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A review by mariocoelho
Stormblood by Jeremy Szal
5.0
Kickstarting this review with a weird compliment: Stormblood is what would happen if a blockbuster screenwriter tried his hand at writing a novel, and discovered he's also great at the whole prose aspect of it. This is an intensely visual book, with some of the most vivid, sensorial descriptions I've read in a long while. It's all the more impressive because we're stuck in Vakov's deliciously tormented first-person POV the whole time, jumping from his mangled introspections to well-crafted scenes of worldbuilding and climaxing in good old ultraviolence.
I didn't expect to enjoy Stormblood this much. I'm usually more into literary-ish spec fic. I could throw a couple nitpicks here and there: some of the dialogue can be Hollywood-cheesy, Grim's hacking abilities stretches suspension of disbelief, and the talk about stormblood itself overstays its welcome a couple times.
But, really, these flaws are peanuts. It's 4:06 am over here and I gotta be up in 5, pretty sure that's a resounding quality stamp. Stormblood is simply fun. If you're a fan of stuff like Mass Effect, The Expanse and Altered Carbon, you'll love this. If you're more of the Kim Stanley Robinson type, you'll probably still like Stormblood, but you might lament the lack of 5-page intricate explanations of space toilet plumbing physics (I kid! - Kim Stanley Robinson is the OG).
One more piece of praise before I drag myself to what'll by now be a night-time nap: the interspersed slice-of-life details are great. Making the setting of a novel feel lived in is an overlooked quality, and more difficult to do than one would think.
Finally, shout out to the Bunny. I'm with you. Vakov and Grim are meanies.
I didn't expect to enjoy Stormblood this much. I'm usually more into literary-ish spec fic. I could throw a couple nitpicks here and there: some of the dialogue can be Hollywood-cheesy, Grim's hacking abilities stretches suspension of disbelief, and the talk about stormblood itself overstays its welcome a couple times.
But, really, these flaws are peanuts. It's 4:06 am over here and I gotta be up in 5, pretty sure that's a resounding quality stamp. Stormblood is simply fun. If you're a fan of stuff like Mass Effect, The Expanse and Altered Carbon, you'll love this. If you're more of the Kim Stanley Robinson type, you'll probably still like Stormblood, but you might lament the lack of 5-page intricate explanations of space toilet plumbing physics (I kid! - Kim Stanley Robinson is the OG).
One more piece of praise before I drag myself to what'll by now be a night-time nap: the interspersed slice-of-life details are great. Making the setting of a novel feel lived in is an overlooked quality, and more difficult to do than one would think.
Finally, shout out to the Bunny. I'm with you. Vakov and Grim are meanies.