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A review by iam
Silk Fire by Zabé Ellor
Did not finish book.
DNF @ 55%
I loved the idea of a high scale SFF book with a scheming polyam sexworker protagonist and dragons, but unfortunately I ended up not being quiet as engaged as I hoped to me.
The worldbuilding of Silk Fire was rich and fascinating, and it's one of those books that just throws you right in without explaining all too much. I have to say, even halfway through the book, I still struggled with following all the different people, their allegiances, or how the political system and connections all really worked.
This wasn't helped by how I found the writing confusing at times. Even when there weren't any schemes or specific worldbuilding intensive scenes, I couldn't always follow entirely what was happening from one sentence to the next. This happened during all sorts of scenes, action ones, conversations, and even sex scenes.
I also would generally have appreciated a bit more details surrounding some of the core concepts of the world, like the matriarchy, or who some of the big players in the power structures are and where they came from, and what their power truly entails. Of course, a lot could be gathered from context while reading, but I do like a bit of telling occasionally.
Koré was a protagonist that I both appreciated and... not. I like characters that are unlikeable and have glaring flaws and do mistakes and fuck up... in theory. Koré didn't bother me, but just like I couldn't always follow the plot, I also couldn't always follow why he was doing what he was doing or how his feelings and thoughts evolved.
That said, there was something interesting, and relateable, in his fast switches between confidence and competence, and moments of weakness. At the same time, that lead to situations and the plot developing in ways I didn't like.
Unfortunately, none of the main characters really were my type. I wasn't excited about getting to know any of them, really, and as I like character-driven books, this lowered my engagement with the book quite a bit. This, however, is down purely to personal taste, and I think many readers would find plenty of the characters interesting.
Overall this had a lot of potential, but I think I picked it up at the wrong time. I couldn't read more than a chapter or two at a time, partially due to outside circumstances, and it wasn't always easy to get back into the book. I originally wanted to finish this, but when I realized I had no interest in picking the book back up, I had to admit to myself I better put it aside from now. I would love to reread at some point in the future and find out how it all ends, but for now, this is it.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
I loved the idea of a high scale SFF book with a scheming polyam sexworker protagonist and dragons, but unfortunately I ended up not being quiet as engaged as I hoped to me.
The worldbuilding of Silk Fire was rich and fascinating, and it's one of those books that just throws you right in without explaining all too much. I have to say, even halfway through the book, I still struggled with following all the different people, their allegiances, or how the political system and connections all really worked.
This wasn't helped by how I found the writing confusing at times. Even when there weren't any schemes or specific worldbuilding intensive scenes, I couldn't always follow entirely what was happening from one sentence to the next. This happened during all sorts of scenes, action ones, conversations, and even sex scenes.
I also would generally have appreciated a bit more details surrounding some of the core concepts of the world, like the matriarchy, or who some of the big players in the power structures are and where they came from, and what their power truly entails. Of course, a lot could be gathered from context while reading, but I do like a bit of telling occasionally.
Koré was a protagonist that I both appreciated and... not. I like characters that are unlikeable and have glaring flaws and do mistakes and fuck up... in theory. Koré didn't bother me, but just like I couldn't always follow the plot, I also couldn't always follow why he was doing what he was doing or how his feelings and thoughts evolved.
That said, there was something interesting, and relateable, in his fast switches between confidence and competence, and moments of weakness. At the same time, that lead to situations and the plot developing in ways I didn't like.
Unfortunately, none of the main characters really were my type. I wasn't excited about getting to know any of them, really, and as I like character-driven books, this lowered my engagement with the book quite a bit. This, however, is down purely to personal taste, and I think many readers would find plenty of the characters interesting.
Overall this had a lot of potential, but I think I picked it up at the wrong time. I couldn't read more than a chapter or two at a time, partially due to outside circumstances, and it wasn't always easy to get back into the book. I originally wanted to finish this, but when I realized I had no interest in picking the book back up, I had to admit to myself I better put it aside from now. I would love to reread at some point in the future and find out how it all ends, but for now, this is it.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.