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3.44 AVERAGE
3.44 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A fun robot apocalypse!
I wasn't sure what to expect but wow, I was floored by how captivating and fun this book was. Loved the twists and ideas in it (though would love move). It wasn't overtly complex or dense - just straight to the core and action.
I'd be interest in reading more about it!
The audio version is great too. Highly recommend.
I wasn't sure what to expect but wow, I was floored by how captivating and fun this book was. Loved the twists and ideas in it (though would love move). It wasn't overtly complex or dense - just straight to the core and action.
I'd be interest in reading more about it!
The audio version is great too. Highly recommend.
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-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
This early review copy was provided by NetGallery and Inkshares Publishing. Many thanks to them for providing me with this copy in exchange for an honest review! Let's get into it...
The Premise...
The setting of the story is as follows...
In the aftermath of an alien invasion by a race called 'The Mek', most of Earth's population has either been terminated or enslaved into work camps called 'townships'. The protagonist of the novel is a girl called Dakota (Yes named after the state!) who works in a township with her disabled brother Sam. It is revealed early into the story that Dakota and Sam's parents were generals in Earth's last battalion and piloted Earth's greatest weapon - The Gundog.
The Gundog is a large, mechanised weapon that operates with a pilot and a gunner. The Gundog is Earth's best chance at taking back it's planet and you can bet your bottom dollar that Dakota is going to find a Gundog...
The Good...
For the first 1/3 of this book, I was absolutely hooked! The opening sequence to this story is fantastic, with a great premise and introductory segment. I immediately liked the character of Dakota, a strong female lead who takes on her brother's role as lead sibling once he becomes unable to work due to an injury sustained during his enslavement.
Another great aspect to this story is the characters of Runyon and Rosie. These two characters really add some substance to the novel and their relationships to Dakota are the most believable part of the story. Runyon in particular has a great character arc and really develops into a protagonist that you can cheer for as he becomes a far stronger and determined person.
What wasn't so good...
Where the first 1/3 of the book flourished, the rest of the book I feel unfortunately lost it's way. This, I feel in particular, is related heavily to the character of Falk. Falk is a character that Dakota meets in the township and develops a 'strong bond' with over the duration of a few weeks in the story. However the development of this relationship is never fully explored - it happens over the space of a few pages, therefore it's extremely hard to believe that Dakota could possibly see Falk as someone she is equally as close to as her brother Sam.
Even more frustrating when reading, is that Falk is essentially a pointless character. After finishing, my first thought was "Why did Whitta write this character? What purpose does he actually serve?". I honestly feel that if this is leading up to a sequel, then Falk's character might serve some purpose. However in this book, it feels very out of place and that a lot of his part was filler. I desperately wanted him to serve some more purpose than he did - but unfortunately it just wasn't explored.
Lastly, I feel that Whitta relied on the use of 'Deus Ex Machina' too many times to just resolve hopeless situations that just do not make sense. This was maybe trying too hard, but it definitely felt a bit disappointing to be presented with a tough situation and somehow the characters escape these time and time again.
Final Verdict...
Overall, Gundog is a very fast-paced text that has lots of enjoyable moments - particularly in the beginning and ending sections of the book. It hosts a cast of interesting characters, but ultimately fails to develop meaningful character arcs and feels that it sometimes loses it's way plot-wise. It would definitely be interesting to see, if Whitta writes a sequel, how he develops the story and the characters within the story.
Rating out of 5: 3
Once again, many thanks to NetGallery and Inkshares Publishing for allowing me to read this text early! Gundog publishes in July 2023.
The Premise...
The setting of the story is as follows...
In the aftermath of an alien invasion by a race called 'The Mek', most of Earth's population has either been terminated or enslaved into work camps called 'townships'. The protagonist of the novel is a girl called Dakota (Yes named after the state!) who works in a township with her disabled brother Sam. It is revealed early into the story that Dakota and Sam's parents were generals in Earth's last battalion and piloted Earth's greatest weapon - The Gundog.
The Gundog is a large, mechanised weapon that operates with a pilot and a gunner. The Gundog is Earth's best chance at taking back it's planet and you can bet your bottom dollar that Dakota is going to find a Gundog...
The Good...
For the first 1/3 of this book, I was absolutely hooked! The opening sequence to this story is fantastic, with a great premise and introductory segment. I immediately liked the character of Dakota, a strong female lead who takes on her brother's role as lead sibling once he becomes unable to work due to an injury sustained during his enslavement.
Another great aspect to this story is the characters of Runyon and Rosie. These two characters really add some substance to the novel and their relationships to Dakota are the most believable part of the story. Runyon in particular has a great character arc and really develops into a protagonist that you can cheer for as he becomes a far stronger and determined person.
What wasn't so good...
Where the first 1/3 of the book flourished, the rest of the book I feel unfortunately lost it's way. This, I feel in particular, is related heavily to the character of Falk. Falk is a character that Dakota meets in the township and develops a 'strong bond' with over the duration of a few weeks in the story. However the development of this relationship is never fully explored - it happens over the space of a few pages, therefore it's extremely hard to believe that Dakota could possibly see Falk as someone she is equally as close to as her brother Sam.
Even more frustrating when reading, is that Falk is essentially a pointless character. After finishing, my first thought was "Why did Whitta write this character? What purpose does he actually serve?". I honestly feel that if this is leading up to a sequel, then Falk's character might serve some purpose. However in this book, it feels very out of place and that a lot of his part was filler. I desperately wanted him to serve some more purpose than he did - but unfortunately it just wasn't explored.
Lastly, I feel that Whitta relied on the use of 'Deus Ex Machina' too many times to just resolve hopeless situations that just do not make sense. This was maybe trying too hard, but it definitely felt a bit disappointing to be presented with a tough situation and somehow the characters escape these time and time again.
Final Verdict...
Overall, Gundog is a very fast-paced text that has lots of enjoyable moments - particularly in the beginning and ending sections of the book. It hosts a cast of interesting characters, but ultimately fails to develop meaningful character arcs and feels that it sometimes loses it's way plot-wise. It would definitely be interesting to see, if Whitta writes a sequel, how he develops the story and the characters within the story.
Rating out of 5: 3
Once again, many thanks to NetGallery and Inkshares Publishing for allowing me to read this text early! Gundog publishes in July 2023.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
adventurous
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Gundog was the perfect summer sci-fi read! This book contains some of my favorite storytelling tropes: post-apocalyptic USA setting, escapes, and finding out everything you were told about your world is a lie. I'd recommend this book to anyone fairly new to sci-fi or dystopian genres, someone looking for a page-turner, and of course, the audio version of this book is incredible, so I'll definitely be recommending it for a good road-trip read!
Mechs are not my thing, but I wanted to read this because of Gary Whitta. It was a little slow to hook me, and overall the story is pretty basic, but I liked it more than expected! To me, it reads more like YA than adult fiction.
adventurous
hopeful
medium-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
I enjoyed this and would come back for the second one if it comes out. Gary Whitta is great.