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A review by jyan
Galveston by Sean Stewart
3.0
I'm of two minds on this one, but someone has to pitch this stuff to HBO.
One of Sean Stewart's biggest strengths is creating magical worlds, and then populating them with grounded, human characters. There are heartbreaking arcs here, characters go through hard, bone-broking changes and come out the otherside believably transformed.
Also, to its credit, this is a GANGBUSTERS premise. An allegory for the plight of island life as resource-poor poverty vs rich, dangerous magic is a good one. It's to the books detriment that they do so little with this idea, as we spend a very small amount of time in the magical world of Mardi Gras, and the time we do spend doesn't feel nearly whimsical or dangerous enough.
And hope you like poker, because HOO BOY, huge stretches of this book are devoted to the finer points of card sharping, one of the many elements that cause this book to slog for certain stretches.
On the whole, the book is worth the investment, as the character work and world-building are handled well, but just know that some pacing issues kind if hinder what could be a masterpiece.
One of Sean Stewart's biggest strengths is creating magical worlds, and then populating them with grounded, human characters. There are heartbreaking arcs here, characters go through hard, bone-broking changes and come out the otherside believably transformed.
Also, to its credit, this is a GANGBUSTERS premise. An allegory for the plight of island life as resource-poor poverty vs rich, dangerous magic is a good one. It's to the books detriment that they do so little with this idea, as we spend a very small amount of time in the magical world of Mardi Gras, and the time we do spend doesn't feel nearly whimsical or dangerous enough.
And hope you like poker, because HOO BOY, huge stretches of this book are devoted to the finer points of card sharping, one of the many elements that cause this book to slog for certain stretches.
On the whole, the book is worth the investment, as the character work and world-building are handled well, but just know that some pacing issues kind if hinder what could be a masterpiece.