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A review by ericbuscemi
The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear
3.0
On one hand, I am glad I read this. It was exceptionally well written, and the plot, characters and setting were all different enough from standard fantasy to feel fresh and modern. I loved the strong female characters, and especially loved the automaton Gage. On the other hand, my personal preference is for fantasy that moves at a much more breakneck adventure pace, and there was very little action to be found in this first volume. I also prefer a story from one point-of-view, and this switched back and forth from three main characters.
I'm honestly not sure if I'll continue on in the series, I guess I'll see how I feel about it when the second volume comes out.
Audiobook specific note -- Switching between two narrators to tell three different character points of view was extremely confusing at first (the female narrator covered two points of view). I'd prefer either one narrator for the entire novel, or one per point-of-view character.
I'm honestly not sure if I'll continue on in the series, I guess I'll see how I feel about it when the second volume comes out.
Audiobook specific note -- Switching between two narrators to tell three different character points of view was extremely confusing at first (the female narrator covered two points of view). I'd prefer either one narrator for the entire novel, or one per point-of-view character.