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A review by timinbc
The Native Star by M.K. Hobson
3.0
Didn't work for me. I've read too many same-only-better.
Drippy heroine, cartoonish male lead.
Some nice turns of phrase and attitude, shows a lot of promise there.
Too many "what?" distractions. A few examples:
* Dag is just a bit, no, no, he's a LOT too much "Aw, gawrsh, Miss Mam'selle Emily, I'm just a salt-of-the-earth guy what ain't never had no schoolin'" (scuffs toe in dirt and blushes). If he'd been any less capable he'd have been Mickey Mouse's friend Goofy. Ah-HYUK!
* As others have mentioned, "oh, look, there's a magic stone in my hand. What's for lunch?"
* Wildly implausible flying machine, and a completely ridiculous scene in which (character X) uses it for a rescue that simply made me laugh.
* A sangrimantic force in which promotion through the ranks makes you the guy who gets to stand next to the boss and be killed to fuel a spell. I reckon that army's gonna have a desertion problem, and a lot of guys avoiding promotion.
* OK, I can accept a magical battle where one character claims all the power. But a few pages later, What is this, "you forgot to say 'Simon says'?"
Then there's the tired old 300-page quest built on "everything's going to be fine as soon as we get to (The Golden City / Dreamy McHero / Genius McBoffin). It never is, it never has been, and it never will be. Pair that with an "I hate you/I don't care about you" relationship which is utterly predictable, and we just don't have enough new ground being broken here.
This book feels like an exercise, where the class was told to write a steampunk magic western.
And gosh, it doesn't even have a dirigible.
Drippy heroine, cartoonish male lead.
Some nice turns of phrase and attitude, shows a lot of promise there.
Too many "what?" distractions. A few examples:
* Dag is just a bit, no, no, he's a LOT too much "Aw, gawrsh, Miss Mam'selle Emily, I'm just a salt-of-the-earth guy what ain't never had no schoolin'" (scuffs toe in dirt and blushes). If he'd been any less capable he'd have been Mickey Mouse's friend Goofy. Ah-HYUK!
* As others have mentioned, "oh, look, there's a magic stone in my hand. What's for lunch?"
* Wildly implausible flying machine, and a completely ridiculous scene in which (character X) uses it for a rescue that simply made me laugh.
* A sangrimantic force in which promotion through the ranks makes you the guy who gets to stand next to the boss and be killed to fuel a spell. I reckon that army's gonna have a desertion problem, and a lot of guys avoiding promotion.
* OK, I can accept a magical battle where one character claims all the power. But a few pages later,
Spoiler
Stanton gets to do an Undo?Then there's the tired old 300-page quest built on "everything's going to be fine as soon as we get to (The Golden City / Dreamy McHero / Genius McBoffin). It never is, it never has been, and it never will be. Pair that with an "I hate you/I don't care about you" relationship which is utterly predictable, and we just don't have enough new ground being broken here.
This book feels like an exercise, where the class was told to write a steampunk magic western.
And gosh, it doesn't even have a dirigible.