Scan barcode
loafreads's review
2.0
I was sucked into the online hype at the time I preordered this book.
It’s absolutely beautiful to look at…
However, it’s unbearably slow, no real plot (which yes, it’s a prologue, but if I’m going to read 500 odd pages I expect something!).
I just couldn’t get into it. First book I’ve ever DNF’d and the most I’ve ever paid too! So disappointed.
I will say the website/online presence was really cool, I got my own Octunnumi name, you got different bits of merch with each edition of the book. Very clever marketing. I really wish the content lived up to the magic of the rest of it!
It’s absolutely beautiful to look at…
However, it’s unbearably slow, no real plot (which yes, it’s a prologue, but if I’m going to read 500 odd pages I expect something!).
I just couldn’t get into it. First book I’ve ever DNF’d and the most I’ve ever paid too! So disappointed.
I will say the website/online presence was really cool, I got my own Octunnumi name, you got different bits of merch with each edition of the book. Very clever marketing. I really wish the content lived up to the magic of the rest of it!
montypython95's review
Soooooo hard to understand and get into. It throws you into the story with no real explanation or reason for why you're there. So hard to follow along with what is happening because you are just trying to get through the worlds words and pronunciations.
thehancam's review
2.0
I really wanted to love this book; I think the concept for the book and the fantasy world were interesting, but the poor writing kept pulling me out of the story so I was never fully immersed. Maybe I’m being a bit too high-brow, but I made a list of things that bugged me with the writing—
The dialogue is unbelievable, and almost remarkably so
An example of an actual conversation from the book—
Beyond being annoying, the dialogue was also frustratingly unbelievable in that one character would explain everything. EVERYTHING. And solely for the reader’s benefit; other characters in the scenes were already aware of these things, but this character would go on a 3-page, multi-paragraph, uninterrupted explanation of some of the most basic elements of this world. It reminds me of when my English teachers used to hound me to “show, not tell.” This is not showing; this is telling. People don't talk like that, and what a boring way to learn about a fantasy world.
Lack of dynamic female characters, and gross descriptions of women
I’ll let this one speak for itself—
The author then described this character walking as —
The dialogue is unbelievable, and almost remarkably so
An example of an actual conversation from the book—
"Sorry about that, old chap”
“You could have killed us”
“Nonsense, old chap”
“You blew up the house”
“Necessary, old chap, necessary”
Beyond being annoying, the dialogue was also frustratingly unbelievable in that one character would explain everything. EVERYTHING. And solely for the reader’s benefit; other characters in the scenes were already aware of these things, but this character would go on a 3-page, multi-paragraph, uninterrupted explanation of some of the most basic elements of this world. It reminds me of when my English teachers used to hound me to “show, not tell.” This is not showing; this is telling. People don't talk like that, and what a boring way to learn about a fantasy world.
Lack of dynamic female characters, and gross descriptions of women
I’ll let this one speak for itself—
He’s not sure if she is wearing a short skirt or a wide belt, but he is quite sure her top was meant for a child. One with a flat chest; a chest that did not bounce with each step.
The author then described this character walking as —
Jiggling her way around the room.
lukerh01's review
2.0
I don’t normally write reviews but I have a lot of thoughts here.
The positives to this book start with the physical book itself. It’s absolutely stunning to look at. Secondly, the world is just as unique and well-crafted. I love anything steam-punk/clockwork inspired so this world was right up my alley. The book does feel like a setting driven novel rather than being plot or character driven.
Despite this, where this book falls flat for me is in the plot. Besides a surface level summary, I cannot tell you what this book is about. At all. The plot feels sporadic, messy, and honestly poorly crafted. We would move from chapter to chapter with no sense as to when and where we were. The motivation behind what we were doing for most the story was also unclear. Similarly, the characters were not terribly engaging and with the sheer amount of them it was impossible to keep track of them.
Overall, I think this is a book that does not meet the reader where they are at but a book that expects the reader to meet the book where it is at. I’m tempted to continue the series simply for how stunning it’ll look on the shelf (and for the curiosity the ending left with me), but having to work through a dozen of these books feels less like enjoyment and more like a chore.
The positives to this book start with the physical book itself. It’s absolutely stunning to look at. Secondly, the world is just as unique and well-crafted. I love anything steam-punk/clockwork inspired so this world was right up my alley. The book does feel like a setting driven novel rather than being plot or character driven.
Despite this, where this book falls flat for me is in the plot. Besides a surface level summary, I cannot tell you what this book is about. At all. The plot feels sporadic, messy, and honestly poorly crafted. We would move from chapter to chapter with no sense as to when and where we were. The motivation behind what we were doing for most the story was also unclear. Similarly, the characters were not terribly engaging and with the sheer amount of them it was impossible to keep track of them.
Overall, I think this is a book that does not meet the reader where they are at but a book that expects the reader to meet the book where it is at. I’m tempted to continue the series simply for how stunning it’ll look on the shelf (and for the curiosity the ending left with me), but having to work through a dozen of these books feels less like enjoyment and more like a chore.
crystaldg7's review
2.0
I believe the author had so many great ideas for a fantasy/sci-fi world that he jumbled them all together in just this prologue. It would have been great to slowly introduce the reader to his world and characters. Instead reading this can cause whiplash at how fast the scenes change. I would have loved to see more character exploration then what we got. I would have loved to spend more time in one place. This book reads like a run-on sentence. It uses apostrophes instead of quotation marks. It also changes from third person to second person and back again without any warning. Then let me mention the dialogue between characters, more often then not one character interrupts the other. Characters interrupting each other got so so annoying while reading. I appreciate the references to environmental conservation and animal rights that the author throws in there though. I do think this could have been a better book with an editor.
brookewallace13's review
3.0
This is honestly a hard book to review. The author created an intricate world that catches attention. From a physics and theory standpoint I love that the world was basically the theory of multiple universes, but tweaked a little bit. It was also neat seeing how different characters could manipulate reality among other things. The author also created different words to add flavor to the book. It was great that definitions and pronunciations of the new words and name of characters were at the back of book and it was heavily relied upon (and something I think all books should have). I also love the interactive narrator within the story and some of the fun cutesy cartoon-like characters. There is a lot of magic and sci-fi elements to the story that are really cool and a sort of steampunk theme.
One of my main issues with this book is that it was mostly world building. I honestly think that more than half of this book is the author creating world and the other is plot. The world itself is so intricate and complicated that it can be really hard to follow. Not to mention there were parts where a group of characters, who knew how the world worked, would go on this 3 or 4 page monologue about the world purely for the reader. Another problem I had with the book was the dialogue between characters. There would be serious moments and then all of the sudden an unwarranted goofy, quirky moment came along. I felt as though the levity wasn't earned in those situations, it just kind of happened in places that it shouldn't. Speaking of random events, there would just be random events that would suddenly happen without ever being mentioned in the very extensive world building. I was disappointed in the ending as well, it was very abrupt (and a random event occurred) but it was left open for future books.
This book is only the prologue. So that is probably why there is so much world building. I still plan to read the future books in this series despite my complaints.
One of my main issues with this book is that it was mostly world building. I honestly think that more than half of this book is the author creating world and the other is plot. The world itself is so intricate and complicated that it can be really hard to follow. Not to mention there were parts where a group of characters, who knew how the world worked, would go on this 3 or 4 page monologue about the world purely for the reader. Another problem I had with the book was the dialogue between characters. There would be serious moments and then all of the sudden an unwarranted goofy, quirky moment came along. I felt as though the levity wasn't earned in those situations, it just kind of happened in places that it shouldn't. Speaking of random events, there would just be random events that would suddenly happen without ever being mentioned in the very extensive world building. I was disappointed in the ending as well, it was very abrupt (and a random event occurred) but it was left open for future books.
This book is only the prologue. So that is probably why there is so much world building. I still plan to read the future books in this series despite my complaints.
ladyphoenixqueen's review
3.0
Pretty good, but it felt like the reader was dropped into the middle of a story, which is weird when this is a "prologue." And then there were a million characters with complicated names, who all had baggage with each other that wasn't really explained, adding to the confusion. Idk....I'll probably read more books, if there are any after this, but it would have been nice to feel more excited about it.
lermonysnickers's review
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
This book look cool and the design was gorgeous, but if the prologue to your story is an entire book long, you're doing something wrong. Nothing happens, nothing is pronouncable even with the pronunciation guide, and the characters are just flat out annoying. It was a neat idea, it just doesn't work.
jinxei's review
4.0
UPDATE #1:
Definitely a 4-4.25 at the least.
Let's be honest, this book deserves more than one read through. After I had time to think on it, do not go into this as if it is a standalone novel. This is a prologue, an introduction to a world unlike ours and succeeds in the tremendous amount of world building that is needed to set up the future novels. Meeting all the different characters, seeing how the different Innesomids (worlds/planes) are, and the history of the Octunnumi is done incredibly. I hope the two main characters stay throughout the series as the banter between them is wonderful.
Original:
Tentative 3.5, will need to do a proper review after a second read-through.
The book and the contents of the packaging that came with it are gorgeous. The added dictionary is not only beautiful and well done, but necessary as the book itself seems as if it were written by someone not from our planet.
However, I found the plot a bit confusing and hard to follow and needed to reference that dictionary often (my memory is not good enough to just remember those things), so I think it might benefit from another read-through at a later date.
Definitely a 4-4.25 at the least.
Let's be honest, this book deserves more than one read through. After I had time to think on it, do not go into this as if it is a standalone novel. This is a prologue, an introduction to a world unlike ours and succeeds in the tremendous amount of world building that is needed to set up the future novels. Meeting all the different characters, seeing how the different Innesomids (worlds/planes) are, and the history of the Octunnumi is done incredibly. I hope the two main characters stay throughout the series as the banter between them is wonderful.
Original:
Tentative 3.5, will need to do a proper review after a second read-through.
The book and the contents of the packaging that came with it are gorgeous. The added dictionary is not only beautiful and well done, but necessary as the book itself seems as if it were written by someone not from our planet.
However, I found the plot a bit confusing and hard to follow and needed to reference that dictionary often (my memory is not good enough to just remember those things), so I think it might benefit from another read-through at a later date.