Reviews

I actually enjoyed this one. While there is a romantic story-line, it is not over-bearing and a major part of the story. I also know that this is sometimes classified as steampunk, but I would not go too far down that rabbit hole. What we have is a world with magic being awoken while the rest of the world has moved on.
The story is about a drunk-and-disorderly pilot being given command of a prison that mines for crystals and a mage that has been buried for 300 years being awoken to find that her people are all gone. And the world doesn't trust magic.
The story is fast paced and enjoyable and this was a fun and fast read.

suz1's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

alanak8's review against another edition

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3.0

Not my favorite book. The fact I’m not rating it 5 stars means a lot. I still would like to own a copy but not a favorite book!

aabnet's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

mrtnk's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

earthurnreads's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

elizalicart's review against another edition

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3.0

A slow start. I will admit I almost put it down to move onto another book on my list! Fortunately I persevered, and I do love the characters. I felt I was able to connect with both Ridge and Sardelle, and I loved the humour that Jaxi brought into situations. I also loved that Sardelle's reactions towards coming out as a witch were quite believable, as were Ridge's thoughts and opinions. I loved their dynamic, but I was totally not expecting that steamy scene in the cave! (Not that I didn't like it... I mean... It was kind of sexy...*cough*).

Anyway! I will say that the story felt very short - it's hard to tell the true length of something on a Kindle, but it did feel like not much happened from beginning to end. However, it terms of writing style, there were a few things that stood out to me;
The first was world building, it was done very well and in a very believable way! I can't imagine how much work it must have taken to create this entire new universe from scratch in the way Buroker did.
The second is about the mental dialogue between Jaxi and Sardelle - I thought it flowed very well between Sardelle's thoughts, to Jaxi's responses, and Sardelle's responses, without ever explicitly saying what was what.
The third, of course, is the layout of the chapters and 'sub-chapters'. I loved the way the point of view changed between Ridge and Sardelle, and by following each character more questions were raised about the other, and also some were answered from the previous section. Very clever, and had me hooked! Each section had it's own consistent tone, which I loved.

In all a good read. I have the first three books and will definitely be continuing onto the next ones. I have no idea what direction they'll take, but I'm hoping for much more magic! I gave this three stars because I felt the story really could have gone on. I don't think very much happened, and I wasn't as hooked as other books have lead me to be. It was incredibly well written, and that's what the majority of my rating is attributed to.

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