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A review by inthelunaseas
Sands of the Solar Empire: The Belmont Saga by Ren Garcia
4.0
After I won [b:The Shadow tech Goddess|22842875|The Shadow tech Goddess (The League Of Elder #8)|Ren Garcia|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1406732035s/22842875.jpg|42400821] as part of Goodreads Giveaways & First Reads, [a:Ren Garcia|3230510|Ren Garcia|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1319424813p2/3230510.jpg] was kind enough to send me a copy of this and its continuation/sequel, [b:Against the Druries|19039632|Against the Druries (Belmont Saga #2)|Ren Garcia|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385717332s/19039632.jpg|24601088]. I really enjoyed The Shadow tech Goddess, so I was more than happy to read and review these books, too.
I read The Shadow tech Goddess shortly before and after surgery, but I found the story so easy to follow that I only missed a few details due to the anesthesia-and-painkiller-induced fog I was in. I love fantasy and sci-fi, but I often find some stories are almost impossible for me to read. Furthermore, as The Shadow tech Goddess is part of a series, I was worried I'd not be able to understand the characters relationships with one another. This wasn't the case at all, and I fell in love with the characters and their stories- Taara and A-Ram were my favourites.
Getting the chance to read these characters from the start was fantastic. I already knew the characters, but getting to see them meet for the first time was a joy. While they've matured come The Shadow tech Goddess, I can still see their youth now, looking back.
The importance of the HRN coat, the MARZABLEs, Holystones and NTH all make sense now. I knew they were important on some level, but getting to read about how Belmont came to own these items and learn to wield them was good. It was a little unusual to have a 180-page back story in the middle of a 280-page novel, and I think this could have been laid out a little better, but on the other hand, it didn't particularly detract from the story at hand. Knowing this book leads directly into Against the Druries makes it easier to understand, and reading some of the reviews, I think this may be where people struggled. The book does end at an unusual spot for a standalone novel.
Normally I would keep another book in the series at close hand when reading part of a saga (it's a habit- I love to cross reference), but as I recently moved, my copy of Shadow tech Goddess is... somewhere. So that did detract my usual cross referencing joy, but I'm not willingly to swim in a pile of cardboard boxes and books and risk getting nipped by a spider.
Again, I really love the illustrations. There weren't as many in this as there were in the later book. I really liked the detail, though, and as I'm a little obsessed with reading comic books/graphic novels at the moment (I may have bought seven the other day... and I'm still reading Runaways and I'm in the middle of Black Hole in addition), this did get a kick out of me.
I'll be hitting up Against the Druries shortly, and with much enthusiasm.
I read The Shadow tech Goddess shortly before and after surgery, but I found the story so easy to follow that I only missed a few details due to the anesthesia-and-painkiller-induced fog I was in. I love fantasy and sci-fi, but I often find some stories are almost impossible for me to read. Furthermore, as The Shadow tech Goddess is part of a series, I was worried I'd not be able to understand the characters relationships with one another. This wasn't the case at all, and I fell in love with the characters and their stories- Taara and A-Ram were my favourites.
Getting the chance to read these characters from the start was fantastic. I already knew the characters, but getting to see them meet for the first time was a joy. While they've matured come The Shadow tech Goddess, I can still see their youth now, looking back.
The importance of the HRN coat, the MARZABLEs, Holystones and NTH all make sense now. I knew they were important on some level, but getting to read about how Belmont came to own these items and learn to wield them was good. It was a little unusual to have a 180-page back story in the middle of a 280-page novel, and I think this could have been laid out a little better, but on the other hand, it didn't particularly detract from the story at hand. Knowing this book leads directly into Against the Druries makes it easier to understand, and reading some of the reviews, I think this may be where people struggled. The book does end at an unusual spot for a standalone novel.
Normally I would keep another book in the series at close hand when reading part of a saga (it's a habit- I love to cross reference), but as I recently moved, my copy of Shadow tech Goddess is... somewhere. So that did detract my usual cross referencing joy, but I'm not willingly to swim in a pile of cardboard boxes and books and risk getting nipped by a spider.
Again, I really love the illustrations. There weren't as many in this as there were in the later book. I really liked the detail, though, and as I'm a little obsessed with reading comic books/graphic novels at the moment (I may have bought seven the other day... and I'm still reading Runaways and I'm in the middle of Black Hole in addition), this did get a kick out of me.
I'll be hitting up Against the Druries shortly, and with much enthusiasm.