A review by rg9400
The Silverblood Promise by James Logan

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book is a debut by James Logan, and while a strong debut, it does show some signs of needing sharper writing expertise. Namely, there are weird sexual references that are sometimes randomly interjected into the story, fully off the cuff, which add no value. They are limited, but it felt just so unnecessary and did not fit the tone of the book, so they should have just been edited out. He also tends to repeat certain details, specifically about our protagonist's backstory -- instead, it would have been better had he fleshed out the more emotional side of this backstory instead of the actual events because I did not fully agree with the characterization/insight he arrives at about this backstory. That said, the book is paced very well, briskly moving between set pieces that feel distinctive and all entertaining. Plans go wrong in fun and unexpected ways. There seems to be a lot of stuff happening in the background for an overarching plot, but we get a fully self-contained story within the book. The world is pretty cool, with a focus on class strife and this idea of a disgraced noble scion navigating through an unfamiliar city and dealing with artifacts from an ancient pre-cataclysmic civilization. Though Lukan (main protag) felt kind of bland to me, we do meet other characters who are much more interesting. The setup for future adventures is very good, and I am hopeful that James Logan will be able to continue to give us these entertaining episodic adventures and investigations while building up the larger story, and I hope he can carve out more of a unique identity while doing so.