goblintales's reviews
215 reviews

Just couldn't get into this one. I didn't feel invested in the characters or world and after 2 hours figured it was time to call it. 

I love a good narration with character voices but this one just felt a bit over the top, to the point of being hard to understand at times. 

Book 2 tries to up the scale and stakes with a much expanded universe, extragalactic politics, and new enemies and allies in the fight. Unfortunately, the extra attention to the political aspects of the Space Opera genre just didn't do it for me. The first 150 pages is a lot of world building, heavy with diplomatic pomp and flair that left me wishing we could just get on with the damn thing. 

Once the action picks up, the book doesn't slow down until the end. We get a wonderful variety of giant robot ass kicking in some spectacular locations. This is why I picked up the first book and exactly what I wanted out of the second. We're flitted from one action to immediately planning for the next and the exhaustive told on the characters is palpable and I tore through the second half with fewer break than them. 

Despite the title, Gus and Graymalkin's relationship stole the show. They both were grappling with mistakes of the past, choices taken away, and what moving forward looks like, shaking the foundations of their relationship but ultimately bringing them deeper in sync than ever. I just didn't feel the same depth and character growth from Ardent and Falchion. 

The climactic battle was grand, beautiful, and brutal in all the right ways. Though

the twist betrayal

felt a bit contrived and the only reason I can see for it is to set something up for book 3, though I'm not sure what that is. In some ways I feel like it diminished what should have been a satisfying conclusion by

pointlessly swapping out a well developed enemy and replacing it with one the reader has no investment in, only to immediately kill this one too.

I'll definitely pick up book 3, even just for more great mecha fights. Though most story threads feel like they could have been wrapped up with one or two more chapters and some minor detail changes. I feel like this could have been a very satisfying duology but I'll have wait to see what's next to make a final judgment.