naturalistnatalie's review
3.0
Not the greatest writing, and yet I couldn’t put it down. The dialogue in particular was very problematic – stilted, clichéd, and overwrought. There were many times I thought to myself, “No one would actually say that out loud.” Even the action involved a lot of telling, rather than showing. But, it was a fun bit of urban fantasy, with most of the urban fantasy monsters showing their faces at one time or another. The author even managed to shoehorn in a backstory involving Atlantis for good measure. The book actually felt like six novellas strung together into one novel. One monster/problem would be taken care of, and the next chapter in the book would pick up weeks later with a new big bad to fight. There was a bit of a throughline of big agencies in the occult world battling it out and bringing in different operatives to fight their battles, but each story was very self-contained.
evas's review
2.0
Debut novel, with no character development and very episodic writing.
Contains a promising bromance, and attempts at writing tension.
Contains a promising bromance, and attempts at writing tension.
jessmahler's review
4.0
Good read with good characters that takes a fun and unique look at some classic monsters.
Fair warning: about halfway through the book, Ryk turns your understanding of the book's world completely upside down. Took me several reads to get past the "What the fuck just happened here?!" moment. The hints and build up for what he springs on you are all there, but if you don't see them and realize they're import, the book seriously blindsides you. For some people, that makes it even better, for others it's a "throw the book across the room" moment.
(I originally read this as a ebook bought on the Baen website. It has been re-released in an updated and expanded version as Paradigm's Lost)
Fair warning: about halfway through the book, Ryk turns your understanding of the book's world completely upside down. Took me several reads to get past the "What the fuck just happened here?!" moment. The hints and build up for what he springs on you are all there, but if you don't see them and realize they're import, the book seriously blindsides you. For some people, that makes it even better, for others it's a "throw the book across the room" moment.
(I originally read this as a ebook bought on the Baen website. It has been re-released in an updated and expanded version as Paradigm's Lost)
More...