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A review by squids_can_read
Belly of the Beast: Sorce Book 1 by Charles Armstrong
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I really wanted to understand this book. I thought the world was really interesting, especially with the mix of fantasy and science fiction. The characters were also really interesting and I loved the broad array of characters shown in the story. I think this book just fell flat for me.
Starting with the world, I don’t think that I really understand how this world works. Every time that I thought that I understood where everything stood in this universe, something else would come up and be immediately(almost) by the characters in the book. However, every time that this happened, I felt like I was being left behind in the book. There was never really enough time for the reader to catch up with all of the information being given.
I also really didn’t understand the magic system. It just didn’t make any sense to me. I didn’t understand how hand gestures were required for some magic and not for others. I also didn’t understand why there were so many different types of magic being described. I’m sure that some of them overlap but the book describes them as all different so there end up being more than 10(as far as I remember) distinct magic systems which all do different things.
Additionally, I overall didn’t understand the OmniSync. I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to do or how it was supposed to work. It was just overall really confusing especially when the characters were told that people could look through their OmniSyncs but we only saw this happen once in the book. It just felt like it should have happened more with how much it was discussed.
Finally, I felt like the characters were a little lacking. This book is told in the third person but from the point of view of Sera. There are things that she learns that she just immediately accepts. She never seems weary of people helping her which doesn’t always make sense with the experiences that she has on the page. There are also times when Sera does things that are not on the page. When we learn about these things, Sera is able to continue without processing because she already knows about them but the reader does not. We are left with almost no time to process new information before more new information is introduced. There is also a lot of plot points packed into this novel, which I think contributed to the fact that I felt left behind while reading.
Overall, I thought that this was an extremely inventive novel. The mix of fantasy and science was intriguing and the characters' design and development were really interesting. In the copy that I read, there were also illustrations that were beautifully drawn and I think helped my understanding of the story. I just think that this book could have been less packed with plot points, the world a little better described, and time added for the reader to process all the new information.
Starting with the world, I don’t think that I really understand how this world works. Every time that I thought that I understood where everything stood in this universe, something else would come up and be immediately(almost) by the characters in the book. However, every time that this happened, I felt like I was being left behind in the book. There was never really enough time for the reader to catch up with all of the information being given.
I also really didn’t understand the magic system. It just didn’t make any sense to me. I didn’t understand how hand gestures were required for some magic and not for others. I also didn’t understand why there were so many different types of magic being described. I’m sure that some of them overlap but the book describes them as all different so there end up being more than 10(as far as I remember) distinct magic systems which all do different things.
Additionally, I overall didn’t understand the OmniSync. I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to do or how it was supposed to work. It was just overall really confusing especially when the characters were told that people could look through their OmniSyncs but we only saw this happen once in the book. It just felt like it should have happened more with how much it was discussed.
Finally, I felt like the characters were a little lacking. This book is told in the third person but from the point of view of Sera. There are things that she learns that she just immediately accepts. She never seems weary of people helping her which doesn’t always make sense with the experiences that she has on the page. There are also times when Sera does things that are not on the page. When we learn about these things, Sera is able to continue without processing because she already knows about them but the reader does not. We are left with almost no time to process new information before more new information is introduced. There is also a lot of plot points packed into this novel, which I think contributed to the fact that I felt left behind while reading.
Overall, I thought that this was an extremely inventive novel. The mix of fantasy and science was intriguing and the characters' design and development were really interesting. In the copy that I read, there were also illustrations that were beautifully drawn and I think helped my understanding of the story. I just think that this book could have been less packed with plot points, the world a little better described, and time added for the reader to process all the new information.