city on Kystrom and Sean’s home) , it was kind of ruined for me. The author seems to try to make this ok by having Sean kill Benny so Sean and Indigo together made the people of Itaka extinct (Sean literally says this at the end of chapter 84) but the scale of murder committed but Indigo (it’s literally referred to as a genocide at some point) is no where near comparable to Sean’s killing of Benny. This is especially true considering Sean has repeatedly shown a distaste for killing of any kind (even the monsters that are trying to kill them on the ship) and only kills Benny (unintentionally at that) because he was going to destroy the data needed to save an entire population (the Ministers).


3. Someone else mentioned this in another review but the editing of this book could have been better. I caught a character referring to “degrees Kelvin”…. Just “Kelvin” is the unit of temperature. You only say degrees for Celsius, Rankine, or Fahrenheit.  This is the kind of simple thing I expect to be right in sci-fi, especially if the author got a degree in physics. 
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martinatan's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Despite slow initial pacing that made it difficult to get into the plot, ultimately I came to appreciate the thrilling progression of events interspersed with endearing character moments. I appreciated that the story explored interpersonal and political dynamics with an ultimate message of unity and overcoming difference. I didn’t expect there to be a bio-horror angle but it came together decently and added to the disturbing nature of the setting. This book was not seamless in its plot and worldbuilding, but was still well-written and has a lot of heart.
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renettereads's review

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adventurous dark tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

Uh, so I really enjoyed this story. Seen entirely from pilot, criminal, and linguist Sean Wren’s perspective, this book starts out as a not-so-voluntary data-salvaging mission that soon turns into a sort of ‘space race’ for a stone that promises immortality. 

Pacy with complex characters, this soft sci-fi novel was so compelling and readable thanks to Sean’s easy manner. Even when the book bordered on horror - cue gruesome monsters and confined spaces - his voice was a lighthouse. Although seen from his point of view, you do get a real in-depth understanding of the two other characters he meets along the way and that sort of development really pulled me into the story. I also love the idea of found family and some of the bonds forged in this book felt really special. 

Parts of this were definitely tense, others scary (I’m a wimp, sue me) but it was also deeply moving and really raised a lot of questions about the importance of human connection and morality. It’s adventurous, it’s bold, it’s high-stakes, and although I saw a couple of twists coming, there were some that I did not predict. I’m excited to see where Sean, Indigo and Tamara go from here and can’t wait to see what manner of impossible gets thrown at them next. 

Thanks to Rebellion and NetGallery for the eARC.
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boojumssnark's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This review is a place holder for a properly thought out, constructive review. 

While I work on that, the only thing you need to know is THE BOOK IS GOOD, YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ IT.
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