rahul_pati's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Disclaimer: I received the e-book from the author as part a giveaway on r/fantasy subreddit.
What's this about:
A proper fantasy heist story about a group of thieves/assassins who are forced by an evil king to steal magical artifacts. There are 3 POV characters - Kahli, a trained assassin, determined to redeem herself and rise among the ranks of her cult; Amara, a trained thief whose compulsive thieving habit has got her into this mess & Raik, the leader of the group, the brains of this operation who hides a mysterious past. We experience the story through the eyes of these 3 characters while learning more about them along the way.
What worked for me:
1) The world building is refreshing and new. It's inspired from Indian culture - names of characters and places, clothes and food. The Canadian author has Indian parentage and has used the Indian influences quite well to give the world an distinct flavor.
2) This is a proper heist story with all the ingredients one expects from it. A group leader with a plan and several back up plans - Check. A group of rogues, each having their own skill set to add to the heist - Check. Bickering and back stabbing within the group - Check. An evil overlord, a tight deadline with deadly consequences on failure - Check. Infiltration, disguise, maps, plans, daredevilry and action - Check. Reminded me of movies like Ocean's series and especially The Italian Job.
3) Action packed climax with explosive showdown between each POV character and their respective opponents. Carter brilliantly weaves the plot threads to set up these direct conflicts and delivers a satisfying payoff.
What didn't:
1) Out of the 3 main characters, only Kahli was fleshed out properly and had a character arc/growth. Amara's character arc was fine, though felt somewhat lacking. Raik's character arc didn't feel much depth to it and I never really cared about him.
2) The use of the 3 POVs felt unnecessary at times, since they spend the majority of the novel together. Kahli's POV chapters have flashbacks which served to flesh out her character. Amara and Raik's chapters didn't really give much depth to their characters and felt mostly used for plot reasons.
3)
4)
Final words:
I felt the story a little slow to start off and didn't really connect with any of the characters in the first half. The second half made it up and even exceeded expectations for me, turned it from meh to wow. Overall a solid first entry into this world which really delivers. I hope there are more entries to come and will definitely pick up the next one. Highly recommend this for fans of heist stories and dark, gritty fantasy in a non-European setting. Rated 4/5 on Goodreads and Storygraph.
What's this about:
A proper fantasy heist story about a group of thieves/assassins who are forced by an evil king to steal magical artifacts. There are 3 POV characters - Kahli, a trained assassin, determined to redeem herself and rise among the ranks of her cult; Amara, a trained thief whose compulsive thieving habit has got her into this mess & Raik, the leader of the group, the brains of this operation who hides a mysterious past. We experience the story through the eyes of these 3 characters while learning more about them along the way.
What worked for me:
1) The world building is refreshing and new. It's inspired from Indian culture - names of characters and places, clothes and food. The Canadian author has Indian parentage and has used the Indian influences quite well to give the world an distinct flavor.
2) This is a proper heist story with all the ingredients one expects from it. A group leader with a plan and several back up plans - Check. A group of rogues, each having their own skill set to add to the heist - Check. Bickering and back stabbing within the group - Check. An evil overlord, a tight deadline with deadly consequences on failure - Check. Infiltration, disguise, maps, plans, daredevilry and action - Check. Reminded me of movies like Ocean's series and especially The Italian Job.
3) Action packed climax with explosive showdown between each POV character and their respective opponents. Carter brilliantly weaves the plot threads to set up these direct conflicts and delivers a satisfying payoff.
What didn't:
1) Out of the 3 main characters, only Kahli was fleshed out properly and had a character arc/growth. Amara's character arc was fine, though felt somewhat lacking. Raik's character arc didn't feel much depth to it and I never really cared about him.
2) The use of the 3 POVs felt unnecessary at times, since they spend the majority of the novel together. Kahli's POV chapters have flashbacks which served to flesh out her character. Amara and Raik's chapters didn't really give much depth to their characters and felt mostly used for plot reasons.
3)
Spoiler
There was a huge reveal about Raik later in the story which muddled his already underdeveloped characterization. He being the leader and mastermind, I was expecting some charisma/flair/charm from his character, but he felt very bland. Post that reveal, his personality felt even more confusing since we don't have the full insight into his past.4)
Spoiler
Amara has a secret power within herself which she's trying to master and contain. She's always afraid to use that power to it's full potential until the very end (the results of which were spectacular). I'd have liked some more detail behind that power in this world. It's not explained and I had to suspend my disbelief further to accept it.Final words:
I felt the story a little slow to start off and didn't really connect with any of the characters in the first half. The second half made it up and even exceeded expectations for me, turned it from meh to wow. Overall a solid first entry into this world which really delivers. I hope there are more entries to come and will definitely pick up the next one. Highly recommend this for fans of heist stories and dark, gritty fantasy in a non-European setting. Rated 4/5 on Goodreads and Storygraph.
wolfmantula's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
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I really wanted to love this novel, and it breaks my heart that I didn’t, and even more so, that I’m leaving a bad review for it because I hate writing them and almost decided to not write one at all and just leave it be. But because I am a book blogger and I backed the Kickstarter campaign that came with a nice hardcover edition, a coin and a set of Rackna dice (pictured below), purchased the ebook and audiobook, I felt obligated to put my honest feelings out there so that people know I’m not just trying to leave only good reviews. Another reason this hurts to do is that the author just seems like a genuinely nice person from the few interactions I had with him, and his video updates during the Kickstarter campaign.
With that said, this is Mr. Carter’s South Asian inspired debut novel, and maybe some of the criticisms I mention later can be worked on in later novels. The cover art is something that instantly had me hooked, it’s so well done and helps transport you into the world. To Steal the Sun is a character driven, epic fantasy heist novel with multiple POV’s. The POV’s help with charter building as it used flashbacks at the beginning to tell the stories of the very flawed characters of Kahli, Amara and Raik as they make their way to their destination for the heist. I decided to buy the ebook and audio so that I could Whispersync this rather than just read it. I thought that the narrator, Ulka Simone Mohanty, did a tremendous job of her varying voices for each character as well as getting into the emotions of each of them as well. I liked that it also had a tinge of humor in it as well, it was nice to break some of it up with a few giggle worthy lines.
“The most powerful force in the world is knowing what people want to believe and convincing them they’re right.”
What I didn’t like about this starts off with the comparison that the author gave. “Ocean’s 11 meets Game of Thrones & Six of Crows meets Rage of Dragons with a healthy dose of Indian spice.” It has some court intrigue, and that’s about all I can say that To Steal the Sun resembles GoT and RoD. Seeing a comp with those two I expected to see dragons, there was none. The Ocean’s 11 and Six of Crows comp makes some sense as they are heist novels/movie/show. The reason I say “some sense” is that Ocean’s 11 is more plot driven and Six of Crows is a bit more of a mix of plot/character, and TSTS is far more of a character driven novel that also has a heist in it. For those reasons I think the comps are a bit misleading.
I also had an issue with the dialogue between the characters, as it felt unnatural and very weak most of the time which made it hard for me to connect with any of the characters or care about their motivations. There were a lot of dramatic interruptions, not sure if that’s the correct terminology, but it’s where the character is speaking and is interrupted or stops for dramatic effect. Ex: “I can’t get any —-. Khali didn’t let her finish.” This happened at least 5 times to my recollection. Once or twice is fine, but in my opinion, that’s too many times. The world building was very limited, and took a backseat to the character building/development the same way that the heist plot did to the characters, and it mainly relies on basic descriptions for the reader to fill in the gaps of what South Asian culture would look like. There was also something I’ve never experienced before, I don’t know if it’s bad, odd or just something different, the author decided to add sound effects for arrows flying “thsssst” and scissors being used “snip-snip.”
I wish all the best to Mr. Carter and the people at RAID press in their future novels.
jacinda94's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Loved it, definitely had me hooked 😊 I kinda wish that it was a series and that we could see someone shadow children but overall *chefs kiss*
The twist and turns were great and I appreciated that the characters were more intertwined than we were originally lead to believe
The twist and turns were great and I appreciated that the characters were more intertwined than we were originally lead to believe
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