A review by wanderinglynn
Alterant, by Dianna Love, Sherrilyn Kenyon
2.0
Sometimes the sequel is better than the first, such as Empire Strikes Back or The Godfather II. However, Alterant, book 2, failed and if possible, was worse than book 1.
This story had potential. But there are two main failings. First, as I pointed out in my review of book 1, Blood Trinity, the world-building is atrocious. There's really no world-building. Just a mish-mash of majik (yes with a "k"), gods, and supernatural powers, but no explanation. Sure, the question of "what are alterants" is part of the overarching storyline. But there still has to be some explanation as to how the frigging world works and why. There seems to be a tribe-like structure. But where and how do humans fit in? It's set mostly in Atlanta (or Hot-lanta if you prefer) and includes cell phones, but no explanation of why or how the real world intersects with this "majik" world. Demons are real. Shapeshifts of a sort are real. Beings have powers like teleportation, kinesis, and telepathy, but no rhyme or reason as to who has what powers.
Without a decent structure upon which the world is built, then any old thing can be thrown in at any time with no explanation or reason. And that's exactly what's happened here. Celtic gods? Sure why not. Hindu gods? Of course. The Greek God of War? Abso-fucking-lutely. And then the contradiction begins because according to somewhere deep in book 2, beings have to belong to a god. But what about humans? What about Storm and other Native Americans? Do their gods exist in this world and therefore somehow protect them? Who knows?
Every world has to have rules, a structure. Even the most fantastical worlds still have some form, some constraints. When an author fails to provide any structure as to the world and so allowing herself to write anything, it's sloppy writing.
That leads to the next main problem, the writing itself. I will say it's not the worst thing I've ever read. But it ranks up there. Overused clichés, terrible similes, and just poor writing and grammar in general. It was cringe-worthy in places. For example, from the top of page 182:
I started skimming because of gems like this one and the trite dialogue. I didn't miss anything.
And I won't even get started on the character building. Because with poor world-building and terrible writing, why bother focusing on decent character building and three-dimensional characters?
As I previously stated, this series is far below the standard I had expected from Ms. Kenyon. Again, the story had promise, but it clearly needed a better author and much better editing.
This story had potential. But there are two main failings. First, as I pointed out in my review of book 1, Blood Trinity, the world-building is atrocious. There's really no world-building. Just a mish-mash of majik (yes with a "k"), gods, and supernatural powers, but no explanation. Sure, the question of "what are alterants" is part of the overarching storyline. But there still has to be some explanation as to how the frigging world works and why. There seems to be a tribe-like structure. But where and how do humans fit in? It's set mostly in Atlanta (or Hot-lanta if you prefer) and includes cell phones, but no explanation of why or how the real world intersects with this "majik" world. Demons are real. Shapeshifts of a sort are real. Beings have powers like teleportation, kinesis, and telepathy, but no rhyme or reason as to who has what powers.
Without a decent structure upon which the world is built, then any old thing can be thrown in at any time with no explanation or reason. And that's exactly what's happened here. Celtic gods? Sure why not. Hindu gods? Of course. The Greek God of War? Abso-fucking-lutely. And then the contradiction begins because according to somewhere deep in book 2, beings have to belong to a god. But what about humans? What about Storm and other Native Americans? Do their gods exist in this world and therefore somehow protect them? Who knows?
Every world has to have rules, a structure. Even the most fantastical worlds still have some form, some constraints. When an author fails to provide any structure as to the world and so allowing herself to write anything, it's sloppy writing.
That leads to the next main problem, the writing itself. I will say it's not the worst thing I've ever read. But it ranks up there. Overused clichés, terrible similes, and just poor writing and grammar in general. It was cringe-worthy in places. For example, from the top of page 182:
She put a higher value on independence than an asthmatic put on oxygen.
I started skimming because of gems like this one and the trite dialogue. I didn't miss anything.
And I won't even get started on the character building. Because with poor world-building and terrible writing, why bother focusing on decent character building and three-dimensional characters?
As I previously stated, this series is far below the standard I had expected from Ms. Kenyon. Again, the story had promise, but it clearly needed a better author and much better editing.