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matth's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
2.0
Oh dear. Where to start?
In terms of genre it is an entirely standard, comfortable, nothing-new-to-see-here urban fantasy. I like those. They are fun. Formula has its place.
However, the problem starts when you engage with the themes and politics of it all. Politics in my fantasy? More likely than you think.
Without going into tremendous detail, I will say the most glaring issue is the attitude towards immigration. See, the protagonist is fairly critical of people that aren’t properly assimilated into the new status quo while praising the ones that throw themselves into the new place and culture. Become one of the good ones.
At times it feels as if the author is directly speaking, as in the opinion is not one of the character but one the author wants to be known. It is written in a rather callous manner.
I’ll stop here. The short version is that I’m severely disappointed given my enjoyment of the By The Pact series.
In terms of genre it is an entirely standard, comfortable, nothing-new-to-see-here urban fantasy. I like those. They are fun. Formula has its place.
However, the problem starts when you engage with the themes and politics of it all. Politics in my fantasy? More likely than you think.
Without going into tremendous detail, I will say the most glaring issue is the attitude towards immigration. See, the protagonist is fairly critical of people that aren’t properly assimilated into the new status quo while praising the ones that throw themselves into the new place and culture. Become one of the good ones.
At times it feels as if the author is directly speaking, as in the opinion is not one of the character but one the author wants to be known. It is written in a rather callous manner.
I’ll stop here. The short version is that I’m severely disappointed given my enjoyment of the By The Pact series.
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