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ninegladiolus 's review for:
The Sin in the Steel
by Ryan Van Loan
The Sin in the Steel promised a plethora of things I usually love in other stories: dynamic duos who have each other’s back, swashbuckling and adventure, pirates and specifically pirate queens, ancient magic, and mystery, Unfortunately, not all of those promises were fulfilled in my experience.
First, the good. I absolutely love the world in The Sin in the Steel; it’s easy to feel like you’ve embarked upon your own adventure on the high seas, and the writing is well paced and immersing to keep you in that world. There were plenty of pirates, battles on land and at sea, and lots of try-fail cycles to keep you rooting for the ‘heroes’ while they were in dire circumstances. Although it wasn’t explored as much as I would have liked (probably because this will be the focus in forthcoming installments), there are multiple types of magic and hints at an intriguing conflict involving the dead gods pitched on the cover copy.
However, Buc as a protagonist fell flat for me. She succeeds in being a mayhem-prone, violence-inclined Holmesian figure, but her skills and flaws feel comically exaggerated. I understand the concept of flawed protagonists, and in some ways I appreciated how Buc’s flaws got her in trouble, but I didn’t enjoy the lack of nuance in her character overall.
The romance subplot was what ultimately lowered my rating from three stars to two. There were two scenes in particular that contained language with predatory undertones re: the age gap between the two individuals. Things like one character wondering if he’s a lecher for falling in love with a girl he met when she was 14 and he was 19 (now 16 and 21), justifications such as ‘she was wise beyond her years’, and the female character immediately reassuring him that ‘age is just a number’ in the scene immediately following raised red flags for me. If those two scenes in particular were omitted, I think it would have read less 'creepy' and more 'complicated', as I believe the novel intended.
Many will enjoy this story for what it is, by and large: a fast paced, Holmesian, swashbuckling adventure set in a world of pirates, magic, and mystery with a polarizing protagonist and hints of cool things to come. There were just too many elements that took me personally out of my enjoyment for me to want to recommend this or continue with the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
First, the good. I absolutely love the world in The Sin in the Steel; it’s easy to feel like you’ve embarked upon your own adventure on the high seas, and the writing is well paced and immersing to keep you in that world. There were plenty of pirates, battles on land and at sea, and lots of try-fail cycles to keep you rooting for the ‘heroes’ while they were in dire circumstances. Although it wasn’t explored as much as I would have liked (probably because this will be the focus in forthcoming installments), there are multiple types of magic and hints at an intriguing conflict involving the dead gods pitched on the cover copy.
However, Buc as a protagonist fell flat for me. She succeeds in being a mayhem-prone, violence-inclined Holmesian figure, but her skills and flaws feel comically exaggerated. I understand the concept of flawed protagonists, and in some ways I appreciated how Buc’s flaws got her in trouble, but I didn’t enjoy the lack of nuance in her character overall.
The romance subplot was what ultimately lowered my rating from three stars to two. There were two scenes in particular that contained language with predatory undertones re: the age gap between the two individuals. Things like one character wondering if he’s a lecher for falling in love with a girl he met when she was 14 and he was 19 (now 16 and 21), justifications such as ‘she was wise beyond her years’, and the female character immediately reassuring him that ‘age is just a number’ in the scene immediately following raised red flags for me. If those two scenes in particular were omitted, I think it would have read less 'creepy' and more 'complicated', as I believe the novel intended.
Many will enjoy this story for what it is, by and large: a fast paced, Holmesian, swashbuckling adventure set in a world of pirates, magic, and mystery with a polarizing protagonist and hints of cool things to come. There were just too many elements that took me personally out of my enjoyment for me to want to recommend this or continue with the series.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor/Forge for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.