Tag Archives: steampunk

New Sky

Book Review of New Sky: Eyes of the Watcher, by Jason Kent

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New SkyI downloaded a copy of New Sky: Eyes of the Watcher, by Jason Kent, from the Amazon free list.

Overly Long Description from Goodreads:

See the Future.
Kill the Mechs.
Save the Earth. 

See the Future. Kate Thompson did not expect to receive the power to see into the future when her day started. Everything changed for Kate after boarding an enemy Ironclad Star Cruiser, a mechanical wonder seemingly from another time, alongside a platoon of Stellar Union Marines. Embedded with Master Sergeant Kelly Merrick’s SUMC unit by her corporate employer, Electro-Magnetic Technologies, Kate is expected to repair the high tech gear the Stellar Marine’s somehow manage to keep breaking. Unfortunately, Kate’s work is never done as the space-going Marine’s constantly find new and unusual ways to destroy their equipment each and every time they embark on a mission. Her previous work does little to prepare Kate for the complete electronic system failure the team experiences aboard the Ironclad starship. When Kate finds her high tech gadgets useless, she is glad to find her assigned guardian, Kelly Merrick, functions just fine with only his sniper rifle and a combat knife. They fight their way deep into the Ironclad, where Kate’s Quest truly begins. Together they encounter an enigmatic Tallinn Watcher, and Kate finds she needs Merrick more than ever. Javin is a Watcher, one of the enemy’s top battle commanders charged with ensuring Tallinn victory over Earth’s forces…at any cost. Javin shares a mysterious link with a powerful entity called Knowl, allowing him to predict the outcome of crucial events with startling clarity. Javin uses this insight to utterly defeat his opponents in battle after battle. While fighting on the side of the Tallinn, defeating far superior forces, Javin has been secretly searching for someone who will end this bloody conflict. When Kate bursts in on Javin’s inner sanctum, he knows his search is over. With his dying breath, the Watcher passes his ability to see into the future to Kate; opening her eyes to wonders she never imagined! 

Kill the Mechs. Master Sergeant Kelly Merrick’s mission is clear and brutally simple; destroy as many enemy machines as humanly possible. Carrying out his orders as a Stellar Union Marine Corps sniper is the only way he knows to protect his fellow Marines as they battle legions of the relentless Tallinn clockwork soldiers. Fortunately for his team, Merrick is very good at his job. Little did he know he would end up assigned to baby-sit Kate, one of the civilian contractors who keeps getting in his line of fire. If only he was not so attracted to his new charge as she ends up requiring more protection than even he may be able to provide. After their life-altering encounter with the Tallinn Watcher, Merrick enlists the help of his fellow Marines to keep Kate and her new abilities safe. He also convinces them to follow Kate halfway across the galaxy to worlds only a Watcher can see. Merrick discovers his new mission; keeping Kate Thompson alive, is the key to saving everyone on Earth! 

Save the Earth. The strange encounter with the Watcher leaves Kate linked to Knowl and in possession of a new inner sight beyond time and space. Kate has many questions about her new found abilities but Javin is gone before she can get her answers. Several things are clear; Kate must find Knowl, stop the Tallinn’s, and save the Earth…no problem. She is not alone on her journey.

Review:
This was an amusing, if somewhat shallow read. It’s action packed and never seemed to lag, despite being quite long. So, my main take-away is that I had fun with it. But that doesn’t really negate the fact that the characters were not fleshed out; not one of them had any history at all. The romance came out of nowhere and was wholly unsupported. Plus, there was absolutely no chemistry between the characters, even if I did like them both and liked them together. The point of view was inconsistent and a random enemy showed up at about 60% through, but never really did anything.

Anyhow, it was an enjoyable read. And though it could use a little more editing, the writing was quite readable.

Stormdancer

Book Review of Stormdancer (The Lotus War, #1), by Jay Kristoff

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StormdancerI picked up a copy of Stormdancer, by Jay Kristoff at my local library. (With that cover, how could I not?)

Description from Goodreads:
A DYING LAND
The Shima Imperium verges on the brink of environmental collapse; an island nation once rich in tradition and myth, now decimated by clockwork industrialization and the machine-worshipers of the Lotus Guild. The skies are red as blood, the land is choked with toxic pollution, and the great spirit animals that once roamed its wilds have departed forever.

AN IMPOSSIBLE QUEST 
The hunters of Shima’s imperial court are charged by their Shōgun to capture a thunder tiger – a legendary creature, half-eagle, half-tiger. But any fool knows the beasts have been extinct for more than a century, and the price of failing the Shōgun is death.

A HIDDEN GIFT 
Yukiko is a child of the Fox clan, possessed of a talent that if discovered, would see her executed by the Lotus Guild. Accompanying her father on the Shōgun’s hunt, she finds herself stranded: a young woman alone in Shima’s last wilderness, with only a furious, crippled thunder tiger for company. Even though she can hear his thoughts, even though she saved his life, all she knows for certain is he’d rather see her dead than help her.

But together, the pair will form an indomitable friendship, and rise to challenge the might of an empire.

Review:
This is probably a must-read for all Anime and Manga fans out there. You’ll definitely recognize the feel of it. Not to mention it’d be really helpful to already understand what a yokai and oni are, as well as any number of other recognizable Japanese words (clothing items, ranks, weaponry, etc).

I basically enjoyed it after a really slow start. I enjoyed Yukiko and Buruu, as well as some of the side characters. I probably could have done without the teenage romance, but this is a YA book so I don’t know that I can really complain about it.

Like so many YA books it is essentially an allegory. Shima’s Chi dependence mirroring the modern world’s dependence on oil and it’s destructive self-perpetuation. The maniac Shogun could easily be the greedy 1% crushing the common man, while placating him with lies and base entertainments.

All in all, well worth picking up.

An Airship Named Desire

Book Review of An Airship Named Desire, by Katherine McIntyre

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An Airship Named DesireQuite some times ago, Katherine McIntyre sent me a copy of her novel An Airship Named Desire for review. I’ve also seen it on the Amazon free list.

Description from Goodreads:
Ever since their last botched smuggling job, First Mate Bea and the crew of her airship can barely afford fuel, let alone a barrel of grog. So, when a gentleman from Old Germany offers them a fortune to steal a locked box from a British merchant airship, they jump at the opportunity. Somehow, though, their employer forgot to mention the box’s military escort, and the Morlock mercenaries who would kill to get their hands on it. Oh, and that if made public, the contents could engulf Europe in another devastating war. 

Stealing the box was the easy part. Now, with a target on their back, and some of the toughest characters in the sky after them, they have to find a way to survive. If the crew of the Desire don’t polish their pistols and prepare for a hell of a fight, they’ll end up worse than grounded. After all, everyone from the Brits to the Morlocks will kill for the contents of that box, and no one survives an airship crash.

 Review:
This was basically all right, but not overly satisfying. As action packed as it was it tended toward simplistic solutions to problems. For example, the time the crew managed to guess the three-digit combination to a box they knew nothing about (on the first try even). Hell, half the time I can’t even figure out my own locker combination, let alone a combination set by an unknown person, for an unknown purpose. So, yeah, sometimes things worked out a little too easily, but it was also a fun romp.

However, all that action comes at a price. This book starts with it and it never abates. And while that’s exciting it leaves no time to slow down and get to know the characters or the world. I really felt this lack of depth. I also thought it was a bit predictable and the open ending (not a cliffhanger per se, but not all questions answered) chaffed a bit.

All in all, if you’re looking for some airship fluff that doesn’t require much mental participation this will do the trick. It’s a fun but shallow read.