Skyborn (first of a trilogy)
David Dalglish
ISBN: 9780316302685
Floating islands, religious oppression, spunky war-orphans.
Part of my ongoing research into "floating islands in the sky" stories, and this first book started out very neatly, but it's headed into religious territory that I don't feel particularly inclined to pursue. I've got the feeling of the writing and the world-building pretty well from the first book. I very much enjoyed the focus on their version of military academy, and on the training in magic and tactics and their equipment, and I also thought Dalglish did a very good job of describing aerial combat. If it wasn't for the religious overtones building up through the book, I would probably have stuck with the series just because it's decently written and interesting politically, but oh well.
Showing posts with label icarus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label icarus. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Steampunk Fantasy: Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire, by Dru Pagliassotti
Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530546
Conclusion to The Clockwork Heart Trilogy (previous reviews of Clockwork Heart & Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind here.)
Read February 23, 2015
I read the first of these way back when, roughly a million years ago, and I was really fascinated with the idea of Exalted and the caste system of Ondinium, and by their nifty anti-gravity steam-and-analytical-engine-driven technologies. I was very much looking forward to spending more time in that culture, seeing how the world worked, and how the restrictions of movement and identity hampered or helped the society.
But then the author decided that instead, we were going to tour the other (sadly not as well-fleshed-out or imaginative) societies of the world, and to largely have her characters ignore the restrictions imposed in the beginning (which, given these characters, was absolutely the right thing to do, and expected of them) while they hare about attempting to be diplomatic for the entire second book, and then almost exactly 4 full pages of this last book.
After that, we're in an extended chase sequence, to yet another country, across oceans and farmlands and mountains, until the finale brings us right back to where we ended the first book, with similarly dramatic results.
I enjoyed the reading. I really love having a married main couple who are happy and working together to manage their (fairly impressive number of) differences of opinions and attitudes, and I love the undertones of cultural strife and racism that streak through like veins of beautiful ores. The story was told engagingly, the characters and pacing were fine - I just really wanted to see Ondinium more first, to be familiar enough with it that it could be accepted as normal, and THEN to see the other countries through their eyes. I just didn't feel that I had enough chance to do that, and so I never quite sympathized with Taya or Chris in their concerns or fears or puzzlements while they were in foreign lands.
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530546
Conclusion to The Clockwork Heart Trilogy (previous reviews of Clockwork Heart & Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind here.)
Read February 23, 2015
I read the first of these way back when, roughly a million years ago, and I was really fascinated with the idea of Exalted and the caste system of Ondinium, and by their nifty anti-gravity steam-and-analytical-engine-driven technologies. I was very much looking forward to spending more time in that culture, seeing how the world worked, and how the restrictions of movement and identity hampered or helped the society.
But then the author decided that instead, we were going to tour the other (sadly not as well-fleshed-out or imaginative) societies of the world, and to largely have her characters ignore the restrictions imposed in the beginning (which, given these characters, was absolutely the right thing to do, and expected of them) while they hare about attempting to be diplomatic for the entire second book, and then almost exactly 4 full pages of this last book.
After that, we're in an extended chase sequence, to yet another country, across oceans and farmlands and mountains, until the finale brings us right back to where we ended the first book, with similarly dramatic results.
I enjoyed the reading. I really love having a married main couple who are happy and working together to manage their (fairly impressive number of) differences of opinions and attitudes, and I love the undertones of cultural strife and racism that streak through like veins of beautiful ores. The story was told engagingly, the characters and pacing were fine - I just really wanted to see Ondinium more first, to be familiar enough with it that it could be accepted as normal, and THEN to see the other countries through their eyes. I just didn't feel that I had enough chance to do that, and so I never quite sympathized with Taya or Chris in their concerns or fears or puzzlements while they were in foreign lands.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Clockwork Heart, and Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind, both by Dru Pagliassotti
The last in the trilogy came out in September, and made me realize that I had missed the arrival of the second. Originally, when I read the first, I only remembered the intricate caste system, the concept of flying couriers, and the noble "Exalted" class who were hidden behind intricate and restrictive robes and masks in all but the most private or extreme circumstances.
Clockwork Heart
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530263
Re-read Oct 10
Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530508
Read Oct 12
In Heart, we're introduced to the mountainous city-state of Ondinium, made proud and rich by industry, and by the precious metal ondinum, which not only floats, but rises. This metal powers giant difference engines in the heart of the city, keeps timepieces and cable-cars aloft, and provides the ability for small and light-weight people to become icarii - couriers and emergency response crews who fly on enormous lighter-than-air metal wings.
These couriers are the only members of Ondinium's strictly regulated society able to transcend caste boundaries - marked clearly by tattoos on the face, or in the case of the Exalted, also marked by enveloping and restrictive heavily ornamental and stylized robes and masks.
Taya Icarus' immigrant family is from one of the lower rungs of society, but Taya herself, cleared for any job due to her position as an icarus, wants to be a diplomat. She's still worrying about her aptitude test when she responds to a cable-car accident, rescues a duo of Exalted, and is immediately thrust into a web of espionage and state-secret-selling, aided and wooed by two very different high-caste brothers.
In Lies, Taya has gotten her coveted diplomat job, but not quite the way she had imagined, and she is also a bit unprepared for the brutal nature of politicking and schmoozing in their neighbor-kingdom Mareaux. When her Exalted diplomat companion is the subject of multiple assassination attempts, the duo must protect themselves (diplomatically) work with their security escort to figure out what is happening (diplomatically), return home early (diplomatically) and once back home, survive a last-ditch effort to destroy them all. All of that only gets us to the halfway mark, and the rest of the book deals with the conclusion of their investigations and Taya's attempt to avert a true and enormous threat to the entire country, while still saving the man she loves, and trying to not shatter the ancient taboos she is bound by. The feel of this book was a lot different from the first - this was more like a heist novel or a James Bond story.
In both stories, I really enjoy the relationship between Taya and the Exalted - it's not one you see often in science fiction or fantasy novels (a notable exception being Mary Robinette Kowal's Regency-With-Magic Glamourist Histories). I also very much like the Lictor (police) Lieutenant Amcathra - again, nice to see a positive representation of police in this sort of story.
Looking forward to seeing the last book processed into the library collection: Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire was out in mid-September, so I should be seeing it soon.
Clockwork Heart
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530263
Re-read Oct 10
Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530508
Read Oct 12
In Heart, we're introduced to the mountainous city-state of Ondinium, made proud and rich by industry, and by the precious metal ondinum, which not only floats, but rises. This metal powers giant difference engines in the heart of the city, keeps timepieces and cable-cars aloft, and provides the ability for small and light-weight people to become icarii - couriers and emergency response crews who fly on enormous lighter-than-air metal wings.
These couriers are the only members of Ondinium's strictly regulated society able to transcend caste boundaries - marked clearly by tattoos on the face, or in the case of the Exalted, also marked by enveloping and restrictive heavily ornamental and stylized robes and masks.
Taya Icarus' immigrant family is from one of the lower rungs of society, but Taya herself, cleared for any job due to her position as an icarus, wants to be a diplomat. She's still worrying about her aptitude test when she responds to a cable-car accident, rescues a duo of Exalted, and is immediately thrust into a web of espionage and state-secret-selling, aided and wooed by two very different high-caste brothers.
In Lies, Taya has gotten her coveted diplomat job, but not quite the way she had imagined, and she is also a bit unprepared for the brutal nature of politicking and schmoozing in their neighbor-kingdom Mareaux. When her Exalted diplomat companion is the subject of multiple assassination attempts, the duo must protect themselves (diplomatically) work with their security escort to figure out what is happening (diplomatically), return home early (diplomatically) and once back home, survive a last-ditch effort to destroy them all. All of that only gets us to the halfway mark, and the rest of the book deals with the conclusion of their investigations and Taya's attempt to avert a true and enormous threat to the entire country, while still saving the man she loves, and trying to not shatter the ancient taboos she is bound by. The feel of this book was a lot different from the first - this was more like a heist novel or a James Bond story.
In both stories, I really enjoy the relationship between Taya and the Exalted - it's not one you see often in science fiction or fantasy novels (a notable exception being Mary Robinette Kowal's Regency-With-Magic Glamourist Histories). I also very much like the Lictor (police) Lieutenant Amcathra - again, nice to see a positive representation of police in this sort of story.
Looking forward to seeing the last book processed into the library collection: Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire was out in mid-September, so I should be seeing it soon.
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