A review by princessleopard
Something Stirs by A.J. Austin
2.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review
There's not a whole lot to say about this novel - unfortunately, it's just not very compelling. Our two main characters, Sill and Kallem, are very flat. Sill is a generic abused child character, and Kallem is an emotionless husk (something he himself acknowledges). The relationship between the two is poorly developed, as Kallem comes to care for Sill for seemingly no reason. They never really have any bonding moments, he just decides he likes her enough to suddenly change all of his priorities and desires. The other characters are similarly flat - generic childhood friend, generic elders, generic wise old mentor who doesn't actually do any mentoring. The only semi-interesting character is the talking hawk, and that's just because everyone else is so stale.
The plot is meandering and unfocused. The characters first seek out the old mentor, but he never actually teaches them anything, he just drags them to another location. Those two trips are the bulk of the book, followed by a climatic battle with the novel's generic villains, manlike animals that, for some reason, are obsessed with killing humans. The way they're dealt with is similarly generic, and pops up in pretty much every other fantasy story with a mindless horde of creatures.
I would not really recommend this to anyone unless they are absolutely starved for a fantasy read.
There's not a whole lot to say about this novel - unfortunately, it's just not very compelling. Our two main characters, Sill and Kallem, are very flat. Sill is a generic abused child character, and Kallem is an emotionless husk (something he himself acknowledges). The relationship between the two is poorly developed, as Kallem comes to care for Sill for seemingly no reason. They never really have any bonding moments, he just decides he likes her enough to suddenly change all of his priorities and desires. The other characters are similarly flat - generic childhood friend, generic elders, generic wise old mentor who doesn't actually do any mentoring. The only semi-interesting character is the talking hawk, and that's just because everyone else is so stale.
The plot is meandering and unfocused. The characters first seek out the old mentor, but he never actually teaches them anything, he just drags them to another location. Those two trips are the bulk of the book, followed by a climatic battle with the novel's generic villains, manlike animals that, for some reason, are obsessed with killing humans. The way they're dealt with is similarly generic, and pops up in pretty much every other fantasy story with a mindless horde of creatures.
I would not really recommend this to anyone unless they are absolutely starved for a fantasy read.