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A review by saoki
Cold Magic by Kate Elliott
3.0
I had never read anything by Kate Elliott before this book, which I chose (faced with all those options) because of the steampunk vibe. And what an interesting take in steampunk it is. Here we have a industrial society in a world much like our own, but in which Rome fell, taking Christianity with it. Then, the "barbarians" kept civilization and plumbing and ditched all other Roman habits (like democracy). Also, there's magic and a spiritual world that is actually a very solid, very real place. It's a great setting and well blended into the story, even if the author felt the need to explain some details that weren't really needed.
The author dedicates the same effort to her characters, giving the reader several chances to understand their motivations and ethics, with clear narrative arcs and very human changing of minds. Usually, this level of character writing is fantastic, but, in a novel that is basically about travelling, in which the main character spends most of her time without answers and has little time for planning, said motivations got a bit repetitive, which led me to drop the book for something else quite frequently. When Cat finally finished her running around, about 75% into the book, I almost cried in relief.
Then she started running again.
So, I'm not really sure if I want to read the rest of the series, even if the answers in that last 10 or 15% of the book raised some really interesting questions. I might, however, pick some other book by Kate Elliott. She's quite an interesting author.
The author dedicates the same effort to her characters, giving the reader several chances to understand their motivations and ethics, with clear narrative arcs and very human changing of minds. Usually, this level of character writing is fantastic, but, in a novel that is basically about travelling, in which the main character spends most of her time without answers and has little time for planning, said motivations got a bit repetitive, which led me to drop the book for something else quite frequently. When Cat finally finished her running around, about 75% into the book, I almost cried in relief.
Then she started running again.
So, I'm not really sure if I want to read the rest of the series, even if the answers in that last 10 or 15% of the book raised some really interesting questions. I might, however, pick some other book by Kate Elliott. She's quite an interesting author.