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aprilius_maximus 's review for:
Steel Crow Saga
by Paul Krueger
“We all have such finite time, even when the spirits are kind.”
representation: own voices asian inspired (author is Filipino), asian inspired worlds and characters (Sanbu Islands = Phillipines inspired; Tomoda = Japanese inspired; Shang = Chinese inspired; Jeongson = Korean inspired; Dahal = Indian inspired)
Queer characters (gay, bi, lesbian, trans), f/f relationship, m/m relationship.
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★
Even though I really, really enjoyed this, I have to admit I was a little disappointed because I was expecting this to get 5 stars and be a new all-time-fave, but alas!
We'll start with the things I loved:
- the avatar and pokemon inspired elements (avatar and pokemon were both HUGE parts of my childhood). We had the avatar influence (metalpacting = metalbending) and the pokemon influence (shadepacting = bond between the souls of human and animal) which I LOVED. There was also a super interesting discussion on whether enslaving another creature's spirit is okay or not (ever since I became an adult I always felt kinda icky about this with pokemon).
- THE CHARACTERS. omg i'm OBSESSED with Lee & Jimuro. Lee is SO badass and Jimuro reminded me so much of Zuko from ATLA!!
Things that kinda didn't work for me:
- the fact that this is more of an urban fantasy (has technology and cars and such) and my preferred fantasy is more of an ancient feeling world.
- it was kind of dense. a lot of the time i found myself not really wanting to pick it up even though when i was reading it, i was enjoying myself.
- the fact that the only trans character was lowkey a villain??? lame.
overall, i definitely recommend this one, it just wasn't a new favourite, unfortunately! :(
trigger warnings: colonisation, genocide, gun violence, loss of loved ones, war themes, mention of suicide, gore, a literal giant spider (ron weasley would hate that scene lol), injured animals, lots and lots and lots of violence.
representation: own voices asian inspired (author is Filipino), asian inspired worlds and characters (Sanbu Islands = Phillipines inspired; Tomoda = Japanese inspired; Shang = Chinese inspired; Jeongson = Korean inspired; Dahal = Indian inspired)
Queer characters (gay, bi, lesbian, trans), f/f relationship, m/m relationship.
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★
Even though I really, really enjoyed this, I have to admit I was a little disappointed because I was expecting this to get 5 stars and be a new all-time-fave, but alas!
We'll start with the things I loved:
- the avatar and pokemon inspired elements (avatar and pokemon were both HUGE parts of my childhood). We had the avatar influence (metalpacting = metalbending) and the pokemon influence (shadepacting = bond between the souls of human and animal) which I LOVED. There was also a super interesting discussion on whether enslaving another creature's spirit is okay or not (ever since I became an adult I always felt kinda icky about this with pokemon).
- THE CHARACTERS. omg i'm OBSESSED with Lee & Jimuro. Lee is SO badass and Jimuro reminded me so much of Zuko from ATLA!!
Things that kinda didn't work for me:
- the fact that this is more of an urban fantasy (has technology and cars and such) and my preferred fantasy is more of an ancient feeling world.
- it was kind of dense. a lot of the time i found myself not really wanting to pick it up even though when i was reading it, i was enjoying myself.
- the fact that the only trans character was lowkey a villain??? lame.
overall, i definitely recommend this one, it just wasn't a new favourite, unfortunately! :(
trigger warnings: colonisation, genocide, gun violence, loss of loved ones, war themes, mention of suicide, gore, a literal giant spider (ron weasley would hate that scene lol), injured animals, lots and lots and lots of violence.