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lindzy's review
4.0
Original Review Here
Flotsam was an enjoyable, tense and mystical story that often had me wondering what on earth (or, not!) was going to happen next.
Talis is a captain and a scavenger. She and her crew risk their lives to obtain the junk caught in Peridot’s gravitational field. She’ll fight if that is what is needed and doesn’t shy away from violence. But she wants answers, and she wants to be paid. More than anything, she wants to make sure she delivers to her crew what she promised them.
I liked Talis from the start. She’s a bold captain but she’s vulnerable: she’s human. She fears she can’t offer her crew enough and she’s terrified when it all starts to go wrong. She doubts, she hopes, she loves and she fights. It was easy to warm to her character and root for her; she’s in over her head but is determined to make it right.
The rest of the crew were also likeable. Sophie with her love for the ship. I wanted more of Tisker – his backstory intrigues me and his pilot ability is second-to-none. Dug is loyal but has his own demons – and Talis is about to test how far his loyalty goes.
I could spend ages talking about the aliens, the AI life-forms, the Gods, the epic-space-battles. Or I could tell you to go and read the book for yourself!
The more I think about it, the more I realise how many layers there are to this book. It questions how far you are prepared to put your belief in something: the Gods are worshipped (it’s Dug’s core), but can the characters accept their idols are fallible? That they aren’t as good and pure as Talis and her crew believed? What are you left fighting for when your gods have been destroyed (literally) in front of you?
It’s also about sacrifice and love. When the main battle rages, Talis and co are on the outskirts. They are in danger and have to deal with some pretty hectic problems. But they aren’t rushing around firing cannons. I was more concerned for them afterwards, when they have to find their reserves and see if they can make it to safety. The violence wasn’t the crux of the story; working together to solve the problem was. Really rather satisfying!
The world was easy enough to get a grip on. Meran – the AI – left me confused though; I couldn’t work out the extent of her powers or what she wanted. Then again, I was in the same position as the characters there. There was also a lack of closure with her character.
With enjoyable characters, an interesting setting and a plot that was about more than fighting for survival, Flotsam was an entertaining read with just enough tension to keep me gripped.
Flotsam was an enjoyable, tense and mystical story that often had me wondering what on earth (or, not!) was going to happen next.
Talis is a captain and a scavenger. She and her crew risk their lives to obtain the junk caught in Peridot’s gravitational field. She’ll fight if that is what is needed and doesn’t shy away from violence. But she wants answers, and she wants to be paid. More than anything, she wants to make sure she delivers to her crew what she promised them.
I liked Talis from the start. She’s a bold captain but she’s vulnerable: she’s human. She fears she can’t offer her crew enough and she’s terrified when it all starts to go wrong. She doubts, she hopes, she loves and she fights. It was easy to warm to her character and root for her; she’s in over her head but is determined to make it right.
The rest of the crew were also likeable. Sophie with her love for the ship. I wanted more of Tisker – his backstory intrigues me and his pilot ability is second-to-none. Dug is loyal but has his own demons – and Talis is about to test how far his loyalty goes.
I could spend ages talking about the aliens, the AI life-forms, the Gods, the epic-space-battles. Or I could tell you to go and read the book for yourself!
The more I think about it, the more I realise how many layers there are to this book. It questions how far you are prepared to put your belief in something: the Gods are worshipped (it’s Dug’s core), but can the characters accept their idols are fallible? That they aren’t as good and pure as Talis and her crew believed? What are you left fighting for when your gods have been destroyed (literally) in front of you?
It’s also about sacrifice and love. When the main battle rages, Talis and co are on the outskirts. They are in danger and have to deal with some pretty hectic problems. But they aren’t rushing around firing cannons. I was more concerned for them afterwards, when they have to find their reserves and see if they can make it to safety. The violence wasn’t the crux of the story; working together to solve the problem was. Really rather satisfying!
The world was easy enough to get a grip on. Meran – the AI – left me confused though; I couldn’t work out the extent of her powers or what she wanted. Then again, I was in the same position as the characters there. There was also a lack of closure with her character.
With enjoyable characters, an interesting setting and a plot that was about more than fighting for survival, Flotsam was an entertaining read with just enough tension to keep me gripped.
yuna's review against another edition
3.0
2.5* but I'll bump to 3 because I think it had potential.
This book reminded me a lot of [b:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|22733729|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)|Becky Chambers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405532474s/22733729.jpg|42270825], which I was also so-so on. I liked that this book had a more linear plot (but more on plot later because it was...messy) and didn't feel episodic the way Long Way did for me. But, what I loved about Long Way was the tight-knit crew and the character interactions. That was missing for me in Flotsam. It tried, but pretty much from the get go that we meet the crew, they're defying or questioning everything the captain, Talis, does. So, it made Talis's musing about how Dug is her BFF and the crew is family and she's got to do right by them etc feel a bit less than genuine. This wasn't Mal and Jayne posturing a la Firefly, it was as if Zoe got in Mal's face every time he made a decision, and had no camaraderie. Or if Kaylee constantly held the threat of leaving her Captain Tightpants over his head, and confronted him all the time over how to run his ship and btw she'd do a better job. So, no crew chemistry for me, and when it tried to build a backstory for them it felt forced.
I liked the plot at first, but by the end there were too many Big Bads all maneuvering for power and I'd long since gotten action fatigue. As much as alchemy was brought up, I never got a sense that it factored into the story. Re: messy plot-- Gods v. Aliens v. Secret Society v. Angry Planet.
The ending is abrupt. I know this is the start of a trilogy or series, but there was zero closure for me. It just ends with everything kinda shitty.
For all that there was always stuff happening (perhaps a bit too much), and this isn't an overly long book (not sure why GR has it listed as 500+ because my paperback was <400), it felt like it could've used a bit more judicious editing. In particular, some of the descriptions of settings/people get really long.
This book reminded me a lot of [b:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|22733729|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)|Becky Chambers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405532474s/22733729.jpg|42270825], which I was also so-so on. I liked that this book had a more linear plot (but more on plot later because it was...messy) and didn't feel episodic the way Long Way did for me. But, what I loved about Long Way was the tight-knit crew and the character interactions. That was missing for me in Flotsam. It tried, but pretty much from the get go that we meet the crew, they're defying or questioning everything the captain, Talis, does. So, it made Talis's musing about how Dug is her BFF and the crew is family and she's got to do right by them etc feel a bit less than genuine. This wasn't Mal and Jayne posturing a la Firefly, it was as if Zoe got in Mal's face every time he made a decision, and had no camaraderie. Or if Kaylee constantly held the threat of leaving her Captain Tightpants over his head, and confronted him all the time over how to run his ship and btw she'd do a better job. So, no crew chemistry for me, and when it tried to build a backstory for them it felt forced.
I liked the plot at first, but by the end there were too many Big Bads all maneuvering for power and I'd long since gotten action fatigue. As much as alchemy was brought up, I never got a sense that it factored into the story. Re: messy plot-- Gods v. Aliens v. Secret Society v. Angry Planet.
The ending is abrupt. I know this is the start of a trilogy or series, but there was zero closure for me. It just ends with everything kinda shitty.
For all that there was always stuff happening (perhaps a bit too much), and this isn't an overly long book (not sure why GR has it listed as 500+ because my paperback was <400), it felt like it could've used a bit more judicious editing. In particular, some of the descriptions of settings/people get really long.
joreadsbooks's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reread in January 2022
Read a NetGalley eARC
Content warning: deicide, dismemberment, murder
Read a NetGalley eARC
Content warning: deicide, dismemberment, murder
I had the opportunity to read the original release of Flotsam when it had been under Parvus Press. But in February 2022, the book is being re-released with Robot Dinosaur Press. There have been a few updates in the prose, but largely the story has stayed the same.
It’s the same delightful steampunk meets first contact story about a pirate ship in search of a magic ring which may or may not throw the balance of magic and godhood off in search of power.
Upon revisiting, and perhaps this had been part of the revision, but the world-building is so clear. Between five factions worshipping five gods, plus the literal alien invaders are very easy to keep track of, even without the map at the beginning. The world is also queer norm, with things like pronouns and different relationship structures totally standard within the world. It’s refreshing and allows for focus on the wider stakes at hand.
The characters also remain fun and complex, with greater attention given to the smaller details. Sophie remains my favorite, but the relationship between Dug, Tisker, and Talis remain so much stronger. I also greatly appreciated Hankirk’s presence as a kind of antagonist, though certainly not the big bad. The chaos in the entire last quarter of the narrative is so wonderfully calculated. Seeing all the characters come together and play to their strengths and against their mistakes is so much fun. Truly swashbuckling while taking advantage of its unique position with one foot in science fiction and the other in fantasy. It’s balanced so excellently and truly a treat.
Once again, a fun romp across a fantasy land with steampunk mechanics and frightening cosmic consequences.
Once again, a fun romp across a fantasy land with steampunk mechanics and frightening cosmic consequences.
*-*-*
If you watched Treasure Planet as a kid and wanted to see the same energy for adults in book form, Flotsam will be right up your alley. Captain Talis takes on a mysterious contract to make sure her crew can eat and survive, but this requisition of a ring opens up an entire can of worms that includes aliens and maybe even killing some gods.
The pacing of this book is so fun. The line from skyward treasure hunt to saving the world goes on some amazing curves. There is enough space between the big action set pieces so that we can really get to know the characters (Sophie is my personal favorite). Speaking of the action, there is a fantastic split between airships and close-quarters encounters. Though most of it takes place in the sky, it has the same familiarity as sea battles in other books.
That's what makes this book work so well: the leaning into genre conventions of fantasy and space opera in ways where neither outshines the other. Theodore introduces enough magic to ground this piece as a fantasy, with enough technology to add unique bits of world-building. The ship even becomes a character on its own.
Great for folks who like queer characters, airships, pirates, coffee, quests, and encounters of an alien and god kind.
theknightswhosaybook's review against another edition
3.0
*I received an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review*
Review: 2.5 stars. Okay, so Flotsam is... interesting. (Aka the start of every "conflicted feelings" review)
I have to say, I started off pretty impressed. The world of Peridot is really cool, from a planet made up of thousands of floating islands that's currently in the midst of an alien encounter to there being five different types of humans with various strange additions (extra arms or feathers, for example) to the airships that are used for travel because there's no real ocean in this world. And the worldbuilding only got more interesting as the book went on, exploring the concept of mortal gods and what interstellar travel would mean to a place like Peridot.
The plot also included several interesting plot twists, so there are definitely parts of the plot I look back on favorably. Others, not so much. There were a few scenes that seemed like they were supposed to be action-packed and dramatic but because they basically amounted to longwinded accounts of maneuvering air ships around they just... weren't. I remember thinking at one point that the chase scene I just read felt like an account of two snails racing each other — both slow and irrelevant. Not to mention, in the biggest battle of the story the main character does very little, and everyone basically watches this one other character does all the important things. At that point you sort of want the author to just make that character the main one and be done with it.
The other place I feel Flotsam fell flat was with the characters. The main crew and such were reasonably developed, but I think you can tell that I don't feel a whole lot of excitement about them; they were pretty average. Mostly I think the problem is that while I can see each character's individual personality, I can't really see their bond as a crew. While we see how they each interact individually with Talis, their captain and the main character, the group dynamic just isn't there.
I was also disappointed with a few aspects where I feel Peridot's awesome, original worldbuilding reverted to predictable scifi tropes. The little we see of the Bone people and their islands (the Bone are Black (and the Cutters are also PoC, at least if I'm remembering correctly)) are just very... "barbaric punishments and also a desert?", aka pretty much like every barbaric country that just happens to be the country full of Black people in every fantasy/scifi book ever. Again, it might just be because we don't see enough of their floating islands to see a nuanced view of their culture, but it feels tired. I hope the Bone get a more in depth treatment in the sequel.
There's also another one of the human races (the Vein) that are blind, and appear to have the ~magical ability to sense everything around them even though they can’t see~ that every single blind character in fantasy/scifi does. The author could have done something way cooler and original by not using that old trope and instead focusing more on what kind of accommodations would develop for blind people in a strange world like Peridot, in my opinion.
And yet, for all these criticisms, I still would like to know where the story is going in the sequel (mostly because after that ending, I honestly can't predict where).
Previous update:
I'm almost going to cry <3 I had some real complaints about this book's handling of a nonbinary character's pronouns that made me rate this lower originally, but I've just been informed that the publisher is taking this seriously into consideration and making some kind of change! I'm so glad they're willing to really listen and adjust, and I'm glad that I can now add this to my nonbinary characters shelf without the embarrassment of that character being misgendered the whole time. While I don't know what pronouns the author will eventually go with, I have faith that the adjustments made are going to be much more sensible.
Full review on the actual book content/plot/characters to come, but I wanted to adjust my official rating to 3 stars and make a note that I have a lot more faith in Parvus publishing now, and I'm so happy they reconsidered.
Another update (latest edit): I wanted to add a quick note here after getting another email from the publisher! It seems the author is going with xi/xin/xist pronouns for Scrimshaw for the final version of the book, without the misgendering that occurred in the draft arc. To clarify for anyone who is wondering whether they should read this for nonbinary representation: Scrimshaw is an alien, and a secondary character, so xi is not the focus of the book; I'm just glad to know that anyone who picks up this book in the future will get a nonbinary character treated with respect.
Review: 2.5 stars. Okay, so Flotsam is... interesting. (Aka the start of every "conflicted feelings" review)
I have to say, I started off pretty impressed. The world of Peridot is really cool, from a planet made up of thousands of floating islands that's currently in the midst of an alien encounter to there being five different types of humans with various strange additions (extra arms or feathers, for example) to the airships that are used for travel because there's no real ocean in this world. And the worldbuilding only got more interesting as the book went on, exploring the concept of mortal gods and what interstellar travel would mean to a place like Peridot.
The plot also included several interesting plot twists, so there are definitely parts of the plot I look back on favorably. Others, not so much. There were a few scenes that seemed like they were supposed to be action-packed and dramatic but because they basically amounted to longwinded accounts of maneuvering air ships around they just... weren't. I remember thinking at one point that the chase scene I just read felt like an account of two snails racing each other — both slow and irrelevant. Not to mention, in the biggest battle of the story the main character does very little, and everyone basically watches this one other character does all the important things. At that point you sort of want the author to just make that character the main one and be done with it.
The other place I feel Flotsam fell flat was with the characters. The main crew and such were reasonably developed, but I think you can tell that I don't feel a whole lot of excitement about them; they were pretty average. Mostly I think the problem is that while I can see each character's individual personality, I can't really see their bond as a crew. While we see how they each interact individually with Talis, their captain and the main character, the group dynamic just isn't there.
I was also disappointed with a few aspects where I feel Peridot's awesome, original worldbuilding reverted to predictable scifi tropes. The little we see of the Bone people and their islands (the Bone are Black (and the Cutters are also PoC, at least if I'm remembering correctly)) are just very... "barbaric punishments and also a desert?", aka pretty much like every barbaric country that just happens to be the country full of Black people in every fantasy/scifi book ever. Again, it might just be because we don't see enough of their floating islands to see a nuanced view of their culture, but it feels tired. I hope the Bone get a more in depth treatment in the sequel.
There's also another one of the human races (the Vein) that are blind, and appear to have the ~magical ability to sense everything around them even though they can’t see~ that every single blind character in fantasy/scifi does. The author could have done something way cooler and original by not using that old trope and instead focusing more on what kind of accommodations would develop for blind people in a strange world like Peridot, in my opinion.
And yet, for all these criticisms, I still would like to know where the story is going in the sequel (mostly because after that ending, I honestly can't predict where).
Previous update:
I'm almost going to cry <3 I had some real complaints about this book's handling of a nonbinary character's pronouns that made me rate this lower originally, but I've just been informed that the publisher is taking this seriously into consideration and making some kind of change! I'm so glad they're willing to really listen and adjust, and I'm glad that I can now add this to my nonbinary characters shelf without the embarrassment of that character being misgendered the whole time. While I don't know what pronouns the author will eventually go with, I have faith that the adjustments made are going to be much more sensible.
Full review on the actual book content/plot/characters to come, but I wanted to adjust my official rating to 3 stars and make a note that I have a lot more faith in Parvus publishing now, and I'm so happy they reconsidered.
Another update (latest edit): I wanted to add a quick note here after getting another email from the publisher! It seems the author is going with xi/xin/xist pronouns for Scrimshaw for the final version of the book, without the misgendering that occurred in the draft arc. To clarify for anyone who is wondering whether they should read this for nonbinary representation: Scrimshaw is an alien, and a secondary character, so xi is not the focus of the book; I'm just glad to know that anyone who picks up this book in the future will get a nonbinary character treated with respect.
simonlorden's review against another edition
3.0
Read on my blog.
LGBTQAI+: I think Tisker (a side character) is gay, but there is only really one reference to it and the word isn’t used. There are also aliens who use neopronouns. (So, not much.)
Sex on page: No (also no romance at all, only references to a past fling)
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I’m not even sure how to rate this book. 3 stars? 3.5?
Peridot is a fractured planet made up of many islands, home to five distinct humanoid races that were created by the Divine Alchemists, who are now worshipped as gods: Cutter, Breaker, Bone, Vein and Rakkar. The main character, Talis, and two other members of her crew are all Cutters, and the fourth one, Dug is a Bone.
I would like to start by saying that I loved the worldbuilding in theory – the fractured planet and the five races that were created by gods who still live among the people – but I had problems with the execution. To me, the Cutters sort of seemed like “regular” humans with no real special characteristics. We only see one Breaker in the entire book, and basically no named Rakkars. The Vein are four-limbed people who are physically blind, but oh, they have a magical sight – like every other blind race in anything ever. And finally, the Bone are dark-skinned people who live in desert tribes. While not outright barbaric, the Bone are often portrayed as violent, and the one Bone crew member, Dug, is described as large and intimidating immediately when he appears. I hope I don’t have to explain why I was conflicted about that. In short, I liked the idea but I felt like the races could have been written much better, and I’m hoping they’ll be more detailed in the sequel.
As for the characters, in the first half I was intrigued by all four crew members of the Wind Sabre – but towards the second half, Sophie and Tisker faded into the background and barely felt like individual people. Also, as I mentioned above, there is one throwaway sentence about Tisker not preferring Talis’s “parts”, which is not only a pretty cissexist way to say he’s gay, but it’s also never brought up again. (To be fair, there aren’t really heterosexual romances in the book either, other than mentions of the fling Talis used to have with one of the male antagonists.)
One thing I really enjoyed was the alien race (the Yu’Nyun) and the very different way they use gender and pronouns. They don’t seem to have genders at all, or at least at this point we don’t know anything about those – they use pronouns based on situation and class, and they have very strict rules on what class is allowed to wear what type of clothes. If I remember well, there are 9 pronoun groups, but like 50 different versions of the same pronoun? While this is only explored in a couple of scenes so far, I was genuinely intrigued by an alien race that is truly different from what we expect, and doesn’t just have the same binary genders. The characters we see use the xe/xin/xist pronoun set, and one of them becomes a major side character. (Although an actual “human” (Cutter, Bone, etc.) nonbinary character would have been nice.)
As for the plot… I sadly have to admit that I almost completely lost interest in the book about 70% in. I found myself enjoying it until then, but the main battle fell flat for me and I was begging for it to be over. Still, there were some plot twists and solutions by the crew before the 70% mark that I appreciated.
In short, I would say that Flotsam had many ideas that I liked, but the execution very often could have been better. I might pick up the sequel to see if these things improve, but at this point I am undecided. Honestly, I have no idea where the plot is going after this, but I hope we learn more about the Rakkars and the Breakers, as well as the Yu’Nyun. Especially regarding the Yu’Nyun, I have some suspicions based on hints and I would love to see more.
My rating: 👾👾👾/5.
LGBTQAI+: I think Tisker (a side character) is gay, but there is only really one reference to it and the word isn’t used. There are also aliens who use neopronouns. (So, not much.)
Sex on page: No (also no romance at all, only references to a past fling)
I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I’m not even sure how to rate this book. 3 stars? 3.5?
Peridot is a fractured planet made up of many islands, home to five distinct humanoid races that were created by the Divine Alchemists, who are now worshipped as gods: Cutter, Breaker, Bone, Vein and Rakkar. The main character, Talis, and two other members of her crew are all Cutters, and the fourth one, Dug is a Bone.
I would like to start by saying that I loved the worldbuilding in theory – the fractured planet and the five races that were created by gods who still live among the people – but I had problems with the execution. To me, the Cutters sort of seemed like “regular” humans with no real special characteristics. We only see one Breaker in the entire book, and basically no named Rakkars. The Vein are four-limbed people who are physically blind, but oh, they have a magical sight – like every other blind race in anything ever. And finally, the Bone are dark-skinned people who live in desert tribes. While not outright barbaric, the Bone are often portrayed as violent, and the one Bone crew member, Dug, is described as large and intimidating immediately when he appears. I hope I don’t have to explain why I was conflicted about that. In short, I liked the idea but I felt like the races could have been written much better, and I’m hoping they’ll be more detailed in the sequel.
As for the characters, in the first half I was intrigued by all four crew members of the Wind Sabre – but towards the second half, Sophie and Tisker faded into the background and barely felt like individual people. Also, as I mentioned above, there is one throwaway sentence about Tisker not preferring Talis’s “parts”, which is not only a pretty cissexist way to say he’s gay, but it’s also never brought up again. (To be fair, there aren’t really heterosexual romances in the book either, other than mentions of the fling Talis used to have with one of the male antagonists.)
One thing I really enjoyed was the alien race (the Yu’Nyun) and the very different way they use gender and pronouns. They don’t seem to have genders at all, or at least at this point we don’t know anything about those – they use pronouns based on situation and class, and they have very strict rules on what class is allowed to wear what type of clothes. If I remember well, there are 9 pronoun groups, but like 50 different versions of the same pronoun? While this is only explored in a couple of scenes so far, I was genuinely intrigued by an alien race that is truly different from what we expect, and doesn’t just have the same binary genders. The characters we see use the xe/xin/xist pronoun set, and one of them becomes a major side character. (Although an actual “human” (Cutter, Bone, etc.) nonbinary character would have been nice.)
As for the plot… I sadly have to admit that I almost completely lost interest in the book about 70% in. I found myself enjoying it until then, but the main battle fell flat for me and I was begging for it to be over. Still, there were some plot twists and solutions by the crew before the 70% mark that I appreciated.
In short, I would say that Flotsam had many ideas that I liked, but the execution very often could have been better. I might pick up the sequel to see if these things improve, but at this point I am undecided. Honestly, I have no idea where the plot is going after this, but I hope we learn more about the Rakkars and the Breakers, as well as the Yu’Nyun. Especially regarding the Yu’Nyun, I have some suspicions based on hints and I would love to see more.
My rating: 👾👾👾/5.
honeybearbee's review against another edition
4.0
http://bookreviewsstuff.blogspot.com/2018/04/review-flotsam-peridot-shift-1.html
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