felyn's review
3.0
Quick, simple, and kinda boring.
Perhaps if this were the introductory chapters of a full novel, I would offer up higher praise and more stars. Unfortunately, it's a stand-alone novella and as a result, doesn't shine nearly as much as it could or should.
The warriors and the mages hate one another on the flimsiest of premises, but they're forced to work together for... no reason, really. The assumed good of the islands and tribes.
Except all we know about the tribes is that they're people who abandoned an unknown world/dimension to escape corruption - presumably moral - that we are never shown and is only mentioned in passing.
The leader must come from the original world because s/he cannot be partial to any of the tribes or either of the factions, which makes sense except for the part where they abandoned that place because of corruption. So their leader has somehow escaped this moral/ethical/unexplained decay.
Our main characters are likable. The mage and the warrior thrown together on a contract/quest to find the latest Key and prevent their society from falling into a state of civil war. They bicker slightly, play off one another, and generally show themselves to be pretty okay as characters.
One throw-away reveal that pissed me off a whole lot? Pointless, and it takes away from the character.
I'm sorry, in a novella setting, this doesn't work. I liked the idea well enough to stretch and give it three stars, but it's a disappointment.
Perhaps if this were the introductory chapters of a full novel, I would offer up higher praise and more stars. Unfortunately, it's a stand-alone novella and as a result, doesn't shine nearly as much as it could or should.
The warriors and the mages hate one another on the flimsiest of premises, but they're forced to work together for... no reason, really. The assumed good of the islands and tribes.
Except all we know about the tribes is that they're people who abandoned an unknown world/dimension to escape corruption - presumably moral - that we are never shown and is only mentioned in passing.
The leader must come from the original world because s/he cannot be partial to any of the tribes or either of the factions, which makes sense except for the part where they abandoned that place because of corruption. So their leader has somehow escaped this moral/ethical/unexplained decay.
Our main characters are likable. The mage and the warrior thrown together on a contract/quest to find the latest Key and prevent their society from falling into a state of civil war. They bicker slightly, play off one another, and generally show themselves to be pretty okay as characters.
One throw-away reveal that pissed me off a whole lot?
Spoiler
The warrior randomly tosses out the betraying warrior leader was her lover until she decided to betray him and... oh, that's right. To do the right thing and keep her oath.I'm sorry, in a novella setting, this doesn't work. I liked the idea well enough to stretch and give it three stars, but it's a disappointment.
More...