A review by ciraabi
The Adamantine Palace, by Stephen Deas
3.0
I am going to start with what I liked, because there are some aspects to that I found pretty good..
The concept is interesting. Instead of dragons working with humans they are unknowingly enslaved from the moment they are born, and of course this becomes one of the main points of conflict in the story when one gets away. The writing is also good and pacing make for a relatively quick and easy read.
The dragons concept is about where my enjoyment for this book ends. I found myself enjoying the chapters with Snow much more than the others. The re-awakening to need for revenge plotline was much more interesting than the stab at political intrigue. This book also falls rather short on character personality and development.
" 'He's vicious, callous, arrogant, self-obsessed-'
'You could be describing any of us' She smiled slightly."
I feel like the quote wasn't meaning to be intentional, but it really does describe all of the human characters. The royals especially. Everyone is a selfish, scheming, stone cold plotter to get to the top. Except Jehal, who just seems to be a little better at everything to keep him ahead of the rest. Most of the time I would forget who's POV the chapter was supposed to be from until a name was mentioned. Even the dragons, despite being awakened, had little personality beyond being impulsive, impatient, and eating anything close to them. Maybe that is because they are still too "new" after realizing what has been happening to them, but even Snow doesn't have much growth.
A smaller nit pick, and maybe it was the copy I had, but it could have benefitted from having a world map. It makes it harder to get more into the story and world when names are just thrown around without having any real sense where they sit in the world itself other than knowing it's in the mountains or forest.
There are a lot of good tokens and tidbits in this first installment, but the lack of character in world building pulls it down for me. It is the author's first book, so maybe the later ones improve on this, but for now I am left a little torn. Maybe eventually I'll decide to take the plunge and see if the later books are better.
The concept is interesting. Instead of dragons working with humans they are unknowingly enslaved from the moment they are born, and of course this becomes one of the main points of conflict in the story when one gets away. The writing is also good and pacing make for a relatively quick and easy read.
The dragons concept is about where my enjoyment for this book ends. I found myself enjoying the chapters with Snow much more than the others. The re-awakening to need for revenge plotline was much more interesting than the stab at political intrigue. This book also falls rather short on character personality and development.
" 'He's vicious, callous, arrogant, self-obsessed-'
'You could be describing any of us' She smiled slightly."
I feel like the quote wasn't meaning to be intentional, but it really does describe all of the human characters. The royals especially. Everyone is a selfish, scheming, stone cold plotter to get to the top. Except Jehal, who just seems to be a little better at everything to keep him ahead of the rest. Most of the time I would forget who's POV the chapter was supposed to be from until a name was mentioned. Even the dragons, despite being awakened, had little personality beyond being impulsive, impatient, and eating anything close to them. Maybe that is because they are still too "new" after realizing what has been happening to them, but even Snow doesn't have much growth.
A smaller nit pick, and maybe it was the copy I had, but it could have benefitted from having a world map. It makes it harder to get more into the story and world when names are just thrown around without having any real sense where they sit in the world itself other than knowing it's in the mountains or forest.
There are a lot of good tokens and tidbits in this first installment, but the lack of character in world building pulls it down for me. It is the author's first book, so maybe the later ones improve on this, but for now I am left a little torn. Maybe eventually I'll decide to take the plunge and see if the later books are better.