Last year I was (trying to) do a review per week, and haven't kept to my schedule when 2024 started... So, let's use a week or two to catch up. First target: Casey White.
Casey White is an independent self publishing author, with a number of novels to her name. I can't figure out how many, as there are multiple authors with the same name / alias 😎
More Casey White
She's one of the people behind Inkfort Press, has her own homepage at inorai.com and a presence on Facebook.
So, how about the book?
Narration
It's a fantasy / action romp, and at this moment I'm halfway through the audiobook version. It flows well so far, but the audio narrator wasn't the best pick possible. I find myself sighing and wishing for him to speed up a little bit.
Goofs
One of the things I blame myself for is my lack of 'suspension of disbelief' when it comes to books. I can handle issues with TV shows and movies, putting the 'show' above everything else, but when it comes to books I find myself oversensitive to logic mistakes or gaps.
It's all me.
To rifle or not to rifle
Still there are a few issues with this story that immediately jump out. At the beginning, the main protagonist John gets shot with a handgun, if I recall correctly. A revolver or a pistol or whatever, but not a rifle.
Afterward, he gets interrogated in the hospital. In most (civilized) places around the world you'll receive extra interest from the local Police Force when you're taken in with a shot wound. In this case John uses his new found magical power to convince the cop that it is a hunting accident.
Well... when was the last time you went hunting without a rifle? Where is the rifle? Rifles make very different wounds.
And wouldn't the police want to confiscate the weapon? Or perhaps the gun was used in some crime (it certainly would have been used before) so further investigations would be in order.
Mundanes
The other disturbing thing was the lack of firepower, literally. The main theme thus far is groups of humans (called 'crews'), hunting other groups of humans. The prime targets are those who acquired their magical powers from remnants / relics / artifacts -- personally worn objects that infuse the wearer with some sort of magical (super)power.
Not everyone can become a wearer of a remnant, but those that can wear them and use them are called 'Demis'.
So, different crews hunt Demis. Kill 'm, steal the remnant, and sell it or use it yourself. Sounds like a plan.
Now there are power users called 'Finders' that can find other Demis. Makes sense, otherwise the story would get slow and boring 😇 but what's irking me is the lack of use of mundane people. With guns. Bring a number of mundane people with you, arm those with long range sniper rifles, and take down your targets without them even knowing you're in the territory. That's how I would play the game.
Verdict
Okayish. But the lack of 'mundanes with guns' has kept bothering me all the way thus far. If my opinion changes before I've finished the book I'll update this review, but frankly, I doubt it will.
Perhaps a tougher editor, one more story developing pass, or more critical alpha / beta readers would have helped. I think the author can do better.
Will I sample any other books by her hand? I might, but she isn't very high in my queue right now. Then again, I have so many titles left to read... Sigh.
Dapper / TellTales! #119
No comments:
Post a Comment