A review by veronica87
Hounacier by Seth Skorkowsky
2.0
2.5 stars
I didn't like this book as much as the first one and there are a few reasons for that.
1. Change in main character: I liked Matt Hollis in the first book and wanted more of his story. This book however switches to Malcolm Romero, a senior Valducan Knight who was a bit of an ass to Matt in the first book. I didn't feel any pressing need to know more about Malcolm and, after spending an entire book with him, that hasn't changed. He goes through some pretty nasty crap in the back third of this book and I felt badly for him but overall, I just don't find him to be lead character material.
2. Downsizing: The first book was a wild ride that spanned cities and countries and had more of a focus on the Valducan Knights as an organization. I liked that and wanted to get deeper into its history and present day functions. Instead this book presents the solitary mission of Malcolm on a personal, non-Valducan mission to find the murderer of his mentor, Ulysses, a character we only meet briefly in the Prologue. Since readers never get to know Ulysses or experience his relationship with Malcolm, it's hard to really care about him or Malcolm's mission.
3. Pacing: The first two thirds of the book is mostly about Malcolm getting re-acquainted with his old stomping grounds and with old friends, which includes his former lover, Tasha. This portion of the book felt slow to me. Now I can deal with slow IF there are interesting and charismatic characters that I can stroll through the slow parts with but I didn't find that here. Malcolm comes across like a big, uptight dud to me. The romance, while not a big part of anything in this story, was also a dud because I strongly suspect that if the house were on fire Malcolm would save his machete before he'd save Tasha. The action did pick up in the last third of the book which is good for readers but so very bad for Malcolm.
4. Creepy attachment to weapon: This one I won't hold against this book because it was present in the first book too. But given that Urukhail (not sure of the spelling here since I listened to the audiobook but Matt's weapon, basically) confirmed that the entities that inhabit the holy weapons think of their wielders as their children, all the comments about Malcolm being Hounacier's husband just adds to the creepiness.
It was nice to see Matt make a brief appearance in this book. We get an update on his life which just makes me more curious to re-visit him as the main POV character. However, I see the next book switches focus to Alex, yet another of the Knights we met in the first book, but at least he has more of a personality.
As usual though, RC Bray did a great job with the narration so the low rating has nothing to do with his performance and everything to do with characters, plot, and pacing.
I didn't like this book as much as the first one and there are a few reasons for that.
1. Change in main character: I liked Matt Hollis in the first book and wanted more of his story. This book however switches to Malcolm Romero, a senior Valducan Knight who was a bit of an ass to Matt in the first book. I didn't feel any pressing need to know more about Malcolm and, after spending an entire book with him, that hasn't changed. He goes through some pretty nasty crap in the back third of this book and I felt badly for him but overall, I just don't find him to be lead character material.
2. Downsizing: The first book was a wild ride that spanned cities and countries and had more of a focus on the Valducan Knights as an organization. I liked that and wanted to get deeper into its history and present day functions. Instead this book presents the solitary mission of Malcolm on a personal, non-Valducan mission to find the murderer of his mentor, Ulysses, a character we only meet briefly in the Prologue. Since readers never get to know Ulysses or experience his relationship with Malcolm, it's hard to really care about him or Malcolm's mission.
3. Pacing: The first two thirds of the book is mostly about Malcolm getting re-acquainted with his old stomping grounds and with old friends, which includes his former lover, Tasha. This portion of the book felt slow to me. Now I can deal with slow IF there are interesting and charismatic characters that I can stroll through the slow parts with but I didn't find that here. Malcolm comes across like a big, uptight dud to me. The romance, while not a big part of anything in this story, was also a dud because I strongly suspect that if the house were on fire Malcolm would save his machete before he'd save Tasha. The action did pick up in the last third of the book which is good for readers but so very bad for Malcolm.
4. Creepy attachment to weapon: This one I won't hold against this book because it was present in the first book too. But given that Urukhail (not sure of the spelling here since I listened to the audiobook but Matt's weapon, basically) confirmed that the entities that inhabit the holy weapons think of their wielders as their children, all the comments about Malcolm being Hounacier's husband just adds to the creepiness.
It was nice to see Matt make a brief appearance in this book. We get an update on his life which just makes me more curious to re-visit him as the main POV character. However, I see the next book switches focus to Alex, yet another of the Knights we met in the first book, but at least he has more of a personality.
As usual though, RC Bray did a great job with the narration so the low rating has nothing to do with his performance and everything to do with characters, plot, and pacing.