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A review by esop
Symphony of the Wind by Steven McKinnon
5.0
A really intriguing, exciting steampunk adventure with airships, zombie-esque creatures, political intrigue, and even some monsters. Basically everything you could want in a fantasy adventure can be found in Symphony of the Wind.
I read the prequel novella "The Fury Yet to Come" before reading this book, but they can be read in any order and you're filled in on all the events of the novella throughout this book; given that, I would recommend reading the novella first if you were planning on reading both, so that you aren't reading it knowing everything that happens. I also felt that having the background knowledge of the novella helped flesh out Tyson Gallows' character as I read this book, understanding his reactions and motivations before they were fully revealed.
This was a great start to a new series that I'll surely be keeping up with as new entries are released. McKinnon did a great job of creating a fully-realized and lived-in world, providing plenty of details about Dalthea to transport the reader down to its corrupted streets while sprinkling in bits of history and elements of other regions and cultures to craft a vast, believable world with clashing cultures, countries, and beliefs. The novel basically takes place in one city, and it was fun getting to see a lot of different corners of it in such detail.
The characters are varied and great across the board. We have Tyson Gallows, the main character of the prequel who still suffers from PTSD from its events and spending each day not caring if he lives or dies; Serena, a young girl who wants nothing more than to be part of a Raincatcher crew on an airship but is being sought after by powerful, corrupt people throughout the city; Damien, a highly-trained assassin with warring personalities trying to push him over the edge into becoming a relentless psychopath; and that only scratches the surface of the different points-of-view we get into. Veronica, Tiera, and all the others offer unique perspectives and personalities and motivations that are equally compelling and exciting to watch unfold.
The storyline is complex, with a ton of different threads weaving throughout the book, which did cause a little bit of confusion for me, but it seemed intentional--I was just as in the dark as many of the characters about WHY these events were happening, and by the climax of the book all the different threads converged in an exhilarating, satisfying way.
And the ending really was satisfying, which is not always true in a series. But in the case of Symphony, a lot of the major threads were resolved, while still leaving a handful of questions dangling and setting up what promises to be an exciting adventure in book 2 with a much larger scope.
I read the prequel novella "The Fury Yet to Come" before reading this book, but they can be read in any order and you're filled in on all the events of the novella throughout this book; given that, I would recommend reading the novella first if you were planning on reading both, so that you aren't reading it knowing everything that happens. I also felt that having the background knowledge of the novella helped flesh out Tyson Gallows' character as I read this book, understanding his reactions and motivations before they were fully revealed.
This was a great start to a new series that I'll surely be keeping up with as new entries are released. McKinnon did a great job of creating a fully-realized and lived-in world, providing plenty of details about Dalthea to transport the reader down to its corrupted streets while sprinkling in bits of history and elements of other regions and cultures to craft a vast, believable world with clashing cultures, countries, and beliefs. The novel basically takes place in one city, and it was fun getting to see a lot of different corners of it in such detail.
The characters are varied and great across the board. We have Tyson Gallows, the main character of the prequel who still suffers from PTSD from its events and spending each day not caring if he lives or dies; Serena, a young girl who wants nothing more than to be part of a Raincatcher crew on an airship but is being sought after by powerful, corrupt people throughout the city; Damien, a highly-trained assassin with warring personalities trying to push him over the edge into becoming a relentless psychopath; and that only scratches the surface of the different points-of-view we get into. Veronica, Tiera, and all the others offer unique perspectives and personalities and motivations that are equally compelling and exciting to watch unfold.
The storyline is complex, with a ton of different threads weaving throughout the book, which did cause a little bit of confusion for me, but it seemed intentional--I was just as in the dark as many of the characters about WHY these events were happening, and by the climax of the book all the different threads converged in an exhilarating, satisfying way.
And the ending really was satisfying, which is not always true in a series. But in the case of Symphony, a lot of the major threads were resolved, while still leaving a handful of questions dangling and setting up what promises to be an exciting adventure in book 2 with a much larger scope.