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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
When billionaire tech genius Harris Lang decided to prove the old saying about sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic his team built something truly amazing. Insula Mirabilis is everything a fantasy nerd could want, with puzzles and questing and legendary creatures. Or at least, it will be provided someone can put a stop to the managerial mutiny before the army steps in. For that, Lang calls in a team of mercenaries and Professor Addison Cox, a literature professor and expert in the tropes of fantasy games. An expert, and Lang’s secret weapon against one of the mutineers, her former fiancé, chief designer Dominic Brand. Addie will need to keep a sharp eye out and lean on years of experience with games like Insula Mirabilis is meant to offer if she wants to end the mutiny before the whole island is lost to chaos.
Questland is a book I picked up as much because of author Carrie Vaughn as for the idea of a literature professor and a group of mercenaries having to retake a fantasy theme park island from the people who designed it. I do admit, I love that concept though. I find that I am having something of a hard time talking about how I feel about it though, so this might ramble a bit.
The entire concept of Insula Mirabilis is one that I would love to see explored further. Here is this island theme park with a full fantasy game quest set up across three different realms. It has aspects that very clearly pulled from familiar pop culture, something that Addie noted and that it felt like she came close to digging into. This is a fantasy theme park with actual unicorns and a sphinx and magic rings, and going into more of it would have been complete fan service and broken away from the plot completely but I find that that does not leave me wanting to know more any less for knowing it. I found myself wanting to dig into where everything came from and how things were implemented. It makes Insula Mirabilis the kind of place I want to visit even as Addie notes that seeing the behind the scenes stuff takes something out of it for her.
I found myself with mixed feelings while reading Questland. On the one hand, I wanted to see more, to have things slow down a bit and for more random encounters to happen to show off what was being built on the island and more of each area. On the other hand, It could not have slowed down much due to the short timeline the characters have to get everything solved before the military moves in, that pace has to be kept up so that the threat of failure and something worse happening to the mutineers is still looming. I think I would have also liked to have seen more build up to some of the stuff seen in the climax, of the sort of four dimensional chess game going on between Harris Lang and Dominic Brand. Which is funny, because I could have also dealt with less of Brand.
Vaughn is an author I keep coming back to again and again because I like her writing, and a big part of that ongoing enjoyment is her characters. Addie was a blend of clever and overly excitable that left me wanting to invite her to join my Friday night game and shake her by turns. The mercenaries that she is working with to try and stop the mutiny are solid side characters, with clear personalities and their own reactions to both the setting and Addie. Torres especially, since he is the lead mercenary, but also a special note to Almonte and Rucker. Despite them being purposely separate from the fantasy of Insula Mirabilis, I found myself enjoying them. The differences in the three mutineers and the sections of the island they had chosen for themselves had some fun ideas that I, again, mostly wish I had seen more of. Dominic Brand is the exception to this. Vaughn does a fantastic job with characters who are just the wrong side of pushy and over confident, the ones who take that to a creepy worrisome place, and Dominic sits square in that character type.
Questland is very much a standalone title, but I still found myself hoping for more of it somewhere later on. I enjoyed the setting and the characters and have no real complaints about it beyond some weirdness at the climax of the story that I wish had been a bit better set up. For me, it more than earns a four out of five. Definitely give it a read if you get the chance.
This book was provided to me through netGalley for honest review. Review was previously posted at https://tympestbooks.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/questland/
Questland is a book I picked up as much because of author Carrie Vaughn as for the idea of a literature professor and a group of mercenaries having to retake a fantasy theme park island from the people who designed it. I do admit, I love that concept though. I find that I am having something of a hard time talking about how I feel about it though, so this might ramble a bit.
The entire concept of Insula Mirabilis is one that I would love to see explored further. Here is this island theme park with a full fantasy game quest set up across three different realms. It has aspects that very clearly pulled from familiar pop culture, something that Addie noted and that it felt like she came close to digging into. This is a fantasy theme park with actual unicorns and a sphinx and magic rings, and going into more of it would have been complete fan service and broken away from the plot completely but I find that that does not leave me wanting to know more any less for knowing it. I found myself wanting to dig into where everything came from and how things were implemented. It makes Insula Mirabilis the kind of place I want to visit even as Addie notes that seeing the behind the scenes stuff takes something out of it for her.
I found myself with mixed feelings while reading Questland. On the one hand, I wanted to see more, to have things slow down a bit and for more random encounters to happen to show off what was being built on the island and more of each area. On the other hand, It could not have slowed down much due to the short timeline the characters have to get everything solved before the military moves in, that pace has to be kept up so that the threat of failure and something worse happening to the mutineers is still looming. I think I would have also liked to have seen more build up to some of the stuff seen in the climax, of the sort of four dimensional chess game going on between Harris Lang and Dominic Brand. Which is funny, because I could have also dealt with less of Brand.
Vaughn is an author I keep coming back to again and again because I like her writing, and a big part of that ongoing enjoyment is her characters. Addie was a blend of clever and overly excitable that left me wanting to invite her to join my Friday night game and shake her by turns. The mercenaries that she is working with to try and stop the mutiny are solid side characters, with clear personalities and their own reactions to both the setting and Addie. Torres especially, since he is the lead mercenary, but also a special note to Almonte and Rucker. Despite them being purposely separate from the fantasy of Insula Mirabilis, I found myself enjoying them. The differences in the three mutineers and the sections of the island they had chosen for themselves had some fun ideas that I, again, mostly wish I had seen more of. Dominic Brand is the exception to this. Vaughn does a fantastic job with characters who are just the wrong side of pushy and over confident, the ones who take that to a creepy worrisome place, and Dominic sits square in that character type.
Questland is very much a standalone title, but I still found myself hoping for more of it somewhere later on. I enjoyed the setting and the characters and have no real complaints about it beyond some weirdness at the climax of the story that I wish had been a bit better set up. For me, it more than earns a four out of five. Definitely give it a read if you get the chance.
This book was provided to me through netGalley for honest review. Review was previously posted at https://tympestbooks.wordpress.com/2021/06/23/questland/
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book includes a fun nostalgia of generic fantastical themes combined with modern day social dynamics. Main character development was engaging.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Carrie Vaughn delivers an unexpected delight with this science and technology mash-up that makes fantasy a reality. Now, don't get me wrong, this is not a science and technology detailed book. It is a world set sometime in the near future where science and technology have made the creation of a fantasy world possible.
Have you ever wanted to pet a dragon, complete a real quest (like in D & D, or Lord of the Rings)? Professor Addie Cox did. As a means to escape the real world traumas, Addie long ago threw herself into the worlds of Live Action Role Play (LARP), D & D, and more. Even becoming a Literature Professor to have the opportunities to teach the great fiction and fantasy novels. When she is given the opportunity to travel to an island where fantasy meets reality to help them regain control of a mutiny, she can't help herself.
Future vacation spot where Ren Faire, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and many more world mesh into one real living experience, Insula Mirabilis should have been a refuge. But internal power struggles during the island creation and development lead to mutiny that has resulted in deaths. Now, Addie has been drafted to help infiltrate the island, navigate the fantasy, and regain control.
Have you ever wanted to pet a dragon, complete a real quest (like in D & D, or Lord of the Rings)? Professor Addie Cox did. As a means to escape the real world traumas, Addie long ago threw herself into the worlds of Live Action Role Play (LARP), D & D, and more. Even becoming a Literature Professor to have the opportunities to teach the great fiction and fantasy novels. When she is given the opportunity to travel to an island where fantasy meets reality to help them regain control of a mutiny, she can't help herself.
Future vacation spot where Ren Faire, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and many more world mesh into one real living experience, Insula Mirabilis should have been a refuge. But internal power struggles during the island creation and development lead to mutiny that has resulted in deaths. Now, Addie has been drafted to help infiltrate the island, navigate the fantasy, and regain control.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Elevator pitch: Ready Player One, but for the fantasy geeks who spent way too much time playing Kings Quest and Myst and watching LOTR.
Our narrator/heroine may be female, but it's painfully apparent that the underlying fantasy tropes are very white and male. (Cringe.)
Our narrator/heroine may be female, but it's painfully apparent that the underlying fantasy tropes are very white and male. (Cringe.)
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A pretty mediocre read. Almost wish it was a little worse so I could have just DNF'd instead I stuck around for a very lackluster ending. Not worth your time.