A review by whatsmacksaid
Once & Future by Cory McCarthy, A.R. Capetta

3.0

Two and a half stars. Partly because I just didn't enjoy the story very much, and partly because there were some very weird narrative decisions made by the authors. The first half or so felt like straight King Arthur fan fiction, and because I have only the vaguest knowledge of the King Arthur stories, I felt like I was missing out on a lot of what was happening below the surface. Secondly, the while the dual POV (Merlin and Ari) was generally well utilized, there were some parts where we, as the reader, missed out on some scenes and actions because the story kept us with one narrator over the other. Thirdly, the last act begins with a "One Year Later" gesture, which I absolutely hate reading about. It's lazy storytelling.

However: the diversity rep was great, and parts that I found wacky are very likely to be straight up fun for other readers. I also enjoyed how many genres were mashed together; that part was lots of fun.