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mellhay's review
5.0
A wonderful remake of Aladdin with steampunk as the center of magic.
***Full review***
We meet Aladdin in the market place where he has his eye on a polished gear amongst other desk clock parts in one particular shop. A part he could use in his mechanical device he's creating at home. Aladdin waits for his most opportune moment and with his quick hand, Aladdin is on the run from being caught in a world where a man (or boy) of sticky fingers is caught, he will soon become a one-handed beggar. Aladdin's unknown, to him and his mother, "Uncle," Jaha, has called upon him, asking to take Aladdin on as an apprentice, in his world of illusions and "magic." Aladdin hopes his dreams may come true, illusionists need devices, and now he was going with a master illusionist with his device.
Foremost, I have to say I love the writing style of Tee! I was mesmerized by the ability to tell of Aladdin, his actions, and the world Aladdin exists in at the same time in his sentences. I love when authors have this ability, it's one I wish to be able to do as well.
So I wanted to share two sentences I loved while reading. (Although, there were several in this novella I enjoyed.)
"He was merely a shadow now, and soon he would be nothing but a wisp of sand disappearing in the wind."
"Karim recognized Aladdin straightaway (as Aladdin recognized him), but the cafe owner's outward disdain disappeared as water under the noonday sun, surrendering to confusion as his eyes went from Aladdin to the magician."
There is no time wasted in this novella. Tee has worked every word to his advantage, making it seem so easy. I love this style and word usage! Another wondrous feat is we see the town through Aladdin's actions, not just through descriptions of his eyes.
Now, I don't want to give to much away of the story as it is a novella. But it was enjoyable reading this refreshing and new twist to an old tale.
We meet Aladdin, an exceptional thief, quick and of his home town as well. We learn off the bat. this Aladdin is a tinker of sorts, with big dreams as all young have. We learn of Jaha, and his plans for Aladdin through Aladdin's eyes and what he is to do.
Now, this is a steampunk style read. So what would steampunk be without flying ships? Yep, we have one, briefly. AND... the flying carpet is present, with a twist, along with the genie. I have to say the 'magic' present here is all visible and thought of as illusions and mechanical. I loved the twist of mechanical to this story, Tee has made it all work and easy to believe.
I really loved the idea, and blend with steampunk here!
This book is well worth its price of $1.99. Currently, the novella is only available on Amazon for Kindle apps or readers. But being a Novella, and one you don't want to quit reading until done, it's a quick read.
***Full review***
We meet Aladdin in the market place where he has his eye on a polished gear amongst other desk clock parts in one particular shop. A part he could use in his mechanical device he's creating at home. Aladdin waits for his most opportune moment and with his quick hand, Aladdin is on the run from being caught in a world where a man (or boy) of sticky fingers is caught, he will soon become a one-handed beggar. Aladdin's unknown, to him and his mother, "Uncle," Jaha, has called upon him, asking to take Aladdin on as an apprentice, in his world of illusions and "magic." Aladdin hopes his dreams may come true, illusionists need devices, and now he was going with a master illusionist with his device.
Foremost, I have to say I love the writing style of Tee! I was mesmerized by the ability to tell of Aladdin, his actions, and the world Aladdin exists in at the same time in his sentences. I love when authors have this ability, it's one I wish to be able to do as well.
So I wanted to share two sentences I loved while reading. (Although, there were several in this novella I enjoyed.)
"He was merely a shadow now, and soon he would be nothing but a wisp of sand disappearing in the wind."
"Karim recognized Aladdin straightaway (as Aladdin recognized him), but the cafe owner's outward disdain disappeared as water under the noonday sun, surrendering to confusion as his eyes went from Aladdin to the magician."
There is no time wasted in this novella. Tee has worked every word to his advantage, making it seem so easy. I love this style and word usage! Another wondrous feat is we see the town through Aladdin's actions, not just through descriptions of his eyes.
Now, I don't want to give to much away of the story as it is a novella. But it was enjoyable reading this refreshing and new twist to an old tale.
We meet Aladdin, an exceptional thief, quick and of his home town as well. We learn off the bat. this Aladdin is a tinker of sorts, with big dreams as all young have. We learn of Jaha, and his plans for Aladdin through Aladdin's eyes and what he is to do.
Now, this is a steampunk style read. So what would steampunk be without flying ships? Yep, we have one, briefly. AND... the flying carpet is present, with a twist, along with the genie. I have to say the 'magic' present here is all visible and thought of as illusions and mechanical. I loved the twist of mechanical to this story, Tee has made it all work and easy to believe.
I really loved the idea, and blend with steampunk here!
This book is well worth its price of $1.99. Currently, the novella is only available on Amazon for Kindle apps or readers. But being a Novella, and one you don't want to quit reading until done, it's a quick read.
daveeth71's review
5.0
I loved this short story and feel it has potential to go forward i would love to hear of the futher adventures of 'Aladdin and his wornderful infernal device'
krash9924's review
4.0
Tee Morris has taken the classic Aladdin story and steampunk'd it. This novella packs a mighty punch in just a few short pages. The characters really stood out to me. Giles the lamp and Aladdin, I wasn't expecting much in the character development, were developed really well. The steampunk elements were kept light and smartly incorporated into the tale.
The one major issue I had with the novella is that it seemed more of a first draft than that of a final work. Editing mistakes, spelling errors and weird sentences were quiet common, I would put this novella somewhere in the 3.5 range because it just didn't have the polish you would expect.
The one major issue I had with the novella is that it seemed more of a first draft than that of a final work. Editing mistakes, spelling errors and weird sentences were quiet common, I would put this novella somewhere in the 3.5 range because it just didn't have the polish you would expect.
bookdingo's review
3.0
Fun, quick romp with a genie automaton. I noted a few typos, and there were instances where I was confused and the establishing details weren't all there (Example: Aladdin's in the water, then BOOM! He's on the roof.). Also, there are some moments of just plain bad judgement. Aladdin escapes from the guards by rushing into a random building, spots a large fellow, he doesn't know who the fellow is, but he goes ahead and follows him back into the marketplace? What? But he was just being pursued for stealing? And what about that performance in front of the Sultan? Aladdin and Giles simply waltz onto the stage. Hey royal guard, your guarding sucks!
I think this story needed an extra scene to take us from the sand dunes to Jaha's performance as well, because everything about Aladdin's destiny and his plan to get back at Jaha is known to him and Giles, but not the audience. Heck, a few extra scenes were warranted because there's plenty of potential here!
I think this story needed an extra scene to take us from the sand dunes to Jaha's performance as well, because everything about Aladdin's destiny and his plan to get back at Jaha is known to him and Giles, but not the audience. Heck, a few extra scenes were warranted because there's plenty of potential here!
dananner's review
2.0
I've been reading and listening to [a:Tee Morris|460870|Tee Morris|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1229921811p2/460870.jpg] since he podcasted [b:Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana|1550651|Morevi The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana (Book 1)|Lisa Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1185075007s/1550651.jpg|1543015]. I've really enjoyed [b:Phoenix Rising|9795166|Phoenix Rising (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, #1)|Philippa Ballantine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1319574583s/9795166.jpg|14685275], [b:The Janus Affair|13085609|The Janus Affair (Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences, #2)|Philippa Ballantine|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328960260s/13085609.jpg|18256337], and all of the MoPo podcasts, so much so that I automatically buy the printed collections on Nook and Kindle to support the authors (the podcasts are better though).
I avoided reading all of the other reviews of this story so I could approach it with an open mind. I am a huge fan of fairy tales, Grimm, Anderson, Arabian Nights, etc. I am also a huge Disney fan. I think this treatment of the story needs more fleshing out and a little more originality to separate it from its predecessors.
If I wasn't aware of (or maybe because I was aware of them) the slight pop-culture references, mixed with steampunk and a retelling of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp was a very disconcerting experience. It didn't flow. I wasn't transported to a Middle Ages Middle East where science and magic blend into something awe-inspiring (which I think was the point of the story).
I've come to expect better storytelling from Tee. This seemed slapdash and rushed and left me disappointed, something that has never happened before when immersing myself in Tee's works.
The beginning is great, but it loses something around the middle and never regains it. I kept reading in hopes that the story would recover, but, to me, it never did.
I avoided reading all of the other reviews of this story so I could approach it with an open mind. I am a huge fan of fairy tales, Grimm, Anderson, Arabian Nights, etc. I am also a huge Disney fan. I think this treatment of the story needs more fleshing out and a little more originality to separate it from its predecessors.
If I wasn't aware of (or maybe because I was aware of them) the slight pop-culture references, mixed with steampunk and a retelling of Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp was a very disconcerting experience. It didn't flow. I wasn't transported to a Middle Ages Middle East where science and magic blend into something awe-inspiring (which I think was the point of the story).
I've come to expect better storytelling from Tee. This seemed slapdash and rushed and left me disappointed, something that has never happened before when immersing myself in Tee's works.
The beginning is great, but it loses something around the middle and never regains it. I kept reading in hopes that the story would recover, but, to me, it never did.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
3.0
It's not that great of a departure from Aladdin, but what I really enjoyed about it were the changes in the character of the mother and the princess. I also liked the genie's origin story.
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