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atrailofpages 's review for:
Cities of Smoke and Starlight
by Alli Earnest
Wow! This was an amazing and astounding book!
This follows Hallie Walker and Kase Shackley primarily. They are both hired to go out and locate the original species that lived on their planet, the Yalvs. They need to secure a source of Zuprium(a metal they are running low on), and they need the Yalvs help to stop the neighboring kingdom Cerulene from starting a war, or if a war starts, to have the Yalvs help them. When they leave, it seems like it would be an easy trip, well, it's anything but easy and instead becomes an arduous and very dangerous mission that the crew goes on.
There are so many good things about this book, I don't even know where to start. First off, just look at the cover. It's stunning! I pre-ordered the moment I saw the cover, especially since it looked steampunk, which it is, and knew I needed the physical copy in my hands. It is a cover buy for me, but the story makes it all worth it!
This book is compared to Dune, Rogue One and Pride and Prejudice. I would say that is pretty accurate, for sure similar to Dune since we are on a different planet from Earth and it's very steampunk like, and almost Victorian England sounding. I get the Rogue One and Pride and Prejudice aspect from the characters mainly and their interactions. I mean Hallie and Kase are literally Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Their banter and words are hilarious and frustrating because you just want to yell at them to just kiss already! The romance is a slow burn and very well done. It's like, it felt like it was never going to happen, and I would get frustrated, but yet, you knew it would eventually, just omg when?!
I also really enjoyed the characters. I would say this is a bit of a slower paced book, like Dune, kind of building up to the climactic ending, so you get to really learn about the crew and what each person is like. One was very sus from the beginning and I love twists and figuring them out, and yet when it happens, it's like wow! Hallie is a scholar and it shows. She has no idea how to fly, or fight, and yet she's willing to face a dragon because she wants to draw it. She is truly a scholar and artist. Kase is like exactly like Mr. Darcy, just seems never happy and very stern and has a bit of a temper(I say bit probably more than that lol). However, the banter between the characters was so great. Besides those two, we have Zeke(Kase's brother), Ebba the mechanic, and Agent Reiss, or Ben, who is Kase's best friend and fellow pilot. They each added to the story, and were all great characters.
Another aspect of this book I loved was the world. At first, you don't know much. It's like a steampunk style world with Victorian England aspects to it, but there's also alien-like things in this world. They use this mineral, or stone called Zuprium that is a metal that never rusts, like what?! How cool is that?! They use it to build like their hoverships, hoverbikes, and other items, but it is also used for electricity because when combined with electricity, it allows these devices to fly, or hover. It's such a great and unique concept! They use many neat items or devices, such as the hoverships, hoverbikes, electropistols, and motorcoaches. I just could picture this world so well, the author did a fantastic job of explaining and describing this world and the people in it.
Honestly, I could go on and on about this book. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book! Especially if you love steampunk, or just a book inspired by Pride and Prejudice and Dune, I mean that in itself sounds amazing!
Thank you so much to the author for the free digital copy to read! All thoughts and opinions are my own. A solid 5 star read for me!
This follows Hallie Walker and Kase Shackley primarily. They are both hired to go out and locate the original species that lived on their planet, the Yalvs. They need to secure a source of Zuprium(a metal they are running low on), and they need the Yalvs help to stop the neighboring kingdom Cerulene from starting a war, or if a war starts, to have the Yalvs help them. When they leave, it seems like it would be an easy trip, well, it's anything but easy and instead becomes an arduous and very dangerous mission that the crew goes on.
There are so many good things about this book, I don't even know where to start. First off, just look at the cover. It's stunning! I pre-ordered the moment I saw the cover, especially since it looked steampunk, which it is, and knew I needed the physical copy in my hands. It is a cover buy for me, but the story makes it all worth it!
This book is compared to Dune, Rogue One and Pride and Prejudice. I would say that is pretty accurate, for sure similar to Dune since we are on a different planet from Earth and it's very steampunk like, and almost Victorian England sounding. I get the Rogue One and Pride and Prejudice aspect from the characters mainly and their interactions. I mean Hallie and Kase are literally Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. Their banter and words are hilarious and frustrating because you just want to yell at them to just kiss already! The romance is a slow burn and very well done. It's like, it felt like it was never going to happen, and I would get frustrated, but yet, you knew it would eventually, just omg when?!
I also really enjoyed the characters. I would say this is a bit of a slower paced book, like Dune, kind of building up to the climactic ending, so you get to really learn about the crew and what each person is like. One was very sus from the beginning and I love twists and figuring them out, and yet when it happens, it's like wow! Hallie is a scholar and it shows. She has no idea how to fly, or fight, and yet she's willing to face a dragon because she wants to draw it. She is truly a scholar and artist. Kase is like exactly like Mr. Darcy, just seems never happy and very stern and has a bit of a temper(I say bit probably more than that lol). However, the banter between the characters was so great. Besides those two, we have Zeke(Kase's brother), Ebba the mechanic, and Agent Reiss, or Ben, who is Kase's best friend and fellow pilot. They each added to the story, and were all great characters.
Another aspect of this book I loved was the world. At first, you don't know much. It's like a steampunk style world with Victorian England aspects to it, but there's also alien-like things in this world. They use this mineral, or stone called Zuprium that is a metal that never rusts, like what?! How cool is that?! They use it to build like their hoverships, hoverbikes, and other items, but it is also used for electricity because when combined with electricity, it allows these devices to fly, or hover. It's such a great and unique concept! They use many neat items or devices, such as the hoverships, hoverbikes, electropistols, and motorcoaches. I just could picture this world so well, the author did a fantastic job of explaining and describing this world and the people in it.
Honestly, I could go on and on about this book. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book! Especially if you love steampunk, or just a book inspired by Pride and Prejudice and Dune, I mean that in itself sounds amazing!
Thank you so much to the author for the free digital copy to read! All thoughts and opinions are my own. A solid 5 star read for me!