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A review by lordnikon
Skyborn by David Dalglish
3.0
I have a few overall issues with the book, some bigger than others…but I’d say overall I enjoyed it.
I disliked large swathes of the dialogue, which often felt YA to me…when the book is clearly not meant to be that. Speaking of YA, the tone of the first half of the book, which was essentially the school/learning portion seems to try to ape other book series with magical schools in them…but kind of falls short in a number of ways. For example, Bree basically has plot amour with regards to the school rules. She effs up, gets sent to the barracks…stops not the way and breaks more school rules while doing something too advanced for her. Nothing happens to her. In fact she’s legit busted at least twice more (before the death of a certain character) and STILL the reprimands are minimal. It basically allowed me as the reader to assume that Bree was not only 100% safe….but that she could do what she liked. I know her rebellious spirit is a part of her character…but that must carry more weight and consequences if that’s the case.
My biggest gripe is the pace over story. It’s like Dalglish is in a rush to get to certain plot points, so he rushes around the narrative too fast. As a result, something like the “love story” (yes, in inverted commas) between Bree and Dean may not feel forced…but DAMN it was rushed as hell. That after a few days or weeks or whatever Bree and Dean would tell each other they “love” the other person…is far from believable. This is compounded when Dean is killed in the duel (a duel that is NEVER brought up beforehand; waved off as Dean not wanting to worry Bree…which I found suspect) and you are meant to feel the emotional heft of that loss keenly from Bree…but you don’t. Because you’ve only had…maybe 50-60 pages with him and her and two “dates”…I felt squat. This event drives Bree for a while, and that drive felt lacklustre as a result.
Kael’s relationship with Clara feels FAR more organic as it’s allowed to play out over the course of the entire book. As a result, I liked that dynamic better.
It felt like the second half of the book is a whole different volume from the first half. We get Harry Potter School Life for 50% and then Harry Potter and the Knock Down Battle Full of Death in the second. I mean…I got whiplash from that switch. Which again, didn’t feel earned. I need more time to understand the world building and relationship between Weshern and the other islands. Any conflict with Galen is spurious on the face of not having been in on that when it comes to the fore. That felt forced. The conflict (or eventual conflict) with Centre is more organic.
From the moment a disciple of Johan first speaks with Kael early on….you KNOW Centre is bad. You KNOW that the whole “god keeps these islands afloat” is hogwash. You KNOW that they are hiding something from everyone. That was a little overly telegraphed. I KIND of wish that it wasn’t. It would have been nice to see Centre as benevolent for the whole book, and only reveal the Disciples of Johan, and the evil bits about Center and the nature of the islands LATE in the book. Would have made for a sweet revelation. Instead I’m left knowing who the Big Bad is from about page 20. Which is sad.
Also, nitpick time. Weshern is a mere "30 miles end to end” according to the narrative…but it takes a full day to cross it by foot (that’s ABOUT 8 hours…so not exactly a “day") and a half-hour by wings (Are you FLYING MEGA slowly?). I’d love for David Dalglish to understand the concepts of time and space and geography a little more, because that stood out to me.
Overall I enjoyed the book. Great concepts. Interesting plot points. Characters I largely like…though no one but Kael and Bree get much personality. I mean the two school thug brothers…are essentially cardboard cutout bully villains. Even the teachers, like Kime and Dohn are mostly just caricatures…
So yeah, I’ll read the next one at some point…but I hope he fixes some of the issues from this one.
I disliked large swathes of the dialogue, which often felt YA to me…when the book is clearly not meant to be that. Speaking of YA, the tone of the first half of the book, which was essentially the school/learning portion seems to try to ape other book series with magical schools in them…but kind of falls short in a number of ways. For example, Bree basically has plot amour with regards to the school rules. She effs up, gets sent to the barracks…stops not the way and breaks more school rules while doing something too advanced for her. Nothing happens to her. In fact she’s legit busted at least twice more (before the death of a certain character) and STILL the reprimands are minimal. It basically allowed me as the reader to assume that Bree was not only 100% safe….but that she could do what she liked. I know her rebellious spirit is a part of her character…but that must carry more weight and consequences if that’s the case.
My biggest gripe is the pace over story. It’s like Dalglish is in a rush to get to certain plot points, so he rushes around the narrative too fast. As a result, something like the “love story” (yes, in inverted commas) between Bree and Dean may not feel forced…but DAMN it was rushed as hell. That after a few days or weeks or whatever Bree and Dean would tell each other they “love” the other person…is far from believable. This is compounded when Dean is killed in the duel (a duel that is NEVER brought up beforehand; waved off as Dean not wanting to worry Bree…which I found suspect) and you are meant to feel the emotional heft of that loss keenly from Bree…but you don’t. Because you’ve only had…maybe 50-60 pages with him and her and two “dates”…I felt squat. This event drives Bree for a while, and that drive felt lacklustre as a result.
Kael’s relationship with Clara feels FAR more organic as it’s allowed to play out over the course of the entire book. As a result, I liked that dynamic better.
It felt like the second half of the book is a whole different volume from the first half. We get Harry Potter School Life for 50% and then Harry Potter and the Knock Down Battle Full of Death in the second. I mean…I got whiplash from that switch. Which again, didn’t feel earned. I need more time to understand the world building and relationship between Weshern and the other islands. Any conflict with Galen is spurious on the face of not having been in on that when it comes to the fore. That felt forced. The conflict (or eventual conflict) with Centre is more organic.
From the moment a disciple of Johan first speaks with Kael early on….you KNOW Centre is bad. You KNOW that the whole “god keeps these islands afloat” is hogwash. You KNOW that they are hiding something from everyone. That was a little overly telegraphed. I KIND of wish that it wasn’t. It would have been nice to see Centre as benevolent for the whole book, and only reveal the Disciples of Johan, and the evil bits about Center and the nature of the islands LATE in the book. Would have made for a sweet revelation. Instead I’m left knowing who the Big Bad is from about page 20. Which is sad.
Also, nitpick time. Weshern is a mere "30 miles end to end” according to the narrative…but it takes a full day to cross it by foot (that’s ABOUT 8 hours…so not exactly a “day") and a half-hour by wings (Are you FLYING MEGA slowly?). I’d love for David Dalglish to understand the concepts of time and space and geography a little more, because that stood out to me.
Overall I enjoyed the book. Great concepts. Interesting plot points. Characters I largely like…though no one but Kael and Bree get much personality. I mean the two school thug brothers…are essentially cardboard cutout bully villains. Even the teachers, like Kime and Dohn are mostly just caricatures…
So yeah, I’ll read the next one at some point…but I hope he fixes some of the issues from this one.