SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Okay! Now you can race like cars through the discussion! What worked? What didn't? Did the magic add? When did you finally get invested?

I initially rated this book a 3 (to me that means “liked it, but didn’t love it”), but downgraded it to a 2 (which to me means “below average, but didn’t absolutely hate it”).

The book flowed along easily enough for me and my problem with it wasn’t the Magic in an SF setting. Here are the issues I had:

1) I didn’t really like any of the MC’s. The character I thought was the most interesting, the chef, only lasted a few scenes before being killed off for a twist type effect.

2) The main villains ultimate plan seemed dumb to me and i had a hard time taking them seriously. If I follow their plan it’s:

A) Build up a Space NASCAR circuit over many years growing a fan base and building tracks in the shapes of glyphs all the while it’s just an elaborate long con.
B) Destroy their entire galaxy including everything they know and (maybe) love.
C) Profit!

3) I also felt this book had a lot of casual violence that seemed off given the light banter Firefly-like tone of the “heroes”. Many of the people killed are just soldiers following orders not in on the fact that their leader is secretly evil. A scene that stood out is when they get to the ship and they basically poison all the soldiers who board the ship. Maybe just par for the course in this type of novel and I guess at every point you can say it’s self defense but it rubbed me the wrong way.

Okay those are just some initial thoughts I wanted to get out there.

Like others, I was worried after reading the first chapter "DNF". I almost took the chapter name to heart, but the book grew on me after/during the second act around chapter 16 forward.

I also didn't really care about any of the characters at first. I had a hard time tracking their motivations and intentions. I especially don't like Boots, though I'm not sure I can place a finger on why.

Although it felt a little YA, I liked the romance between Nilah and Orna. It wasn't very significant to the plot, but helped with the lack of character.

The magic felt out of place for most of the book, but I did like how it mattered towards the end. It started to make a little sense, although was still a bit inconsistent.

I'm a little conflicted about reading the next book in the series. I'm a little curious about the next adventure, but the it was almost a chore to read the beginning on the first book.

I warmed to this book quite a bit. I still felt like the dialog was stilted and terrible, but by the end I felt like I had finally gotten a hold on the characters and their motivations, and I had a fun time in the last half of the book.

As folks have mentioned, it's not the magic itself that is the problem. The problem for me is when the magical system isn't integrated with the world building in a believable way. For instance, if any mechanist can just put their hand on any machine and hack it, it seems like either there would be effective safeguards against this or machines wouldn't be used for things needing security. I get that Nilah is supposed to be the best (and Orna too I guess? big coincidence?), but having them both be able to hack anything with their magic just doesn't seem realistic if we're supposed to believe all these systems were designed by people familiar with mechanistic abilities.

Similarly, if inveiglers can just make anyone do whatever they want, wouldn't there be some societal checks on this? If the PM was using his magic on everyone in his political career, wouldn't they notice since they're aware of this kind of magic? When he uses it on Nilah, she seems to snap out of it once the spell is done and remember what had happened to her, so... I guess he hasn't been using his magic, or else he'd have been uncovered? So then what was the point?

Again, none of these are huge plot holes or anything, and like I say, I still really enjoyed the second half of the book, but the society that has grown up around people having these abilities doesn't feel realistic. It feels mostly like our society where these abilities are actually magical, and not everyday, expected abilities like they're purported to be, so most of the plot points that hinge on the use of magic feel a little cheap. It just didn't feel internally consistent to me, which is a huge pet peeve.

So, I am definitely out of the general trend on this one:

I really enjoyed the hell out of this book - I think because in a lot of ways it mirrors some fun RPG things that I am currently doing, but also because (wait for it...) I liked the main characters.

What? Impossible?

No. Nilah starts as a bratty arrogent and utterly single-minded jerk, and has a serious revelation about 1/3 of the way into the book. She has a serious wake-up call that forces her to get out of her own little world and actually take a look at the scale of the things that are going on. Not only that, but Nilah, by getting her ass kicked repeatedly, has to start learning the difference between training and experience. Her core character doesn't change, but she grows - and learns - and gets better. She gives up on perfectionism (aka, being stuck in one place doing the same thing, over and over) and instead decides she wants to have new challenges and experiences. that's great!

Boots is a cynical burnout when we meet her, and she has to go through the process of getting back up and working through some of her baggage. I can relate. Sure, she's surly and untrusting, but she's not actually that bad (for a con artist). I can empathize with being so burned by people's actions and damaged by the bad that it takes years to move through it. She's definitely damaged, and it shows.

The crew is, for the most part, non-entities, and I think that I would like to see them fleshed out more in later books. Orna's reliance on her battle armor as just a bodily extension was interesting, if a little too unexplored.

So, talking about the magic vs tech aspect: It worked out pretty darn well, I think. One of the problems with genre bending is that people often don't think of magic *as* technology when they put them together, and instead treat it as an oppositional force. Mashing them together makes the trope work, and in the hands of a masterful writer (like... n.k. jemisin, for instance) it creates some real wonder. This book didn't have that level of well thought out, but I found it to be thought out enough that everything made internal sense. The book even mentions that mechanists like Orna and Nilah are rare, and that they are both incredibly good at it. It is clear that most people aren't very good at their innate magic, and can only do one thing.

I see people complain that the plot doesn't make sense - but I think the big part of that is that while the series big bad was introduced by name, none of his powers are really discussed. The main plot hinges on the fact that this guy wants to drain all life in the galaxy to turn himself into a "god." We, as readers, don't really know what that means, but it's pretty clear that the sacrifice of the life seems to be worth the result to the villains. this really is just the first act of a larger story, and keeping that in mind, the overall 1. (do thing) 2. ??? 3. Profit! model of criticism doesn't really hold up.

In short.. yeah, I'm hooked, I'm definitely going to read the next book and if it sticks at this level, I'll enjoy it.

Also, this reminded me of Dark Run by Mike Brooks, but with the addition of magic.

Yes, I probably mis-used that profit meme, I guess what I was trying to get at was just that I had a hard time taking the bad guys’ scheme seriously. To me it felt like a bad guy saying he’d blow up the world to gain power, but then what’s left? I guess I’m probably thinking too small in the sense that there are a ton of other galaxies out there so destroying one wouldn’t mean the villains would be the only ones left, just the only ones in the next several million light years which is maybe no big deal in this universe. Also the long con with the NASCAR circuit though... it reminded me of when Cobra Commander decided to carve his face in the moon, just a silly means of achieving your goal of large scale domination. But that’s just my take and I’m sure I’ve loved some other speculative stories which others would call silly. Overall, I’ve generally agreed with Lowell’s reviews so I think this is just one we happen to diverge on, but it’s all good!

Christopher wrote: "Yes, I probably mid-used that profit meme, I guess what I was trying to get at was just that I had a hard time taking the bad guys’ scheme seriously. To me it felt like a bad guy saying he’d blow u..."

Oh yeah - It's definitely silly, but I don't expect megalomaniacal villains to actually be able to think through the "what next" question.

I think I have, overall, really weird expectations in that I really try to keep my expectations for most things non-existent. It means I have a habit to see the good in things that a lot of people are disappointed by, and don't join in on a whole lot of hype trains (positive or negative) and focus on what's actually there.

I really liked this. I tend to be a very superficial reader so all I really look for was did I have a good time reading and how much would I want to spend more time with the characters/world involved. The answer for me was yes I would like to spend more time with these characters in this world so I will be reading on in the series. Like Lowell said before me there are things that make these characters on the annoying side in the beginning but they do have to struggle with their flaws and I enjoyed seeing that. Like omg did I hate Nilah when we first meet her but now it's like I get where she came from and see where she is heading so I don't want to punch her in the face.

This book did grow on me, especially towards the end. But it never didn't feel unfocused. It was just one set-piece after another.

1. The entire racing aspect seemed pointless. I hated that it was how the book started, and while I'm glad it served some purpose in the end, I still feel like it was just shoehorned in.

2. The magic system eventually felt like it fit, but man it took forever to get there. I still blame the first chapters for not adequately setting it up. For most of the book it felt like a straight up sci-fi book with magic forced in as a gimmick. It wasn't until the latter half, maybe later, where a futuristic world with magic really made sense.

3. Hated how the bad guys were handled. It's hard to really care about the conflict when we don't know who's involved or why. The actual villains weren't even introduced until near the end of the book, and we only really met a couple, with almost nothing of substance spoken by them.

We never found out what their bigger purpose was in destroying the entire galaxy. Seemed dumb. Even one of the main characters acknowledged this. Granted, I'm expecting a future book to return to that (though it doesn't look like the second book).

(And the plot twist that Nilah's own boss was one of the villains was especially dumb. Again, we got less than a chapter of Claire at the very beginning, so when she was revealed as one of the villains, it just lacked any impact at all. Even less when the PM was revealed to be another. I don't even remember him appearing in the story before that point.)

4. By the end, the characters got to where I knew they would, but getting there was especially clumsy. The relationships just didn't grow in a way that felt logical or natural. That said, now that they're established, I expect I'll like them more in the next book.

5. I hate that they turned over the Harrow in the end. Something that dangerous in the hands of the government? Really? Should have destroyed it.

6. I hate that they're rich now. What a juvenile wish-fulfillment way to end the book. (I fully expect them to have lost their fortunes early in the second book in order to reintroduce conflict, but still.) There's nothing more boring than characters spending their problems away.

7. Beginning to end, there were a lot of corny action scenes that felt shoehorned in. Notably Nilah's standoff against the springflies where she basically became Neo. Could have done without that.

All told, there were a ton of problems with the story, and it definitely read like a first effort (even though it wasn't). Tons of wish-fulfillment, pointless explodey action scenes, people falling in love out of nowhere, everyone is invincible, and everyone's filthy rich in the end.

I'm still gonna read the next one, probably very soon.

Overall I liked this story, but I don’t see myself continuing to the next book. I didn’t find the characters particularly charismatic (especially the captain which is a huge let down??) and it took some time until they stopped being plain annoying.
I feel the author tried to make a diverse cast of characters, but pretty much used every cliche seen in a lot of other books of the genre (and yes, especially in YA).
The story was interesting enough to keep me going, though I wasn’t feeling invested from start to end. Anyway, I gave it 3 stars.

Finished it recently. I agree with Christopher that 'evil plot' is silly. It would be less silly if the scale was smaller, not a galaxy but a planet with the track. Glyph idea is superficially cool, but if they can be reproduced (and they can - hence the track was made not by a mage but many people), now everyone can do it. The galaxy is doomed! :)

I'll agree that the galaxy was too big a target for the threat, but a single planet was too small. I was disappointed with the reveal that the entire purpose of the eight giant death ships was simply to destroy one planet. Seemed overkill. Like one ship, maybe.

I'll concede that the race track idea was a way to trace a giant glyph without anyone noticing, but it seemed unnecessary. Like wouldn't it have been easier to just find a place in the middle of nowhere and do the same thing? And if all you needed to trace a giant glyph was space and some magic vehicles, what was the point of the eight deathships?

Another big problem I had with the story that ties into this whole "the galaxy is doomed" thing is that I have no idea what that means. How big is the galaxy? If the book went into ANY detail at all about where people live, how many planets, etc, it escaped me completely. I know of two planets (one destroyed) and a space station (maybe?). That's it.

Is the galaxy populated? How many inhabited planets are there? How many people inhabit those planets? How far have the people in this book explored?
Taitu and Clarkesfall could be in the same system for all I know. I just don't even recall any of that coming up. It's hard to take seriously a threat to the galaxy when for all we know the galaxy is maybe a couple planets.

The galaxy in this book is used in the same way as in the golden era SF pulps, something big, but the author doesn't care how big. for me, starting from the title and up to the 'doomed galaxy', the author relies to much on catchy stuff, instead of working maybe on a smaller scale but deeper.

Killing one planet isn't too small IMHO, especially if it is the best planet out there. BTW this leads to another problem with the plot - using 'life force' is ubiquitous, they have 'life batteries' so everyone knows that life can be sucked out. But when it was sucked from the Clarkesfall no one suspected it?! The whole idea of Famine wars sounded strange for me - who fought whom and why? Your crops fail around the world and you see militaries (!) fighting each other...

Single planets get whacked all the time in galaxy-spanning sci-fi. I just wanted bigger stakes.

Especially since they'd already destroyed a planet. The ultimate threat at the end of the book couldn't just be DUN DUN DUN.....another planet.

Joon wrote: "The ultimate threat at the end of the book couldn't just be DUN DUN DUN.....another planet. ."

Then why not to raise your bloodthirstiness :) to the next level, no a galaxy, but
universe,
and then up it once more
to multiverse
:)

Oleksandr wrote: "Joon wrote: "The ultimate threat at the end of the book couldn't just be DUN DUN DUN.....another planet. ."

Then why not to raise your bloodthirstiness :) to the next level, no a galaxy, but
unive..."

What I'm saying is if you've already destroyed a planet, simply destroying another one isn't raising the stakes, which for a story like this is a must.

A better option would have been to not destroy that first planet. Then when your evil plan is to destroy an entire planet, it doesn't end up just being something you've already done before. (And done better, for that matter.)

Honestly....why wasn't the first book about Clarkesfell being destroyed? He skipped an entire book and chucked it in the backstory, something better writers usually fail at. Sure it would have made for a downer ending to the first book, but it would have been a far more compelling launching point for the series.

Sticking all the hardship in the backstory is lazy.

Joon wrote: "Sticking all the hardship in the backstory is lazy. "

True, esp. if this backstory is lazily made - we don't clearly understand
- why they fought? all life but humans perished and they kill each other for canned food?
- or almost all people died [after all this is supposed action of the spell] - then who fought?
- why other planets haven't done humanitarian relief? are they just lazy or stingy?
- why magic hasn't been used to weither restore life or at least find out why it perished?

They are like Dumas' Porthos - "I fight because I fight"

I can only add to what seems to be the general consensus of this book.
- I didn't particularly warm to any of the characters, except maybe Orna.
- I didn't get the bad guys plot either. End all life in the galaxy? To what purpose?
- The whole point of the book was to find this big ship. I couldn't work out if the bad guys/Mother knew where it was. I assume not otherwise they'd have gone to it, but I also then couldn't work out the reaction of the PM when they returned with it. He seemed to be expecting it.
- what exactly started the Famine War. Yes, the planet started dying but why did that start a wat?
- it was blatantly obviously that Boots' lack of magic would be a key point from the first chapter. Would have been better if they could have worked out how to stop Mother without that.

But I did like the universe they set up, and the magical system grew on me. Not sure I'll be reading the next book though.

Orna's character changed the most; she was unendurable at first. I legitimately was hoping she would get killed off. While the romance w/ Nilah felt a bit forced, it seemed to make both of them more tolerable so I'll take it.

I agree that the way the ship was handled was clumsy. It was also much too easily found and conquered. Honestly it felt like almost an afterthought by that point in the story. Kinda felt like the author had run out of steam at that point and just wanted the book to be over. I feel like they should have found the ship a bit sooner in the book (but w more difficulty) and spent more time exploring it and learning about it.

I liked how Boots' lack of magic played into the end (though I agree it was super predictable that it would come into play), I just wish it were exploited better.

Bit late to the convo as I had to wait for my library's copy to be off hold, and I gotta say, not worth the wait.

I echo many of the sentiments stated already and honestly this book just read like a Sy-Fy straight to TV budget film (which to be fair some CAN be awesome....just not this one). I didn't like the characters, the world was weakly built and the motivations were downright cartoonist.

Also, some of the dialogue was just so nonsensical or ridiculous that it pulled me right out of the story..."pretty girls should have pretty corpses". *softly whispering "wtf"*

In the spirit of honesty, I DNF at the 50% mark. My theory is if you haven't hooked me into the story by then it's just not worth the effort for me to finish. I know that some books pull together in the end but this one just fell flat for me all around.

I can't quite figure out how to rate this. The beginning was a 2 if not lower. I didn't like Nilah or Boots and the magic+tech was jarring but I really enjoyed the last 1/2. I loved the secret base and I hope Kin isn't truly gone.

Lots of problems with the book, lots of good stuff. I think my base problem with the magic + tech is that if that universe truly had magic, it wouldn't be so filled with steel and ships and tech. There needed to be some explanation as to why they could/should coexist.

I can certainly understand ships in a magic universe. And the ships are powered by magic, so that's at least consistent. And it appears magic has built-in scarcity (i.e. it tires you to use it, there are limits to what you can do, etc.), so I could also easily understand why technology would need to exist, even tech that is only doing what magic could do.

I enjoyed it. I will be continuing on with the series. Yes, it had its flaws. But I was always interested in the characters.

Hank wrote: "I can't quite figure out how to rate this. The beginning was a 2 if not lower. I didn't like Nilah or Boots and the magic+tech was jarring but I really enjoyed the last 1/2. I loved the secret base..."

by that logic, magic should trump ALL technology, including Steel, Bows & Arrows, and Agriculture.

Sure, development of tech would happen along different lines (like, not having internal combustion engines, but cars powered by elemental magic) and that's what this book did. And you'll note this isn't the only author who has done that - even Terry Pratchett chose to do similar things with magical objects (like an axle what would not stop turning under ANY circumstances powering rail cars).

and I mean come on - Clark's law is actually founded on this principle - "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

Yep, both Lowell and Joon make great points and I still can't self-reflect enough to know or explain why I don't like the mix.

Sanderson frequently does the opposite and explains his magic system so thoroughly that I feel like it has some physical basis.

As the smoke rises from my ears due to brain overload I will toss out one more thought.

like, not having internal combustion engines, but cars powered by elemental magic but why just cars? The ships don't seem to be powered by magic and does each ship have to have some guy who can project a shield? Nothing seemed consistently explained.

The reason I am ok with magic+swords is that the magnitute of the magic seems to fit, i.e. the sword is weaker but roughly as strong as the magic. Technology advances and unless magic does at the same rate then the magic is now either super weak or it was so powerful to begin with no one would waste time with steel.

That was more than one thought

I totally get where you are coming from and agree partially

I know trying to rationally explain sci-fi and fantasy contains a bit of irony

I loved this book. Space adventure with plenty of action and characters who definitely grew on me throughout the story. I'm excited to move on to the next book. I liked the fact that instead of using hand wavy technobabble the author just straight up went with magic.

I believe what powers the ships is still magic-infused. It's not a person actively pumping magic into it like with cars, but more like instead of a battery it's some crystal filled with magic or something?

Christopher wrote: "A) Build up a Space NASCAR circuit over many years growing a fan base and building tracks in the shapes of glyphs all the while it’s just an elaborate long con.
B) Destroy their entire galaxy including everything they know and (maybe) love.
C) Profit!..."

I actually really liked this book, but this still cracked me up. Definitely some flaws in here. However, as HeyT mentioned, I care more about whether I had fun than if it is technically good.

Joon wrote: "I believe what powers the ships is still magic-infused. It's not a person actively pumping magic into it like with cars, but more like instead of a battery it's some crystal filled with magic or so..."

They mentioned Eidelon crystals a lot. There were even weapons Boots could use that had magic that appeared to rely on those crystals. Somewhere it was mentioned that these were mined.

Some of the things I loved:
-It reminded me so much of Firefly. While not being nearly as well plotted or having the great dialogue and characters, there were parts that were so strongly reminiscent that it gave me warm and fuzzy nostalgia for Firefly. The cranky captain and hardened veteran who had fought in a war together before the series starts. The idea that they were the only two survivors from their unit. The love of being kind of out law smugglers. The ragtag crew getting involved in a galaxy saving mission that they weren't intending to be involved in. The sweet married couple on the ship. Just seriously, all the warm fuzzies.

-Don't ask me why. but I got a kick out of them calling the ships "him" instead of the more common "her."

-Positive relationships with AI. Boots and Kin and Orna and Ranger. I love this concept and I want there to be so much more of it. Kin in general was just spectacular and I want him to be part of the rest of the series.

-Also, couldn't tell you why, but I got a kick out of Nilah having a vaguely British speech pattern. Everyone else sounded very American, but every once in a while she would use a phrase that was really British.

-Space battles! Generally I am not a fan of space operas, but I liked Boots and Cordell and their strained rapport and how it all changed while they were fighting together. I liked all the action scenes. I generally don't, so I'm not sure why I did here.

It's interesting to me how I end up either liking or disliking books. In something I didn't feel emotionally connected to I can easily pick out everything that bothered me. But when I have emotions, even one as superficial as "this was so fun!" I gloss right over all the problems. I guess it's like when you have a problematic friend. Everyone tells you all the thing that are objectively an issue, and you're just there like, well sure but have you heard them tell a story? They're so funny!

Definitely will be reading the sequel soon. Buddy Read?

Kristin B. wrote: "Definitely will be reading the sequel soon. Buddy Read?"

I'm down.

Although, seriously, to what's important. Do we think this fits with the 7K challenge prompt "Words: We Do Not Sow / What Is Dead May Never Die"

Since the Famine War was caused partially by crops dying and Mother was kind of like an undead freak?

As much as I knocked the book, I did really enjoy the last battle inside the "big ship". I thought it was well thought out and satisfying.

Kristin B. wrote: "It's interesting to me how I end up either liking or disliking books. In something I didn't feel emotionally connected to I can easily pick out everything that bothered me. But when I have emotions, even one as superficial as "this was so fun!" I gloss right over all the problems."

TBH, I'm someone who can like things pretty easily, even as I'm meticulously listing all the problems I had with it. I feel like having complaints doesn't preclude you from still liking the thing. Nothing is perfect, and I think the more I like something, the more nitpicky I get about its problems.

As for the sequel, if there's a BR I'll be up for that too. Audiobook comes out in a couple weeks and I'm definitely getting it.

Kristin B. wrote: "Although, seriously, to what's important. Do we think this fits with the 7K challenge prompt "Words: We Do Not Sow / What Is Dead May Never Die""

I think it fits.

And I know exactly what you mean about being able to gloss over major flaws when you're enjoying the story, but picking every little thing to death when you're not. Happens to me a lot.

Joon wrote: "As for the sequel, if there's a BR I'll be up for that too. Audiobook comes out in a couple weeks and I'm definitely getting it...."

That works out perfect since I have a few books I need to get to before I can read the next one. How does March 3rd sound for a start date? If a few folks are in I will go add it to the BR thread and set myself a reminder to set the discussion thread up.

Whenever is fine. I may read the monthly sci-fi book first (Planetfall is up by a single vote though I'm still crossing my fingers for a late victory by Semiosis) but I may start that before the end of February.

I finally finished this last night. A thank you to everyone in this thread who insisted that the second half was better than the first - I definitely would not have been able to finish it at all without that assurance. It wasn't mind-blowing enough to completely outweigh how much I hated the first half, but it was at least entertaining enough to make me glad I kept going.

I think most of my complaints have already been mentioned - stilted dialogue (and awkward writing in general), characters I didn't like or didn't care about, a plot that didn't make a lot of sense. While Boots and Nilah did grow on me a bit as the book went on, I never managed to get very attached to either of them. Nilah's romance with Orna felt forced and at times out of place. I also very much agree with Christopher that the level of violence sometimes seemed disproportionate for the type of book this felt like it was trying to be otherwise.

I do also think this book suffered because during the time I was reading it, I happened to read both another book about a group of salvagers reunited after being separated by a war and chasing across space after something from myth AND another queer science fantasy that focused a lot on cars. This book wasn't as good as either of the others, and the similarities reinforced the parts I didn't like about this.

I liked the fast pace and mindless action; sometimes you really need a story like this. But like it has been mentioned, it was lacking in plot, world building and definition of the magic system.

I liked the characters, at least the few that were there enough to get a personality. The part I found the most annoying was the romance(s). It was more insta-lust that came from nowhere at a rather inappropriate time. I need a bit more than that to care even the barest minimum. Instead when the cook died I just shrugged and went on like nothing happened, and for the most part I was rolling my eyes at Orna and Nilah.

For those interested in continuing the series, there is a buddy read of A Bad Deal for the Whole Galaxy.

I have higher hopes for the sequel; I thought the weakest aspects of the first book were centered around establishing the world and characters. That's done now, however clumsily, but we can move on.

I actually enjoyed this book and liked the characters - mostly because they're so unlikeable in the beginning and then start to grow on you.
Interestingly, I didn't feel that the dialogue was stilted, but I do agree that some of the plot points/worldbuilding could have been better. The magic system definitely could have been explained better and I still wonder: if life was drained from Clarkesfall, why did the human inhabitants survive? Did the spell only work on life directly connected to the planet?
It does make sense to me that the planet slowly dying would lead to a civil war. of course the different societies would start fighting over resources. And that other planets didn't help....well, sadly, that doesn't seem too far-fetched either if I look at real world examples.

I don't know that I have any kind of real explanation as to why the whole planet didn't just die, other than it being convenient for a plot point. (Super solid plot points were not the strong suit in this story. lol.) But I could make something up and say that I would guess that the spells are designed to steal non-sentient life-force. Or that at the time they only had the ability to hold so much magic, which they were working on fixing for the spell that involved the tracks. Who knows. Whenever I find a plot point that makes little sense in a story I really like I usually just make something up so I can just keep reading. ;)

Kristin B. wrote: "I don't know that I have any kind of real explanation as to why the whole planet didn't just die, other than it being convenient for a plot point. (Super solid plot points were not the strong suit ..."

Ha! Yes, agreed. That's where my guess came from.

Kristin B. wrote: "I don't know that I have any kind of real explanation as to why the whole planet didn't just die, other than it being convenient for a plot point."

moreover, no one guessed why 'rooted' life died - and we know that healers used to take life force from plant - i.e. this should have been investigated

I managed to finish it - I want to read all the group reads this year, so DNF was not an option. But I must admit I skimmed large parts of it. The characters just did absolutely nothing for me - cool folks talking cool stuff completely lacking any depth.

I had the feeling that the idea of the book isn't that bad, yet the execution was rather like a videogame. I gave it 3 stars, although it felt more like 2 stars to me - cause I'm just not the right target audience for it.

This one was not for me. Everything felt so YA. Things either fell to easily into place, or went horribly wrong in an unbelievable way. And the dialog!!!!

This was a bit painful to finish. By the end, I kind of hoping a TPK would redeem it by being unexpected.

Ah well, maybe next time.

Valerie wrote: "... This was a bit painful to finish. By the end, I kind of hoping a TPK would redeem it by being unexpected. ..."

Ooh! Yes! I'm not normally in favor of that as an ending but it would have worked for me in this case. Maybe next time...

I thought this book was a fun read. I read it the way I would watch an action movie- just kind of switch off the internal critique machine a bit and see how entertaining the action beats flow together. If you kind of take it in that light, it has a great flow of intesne action events in nearly every chapter. I do agree with many that some of the universe building could have been a bit more fleshed out in terms of magic use for some things and not others. At the same time, I found the glyph concept kind of interesting in that they had to draw out a sign to perform an act.

I would have enjoyed a bit more exploration of the non-magic users. I think they would be a lot of more depressed, suicidal, and outcast than they were written (to my mind anyway). Or like a Batman scenario, where those without magic are much darker, but also view the world differently and maybe use other aspects of humanity to succeed in life. I also feel like the group of those super powerful magic users wasn't explored super well. Like why are these few people so much more powerful than the rest? Maybe I missed that detail with the fast pace of events.

Despite all that, I still had a good time reading it. I think it would make a neat action movie or short series, as it all came off quite visual and fast paced. Perhaps that was the author's goal in this age of visual media?