Reviews

The Flaw in Logic by S.Y. Thompson

elvang's review

3.0

The Flaw in Logic is an entertaining mash of sci fi and fantasy with gadgets and magic, interplanetary travel and creatures you read in those bedtime stories that made you keep your arms under the covers after lights out.

This story opens with bounty hunter R'cey Hawke sent on a mission to capture a criminal hiding on the non tech planet Triana. When her spacecraft is shot down in Triana airspace R’cey encounters Princess Thalia Dumont who is on a mission of her own. She and her squad of soldiers are searching for a sorcerer able to lift an evil spell cast on her father, King Lotar. The two women soon realize they are on a quest to find the same person and join forces to find this alleged sorcerer. During their quest they are met with one challenge after another with magical and mythical creatures attacking them at every turn. The action is nonstop as are the many realms they pass through. R'cey is attracted to Thalia and her gentle healing magic. Thalia finds strength and a trusted ally in R'cey. Together they must determine who they can trust as they battle friends and foes to succeed in their quest.

I've got mixed feelings about The Flaw in Logic. There is no question Ms. Thompson is a talented storyteller. I loved her last novel Beyond the Garden and was impressed with the author's vivid imagination and world building in that novel. The Flaw in Logic does not feel as polished in comparison to her previous work. It is a great adventure but there are so many events and creatures to deal with that many scenes feel rushed and incomplete. Thalia’s companions on her quest are loyal (more or less) to the princess but are dispatched before the reader has time to appreciate their roles in the story.

Spoiler

at times as fast as Red Shirts in a Star Trek episode

It’s telling when the only characters besides the mains I was drawn to were Thalia’s dragonlet Emerald and the kraken. Both were well done and now I want a dragonlet of my own. I did enjoy how magic manifested as gentle healing power in Thalia in contrast to the surprising magic power R'cey acquires.

The romance takes a back seat to the action in this novel. Both women are attracted to one another but are too busy trying to stay alive to focus on that attraction. This is one book I wish was six hundred pages long instead of less than three hundred to allow the mains more time to bond and give the readers some breathers between battles.

An action packed read to be sure.

ARC received with thanks from Sapphire Books via NetGalley for review

jmanchester0's review

4.0

It's interesting with romances. It's almost like the story merely exists as a mechanism for the romance the author wants to share. Instead of what I'm used to and that the story exists on its own, but there are several things that enhance it (like romance).

Or maybe that the true plot of the story is the romance? And the rest - the story plot, environment, characters, are all supporting characters.

Either way, this was a fun mix of sci fi and fantasy. I liked the characters and enjoyed watching them getting to know each other.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sapphire Books Publishing for a copy in return for an honest review.

frankvanmeer's review

2.0

I have read several books that tried to mix fantasy with science-fiction, and none really worked out (for me). This one is no exception, unfortunately.

The first eight chapters were OK, with R'cey crashing on a backwater planet and dealing with the aftermath. She meets Princess Thalia, who is on a quest to find a cure for her father, the King. The strange thing is that Thalia isn't surprised at all to find an alien woman on her world, and R'cey reluctantly decides to join Thalia on her quest.

So far, so good.

The rest of the book ventures into the fantasy realm, and that's where it all fell apart. It's the standard tale of hardship and fights with all manner of mythical creatures, and R'cey developing powers she just doesn't believe in. The journey involves hostile terrain and fights with Trolls, Harpies, Imps, demons and Witches. I couldn't shake the idea that all these fights and creatures were just there to pad the wordcount. I was also struggling (just as R'cey was) with the idea of these 'standard' creatures on an alien world. Why not use monsters that are specific for that planet?

And why is R'cey developing these powers?

The last couple of chapters were focussed again on the sci-fi part, but I really had lost interest by then.