nakedsushi's review against another edition
3.0
An okay fantasy adventure. I liked the world building, but it was pretty confusing because everything was so new. I'm happy to read something where the characters are rational and make decisions with their heads and not their hearts most of the time. The plot was pretty predictable, but I mostly read it for the interactions between characters.
chefgirlsatan's review against another edition
5.0
Ok well this started off kind of slow for me but once I got into it, it was hard to put it down. This book is so interesting compared to a lot of other fantasy books out there - the steampunk aspect alone I think adds a whole other dimension that I really enjoy. And the fact that this starts out following someone who is in a broken marriage instead of a love story was great, felt more true to life then a lot of these OH THEY MEET AND FIGHT AND FALL IN LOVE. Much more on par with - nope shits just fucked up and relationships are complicated.
Really excited that this is a series!
Really excited that this is a series!
emiann2023's review against another edition
5.0
This was a really good read! It was fast-paced and brutal, but I also liked how the characters broke with convention. Really a great read.
lizzy_22's review against another edition
4.0
Solid 4.5 stars, great read!
Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off the malevolent haunting of the geists...
Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha, now thrust into partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.
After a confusing start, I pushed through the complicated beginning to find myself immersed in an amazing fantasy world with some of the best characters I’ve read in a long time. Billed as steampunk fantasy, this story builds a relationship between the three main characters that I adored: self sufficient, smart and strong Sorcha Faris, the newbie, but immensely talented, Merrick and Raed Rossin, the exiled Pretender to the throne of the Empire who bears within him an incredible ancient supernatural curse. These three, linked by a bond Sorcha creates in a moment of need, are astounded by the unparalleled power they can create and sustain together.
Once they’ve made their way seemingly clear of the confrontation in Ulrich they were sent to deflate (and I’ve totally made that sound easier than it was!), Sorcha and Merrick, now inexorably joined by Raed, return to the seat of the Empire to discover new treachery and betrayals, and by the by, foil the invasion of a powerful demon lord.
Geist was an extremely pleasant surprise that I pulled out of my TBR read pile without realizing what a gem I had! Now, Ballantine’s books are on my ‘go-to’ list for good reads and I’ve already read and thoroughly enjoyed Pip's more traditional steampunk series, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances.
Between the living and the dead is the Order of the Deacons, protectors of the Empire, guardians against possession, sentinels enlisted to ward off the malevolent haunting of the geists...
Among the most powerful of the Order is Sorcha, now thrust into partnership with the novice Deacon, Merrick Chambers. They have been dispatched to the isolated village of Ulrich to aide the Priory with a surge of violent geist activity. With them is Raed Rossin, Pretender to the throne that Sorcha is sworn to protect, and bearer of a terrible curse.
After a confusing start, I pushed through the complicated beginning to find myself immersed in an amazing fantasy world with some of the best characters I’ve read in a long time. Billed as steampunk fantasy, this story builds a relationship between the three main characters that I adored: self sufficient, smart and strong Sorcha Faris, the newbie, but immensely talented, Merrick and Raed Rossin, the exiled Pretender to the throne of the Empire who bears within him an incredible ancient supernatural curse.
Spoiler
OMG, he not only can turn into a LION, but he can vary the shape. Tail of a fish or wings and head of an eagle! SUPER coolOnce they’ve made their way seemingly clear of the confrontation in Ulrich they were sent to deflate (and I’ve totally made that sound easier than it was!), Sorcha and Merrick, now inexorably joined by Raed, return to the seat of the Empire to discover new treachery and betrayals, and by the by, foil the invasion of a powerful demon lord.
Geist was an extremely pleasant surprise that I pulled out of my TBR read pile without realizing what a gem I had! Now, Ballantine’s books are on my ‘go-to’ list for good reads and I’ve already read and thoroughly enjoyed Pip's more traditional steampunk series, Ministry of Peculiar Occurances.
tehani's review against another edition
4.0
Probably a solid 3.5 for me, but I've rounded up because I've moved straight on to the next book because I liked the characters a lot. The premise is interesting too, but the writing is a little slow and I'm not sure I actually "get" the worldbuilding - maybe in book 2! The characters absolutely save it though, and I want to find out what happens to them next.
elenajohansen's review against another edition
1.0
DNF @ page 182. I hung on for a long time but it's just not getting better.
Whatever good ideas the plot or world-building contained that might have otherwise given me a satisfying reading experience, this novel demonstrated to me a fundamental flaw over and over again: breaking rules it never bothered to establish. The first time we meet a geist, the protagonist makes a big deal about how it's acting weirdly. But how would I know that? When was normal geist behavior explained to me?
She's married to her Bond partner, but the marriage has gone sour and the husband is a non-character gravely wounded in the inciting incident, in order to set up the surprising strength of the Bond with her new partner. But when did I as a reader ever learn what a normal Bond is supposed to be like?
When the new partners travel to a distant chapter of their Order and things feel off, I know I'm supposed to dread the reveal of whatever's going on, but I don't feel it because I don't have anything solid to compare it to. And when it turns out the chapter has gone rogue and is summoning geists instead of banishing them, the protagonist is horrified because this, apparently, has never once happened in the history of the Order. Umm, what? How many hundreds of years has the Order been around again? And not one Deacon has ever turned out to be evil before now? Your screening methods for applicants, and their training, is really that good? Am I supposed to believe that?
The one exception to this repeated untold-rule breaking is that geists start being capable of acting on water, when it is at least mentioned beforehand that the capital city is built on a peninsula in a swamp in order to surround as much of it with water as possible and keep it nominally geist-free. So when a geist possesses a giant sea creature that attacks a ship, okay, fine, I'll give you that one, it's weird and I understand it. But that was the only time I did.
I could never get invested in the story because I felt like the author was constantly trying to one-up me as a reader. "Oh, you'll never guess what's coming next! Why? Because I haven't given you a single tool to predict it! It's a super-big twist that I'm breaking the rule I never told you about!"
This is a fantasy world. I do not inherently know how it works. Info-dumping is a poor writing technique, but I would have preferred that to not being told barely anything useful about the system of the world until just before, or in some cases, just after, it gets broken and I'm supposed to care.
Whatever good ideas the plot or world-building contained that might have otherwise given me a satisfying reading experience, this novel demonstrated to me a fundamental flaw over and over again: breaking rules it never bothered to establish. The first time we meet a geist, the protagonist makes a big deal about how it's acting weirdly. But how would I know that? When was normal geist behavior explained to me?
She's married to her Bond partner, but the marriage has gone sour and the husband is a non-character gravely wounded in the inciting incident, in order to set up the surprising strength of the Bond with her new partner. But when did I as a reader ever learn what a normal Bond is supposed to be like?
When the new partners travel to a distant chapter of their Order and things feel off, I know I'm supposed to dread the reveal of whatever's going on, but I don't feel it because I don't have anything solid to compare it to. And when it turns out the chapter has gone rogue and is summoning geists instead of banishing them, the protagonist is horrified because this, apparently, has never once happened in the history of the Order. Umm, what? How many hundreds of years has the Order been around again? And not one Deacon has ever turned out to be evil before now? Your screening methods for applicants, and their training, is really that good? Am I supposed to believe that?
The one exception to this repeated untold-rule breaking is that geists start being capable of acting on water, when it is at least mentioned beforehand that the capital city is built on a peninsula in a swamp in order to surround as much of it with water as possible and keep it nominally geist-free. So when a geist possesses a giant sea creature that attacks a ship, okay, fine, I'll give you that one, it's weird and I understand it. But that was the only time I did.
I could never get invested in the story because I felt like the author was constantly trying to one-up me as a reader. "Oh, you'll never guess what's coming next! Why? Because I haven't given you a single tool to predict it! It's a super-big twist that I'm breaking the rule I never told you about!"
This is a fantasy world. I do not inherently know how it works. Info-dumping is a poor writing technique, but I would have preferred that to not being told barely anything useful about the system of the world until just before, or in some cases, just after, it gets broken and I'm supposed to care.
anzuk's review against another edition
4.0
Let me tell you the reasons why Geist wasn’t as epic as expected.
First off, the introduction to the world and its characters was bad. You got thrown in a riot without knowing where you are, who you are, who the hell if fighting you, or who the hell you’re fighting against. There was also a lack of an index. It’s so funny how some authors that write Paranormal books (especially Paranormal Romances) tend to hit us with these fancy indexes of silly edited words, which are pretty obvious in their meaning. And yet a book of Geist’s might gets nothing of the sort.
Geist is in badly need of an index, people. Please fix this issue.
Another problem was with the information, or better put, overflow of information. Sometimes when I read my mind gets idle, and I might not pay attention to certain things. Fuck it, this happens to me a lot, especially since I tend to read at the end of the day in bed, before I sleep. Why do i do this? Because I read to relax. Geist felt like doing homework. I had to focus 100% with it in order not to miss anything. Now don’t get me wrong, I love being totally sucked into books, but my problem is with being forced to do this since it didn’t come naturally. Geist has 290 pages, and the story is rather complex. This resulted in an overflow of information that gave me headaches at times.
Since the story is rather somber, I felt like the romance between Sorcha and Raed was not matching. I would have the erotic scenes replaced with some more intimate emotional ones. I also felt like Sorcha’s toughness was a bit too forced. But this could be me.
Apart from this, I loved Geist’s universe, story and characters, and I would recommend it if you’re in the mood for some fast-paced Fatasy reading.
3.5 stars
Review also posted on
First off, the introduction to the world and its characters was bad. You got thrown in a riot without knowing where you are, who you are, who the hell if fighting you, or who the hell you’re fighting against. There was also a lack of an index. It’s so funny how some authors that write Paranormal books (especially Paranormal Romances) tend to hit us with these fancy indexes of silly edited words, which are pretty obvious in their meaning. And yet a book of Geist’s might gets nothing of the sort.
Geist is in badly need of an index, people. Please fix this issue.
Another problem was with the information, or better put, overflow of information. Sometimes when I read my mind gets idle, and I might not pay attention to certain things. Fuck it, this happens to me a lot, especially since I tend to read at the end of the day in bed, before I sleep. Why do i do this? Because I read to relax. Geist felt like doing homework. I had to focus 100% with it in order not to miss anything. Now don’t get me wrong, I love being totally sucked into books, but my problem is with being forced to do this since it didn’t come naturally. Geist has 290 pages, and the story is rather complex. This resulted in an overflow of information that gave me headaches at times.
Since the story is rather somber, I felt like the romance between Sorcha and Raed was not matching. I would have the erotic scenes replaced with some more intimate emotional ones. I also felt like Sorcha’s toughness was a bit too forced. But this could be me.
Apart from this, I loved Geist’s universe, story and characters, and I would recommend it if you’re in the mood for some fast-paced Fatasy reading.
3.5 stars
Review also posted on
caseythebookwitch's review against another edition
4.0
Now I am a sucker for good fantasy, but this was different, fantasy yet paranormal in its bones. Hell yes! Excellent story, world building is extraordinary, I felt as though I was just on the tip of the iceberg in the vastness of the Order universe. The characters are fantastic, dark, deep, strong, weird yet it works. Very well in fact. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was the writing, its uncomfortable... not horrible, not unedited, just weird. It grew on me later, but it took 3 solid days of trying to get into the story before I knew I wanted to finish the book. I am glad I did. AND the very best part is we have no HEA here. Just a mere lightening of the load on the 3 main characters, it left me wanting to immediately start book 2... and only good can come of that :)