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A review by fantasyfunk
Skyborn by David Dalglish
4.0
I thought this book was really original. Yes it was the generic go-to-the-academy-and-learn-to-fight but the mechanical yet powered by magic wings and the floating islands really brought it up to a different level. Plus I kinda loved the religious bend to the plot with angels and God keeping the islands aloft. Just seemed to be a very intriguing new twist.
So the Worldbuilding, A+. It felt immersive and put together really well. I maybe would have liked more about the war or tragedy that put humanity onto floating islands, but I have a feeling the next books are going to get into that and I never thought it was a hindrance, just more my curiosity.
The characters might have been obvious, twins who are fire and water, and their personalities stick to their elements. However, I thought Kael grew throughout the book and Bree as well, although not to the same extent. I definitely like a character being the same, and yet not, by the time you reach the end of a book. The twins definitely dominate the book, and the side characters don't always have a lot of nuances to their characters.
The action is great. Aerial battles with elemental magic. What's not to love? And the twist at the end was a lot bigger than the first half of the book felt. I will say that's probably my biggest critique of the book. The twist was so big and sudden that I almost felt as if it was two books in a sense. A few more hints/teases during the first half would have smoothed this nicely.
I'm excited for the next installment! Hopefully it only gets better from here.
So the Worldbuilding, A+. It felt immersive and put together really well. I maybe would have liked more about the war or tragedy that put humanity onto floating islands, but I have a feeling the next books are going to get into that and I never thought it was a hindrance, just more my curiosity.
The characters might have been obvious, twins who are fire and water, and their personalities stick to their elements. However, I thought Kael grew throughout the book and Bree as well, although not to the same extent. I definitely like a character being the same, and yet not, by the time you reach the end of a book. The twins definitely dominate the book, and the side characters don't always have a lot of nuances to their characters.
The action is great. Aerial battles with elemental magic. What's not to love? And the twist at the end was a lot bigger than the first half of the book felt. I will say that's probably my biggest critique of the book. The twist was so big and sudden that I almost felt as if it was two books in a sense. A few more hints/teases during the first half would have smoothed this nicely.
I'm excited for the next installment! Hopefully it only gets better from here.