Scan barcode
dotreadsbooks's review
5.0
A great back story to the TAG series!! All our questions answered and more details about our favorite, Aeson!
bookaholicalways's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book!
I like how it shows what happens to Aeson before he got his black armband.
Even though there’s no chapters, the text is broken up by Aeson regaining consciousness in space. To stop from hurting, he makes himself go back to his memories.
It was really cool to see how the characters from the main four books came together originally.
I’m so excited to be reading this series again!
I like how it shows what happens to Aeson before he got his black armband.
Even though there’s no chapters, the text is broken up by Aeson regaining consciousness in space. To stop from hurting, he makes himself go back to his memories.
It was really cool to see how the characters from the main four books came together originally.
I’m so excited to be reading this series again!
tundaria's review
2.0
[Spoiler notes: I am trying to avoid spoilers about this novella specifically, but I touch broadly on some parts of it—especially the framing device, which is the opening scene. Minor spoiler warning for the main series, in that basic facts about Aeson's future life may be mentioned.]
In a nutshell, this is this is generally in line with the full novels, quality-wise. (See my Survive review for (some of) my thoughts on that.) There are all the usual problems stemming from a lack of polish/etc, but there's a solid premise at the core and a few good moments here and there (Erita and Oalla are treasures). The info-dumping was actually a lot better than usual, probably due to the length constraint, and the easter-egg revelations were well done. That said, I had two main problems with this novella, neither of which were as big in the novels. I tried not to ramble, but things did get away from me a bit and this is actually the cut-down version.
Problem #1: The tenses at the beginning. There is not an entirely consistent "now" from the start of the flashback up through the first few scenes—past and present tenses are mixed together, and if there was a rhyme or reason to the usage, I wasn't able to find it. Fortunately it settles into something essentially consistent for the middle, and the transition from past to present at the end is pretty reasonable. But the start was very rough, to the point where I actually couldn't read that portion straight through. It felt very much like a writer trying to find her bearings, but I would expect that sort of thing to be smoothed out in a second pass. So either it's a deliberate choice that I happen to dislike (in which case your mileage may vary), or else somebody dropped the ball on editing the very beginning of the story.
Problem #2: This one gets split because there are distinct-but-related plot/narrative aspects involved.
• 2a: I was thinking of the Elikara thing as the B-plot (there's not enough time spent on/with her for it to be A-plot), but when I stopped and thought about it, I couldn't put my finger on what the A-plot was? There's not a clear throughline to this story, no overarching theme; it's a bunch of events (variably loosely- or closely-connected) throughout the years at school until Aeson catches back up with his present. The result is that, while it was nice to fill in the gaps and learn some of the things we learned, the story feels… aimless? Unfocused?
Whenever I try to pin down an A-plot, I end up talking myself in circles. Maybe I just need to reread it, but the fact that this is so muddy is not a point in the story's favor. Now, again, YMMV. But to be clear, I like many character-based stories; I don't need a Big Important Plot to enjoy a piece of media. But this novella isn't framed as slice-of-life or similar, which brings me to the second aspect of Problem #2…
• 2b: The framing device of "Aeson trying to distract himself while dying" implicitly sets up an expectation that we're going to be learning something important about how he got there. But we don't. The story fails to deliver on that basic premise. While the narration does end where it begins, the story in between those two points isn't about what happened to put Aeson in that position. The focus instead is on him navigating new and unfamiliar circumstances at the cadet academy—even the blurb highlights that. So why does Aeson’s mind turn to those events in particular, when neither his experiences at that time nor the relationships he built are closely linked to why he’s "currently" dying?
(As far as I can tell, the answer seems to be a combination of "Aeson's time as a cadet is interesting and currently-unexplored material" and "I really want to use this ending line, which works best thematically in this one specific context." Personally, that second one isn't enough of a reason to keep an out-of-place framing device in the story. Even if the line can't be tweaked to work in a different context where Aeson is still narrating, should one good line really be the priority?)
Overall, rating is 2.5/5, rounded down. A decent first draft, with the usual need for further development and revision. Storywise, it’s a good concept, but the execution falls flat for some key structural reasons. Note that despite the flaws, this is still an utterly average (i.e., not bad) rating from me.
In a nutshell, this is this is generally in line with the full novels, quality-wise. (See my Survive review for (some of) my thoughts on that.) There are all the usual problems stemming from a lack of polish/etc, but there's a solid premise at the core and a few good moments here and there (Erita and Oalla are treasures). The info-dumping was actually a lot better than usual, probably due to the length constraint, and the easter-egg revelations were well done. That said, I had two main problems with this novella, neither of which were as big in the novels. I tried not to ramble, but things did get away from me a bit and this is actually the cut-down version.
Problem #1: The tenses at the beginning. There is not an entirely consistent "now" from the start of the flashback up through the first few scenes—past and present tenses are mixed together, and if there was a rhyme or reason to the usage, I wasn't able to find it. Fortunately it settles into something essentially consistent for the middle, and the transition from past to present at the end is pretty reasonable. But the start was very rough, to the point where I actually couldn't read that portion straight through. It felt very much like a writer trying to find her bearings, but I would expect that sort of thing to be smoothed out in a second pass. So either it's a deliberate choice that I happen to dislike (in which case your mileage may vary), or else somebody dropped the ball on editing the very beginning of the story.
Problem #2: This one gets split because there are distinct-but-related plot/narrative aspects involved.
• 2a: I was thinking of the Elikara thing as the B-plot (there's not enough time spent on/with her for it to be A-plot), but when I stopped and thought about it, I couldn't put my finger on what the A-plot was? There's not a clear throughline to this story, no overarching theme; it's a bunch of events (variably loosely- or closely-connected) throughout the years at school until Aeson catches back up with his present. The result is that, while it was nice to fill in the gaps and learn some of the things we learned, the story feels… aimless? Unfocused?
Whenever I try to pin down an A-plot, I end up talking myself in circles. Maybe I just need to reread it, but the fact that this is so muddy is not a point in the story's favor. Now, again, YMMV. But to be clear, I like many character-based stories; I don't need a Big Important Plot to enjoy a piece of media. But this novella isn't framed as slice-of-life or similar, which brings me to the second aspect of Problem #2…
• 2b: The framing device of "Aeson trying to distract himself while dying" implicitly sets up an expectation that we're going to be learning something important about how he got there. But we don't. The story fails to deliver on that basic premise. While the narration does end where it begins, the story in between those two points isn't about what happened to put Aeson in that position. The focus instead is on him navigating new and unfamiliar circumstances at the cadet academy—even the blurb highlights that. So why does Aeson’s mind turn to those events in particular, when neither his experiences at that time nor the relationships he built are closely linked to why he’s "currently" dying?
(As far as I can tell, the answer seems to be a combination of "Aeson's time as a cadet is interesting and currently-unexplored material" and "I really want to use this ending line, which works best thematically in this one specific context." Personally, that second one isn't enough of a reason to keep an out-of-place framing device in the story. Even if the line can't be tweaked to work in a different context where Aeson is still narrating, should one good line really be the priority?)
Overall, rating is 2.5/5, rounded down. A decent first draft, with the usual need for further development and revision. Storywise, it’s a good concept, but the execution falls flat for some key structural reasons. Note that despite the flaws, this is still an utterly average (i.e., not bad) rating from me.
divine529's review
This was a lot better than I expected, especially since I don't always get on well with novellas.
If you haven't read the entire The Atlantis Grail series, don't read this until you have, or you'll be a bit lost.
This is primarily a backstory for Aeson (as evidenced by the title) and follows him in his cadet years from the time he's 7 up through the Incident we learn about in TAG, but we also get to get some of the backstory in some of the other characters from TAG like Oalla, Xelio, Keruvat, Erita and Elikara.
The writing, as with the writing of the series, takes a bit of time to settle into. There's a lot of room for editing and refining, but I also didn't find it as bad as normal. Also as with all of the previous books, it was detail heavy for the first half and then time jump after time jump for the second half. The writing also has a tendency to be dramatic and over the top and the dialogue is written in a way pretty much no one speaks, but overall it was decent.
The setting/world is one we're familiar with since it takes place on Atlantida, and if you've read the other books, you'll understand the traditions, customs and historical references that are scattered throughout, along with the random Atlanteo words. And that was pretty consistent from the main series (besides the age thing, which we'll get to).
The plot was also fine. It follows Aeson in his time at cadet school and it's generally a more character centric story, since we already have previous knowledge of the classes from the main series.
Finally, I found Aeson's arc to be written very similarly to Gwen's from the main series, but I enjoyed getting his backstory a bit and learning how he met everyone and what their relationships were like before we meet them in TAG. Xelio's backstory is also tragic and I really liked seeing their relationship unfold. Some of the relationships could've been fleshed out more, so certain events had more of an emotional impact, but overall this was the most solid part of the story.
All in all, a solid addition to the world.
TW/CW: violence, grief, death, mention of suicide
If you haven't read the entire The Atlantis Grail series, don't read this until you have, or you'll be a bit lost.
This is primarily a backstory for Aeson (as evidenced by the title) and follows him in his cadet years from the time he's 7 up through the Incident we learn about in TAG, but we also get to get some of the backstory in some of the other characters from TAG like Oalla, Xelio, Keruvat, Erita and Elikara.
The writing, as with the writing of the series, takes a bit of time to settle into. There's a lot of room for editing and refining, but I also didn't find it as bad as normal. Also as with all of the previous books, it was detail heavy for the first half and then time jump after time jump for the second half. The writing also has a tendency to be dramatic and over the top and the dialogue is written in a way pretty much no one speaks, but overall it was decent.
The setting/world is one we're familiar with since it takes place on Atlantida, and if you've read the other books, you'll understand the traditions, customs and historical references that are scattered throughout, along with the random Atlanteo words. And that was pretty consistent from the main series (besides the age thing, which we'll get to).
The plot was also fine. It follows Aeson in his time at cadet school and it's generally a more character centric story, since we already have previous knowledge of the classes from the main series.
Finally, I found Aeson's arc to be written very similarly to Gwen's from the main series, but I enjoyed getting his backstory a bit and learning how he met everyone and what their relationships were like before we meet them in TAG. Xelio's backstory is also tragic and I really liked seeing their relationship unfold. Some of the relationships could've been fleshed out more, so certain events had more of an emotional impact, but overall this was the most solid part of the story.
All in all, a solid addition to the world.
TW/CW: violence, grief, death, mention of suicide
aseaoftomes's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
This was a lot better than I expected, especially since I don't always get on well with novellas.
If you haven't read the entire The Atlantis Grail series, don't read this until you have, or you'll be a bit lost.
This is primarily a backstory for Aeson (as evidenced by the title) and follows him in his cadet years from the time he's 7 up through the Incident we learn about in TAG, but we also get to get some of the backstory in some of the other characters from TAG like Oalla, Xelio, Keruvat, Erita and Elikara.
The writing, as with the writing of the series, takes a bit of time to settle into. There's a lot of room for editing and refining, but I also didn't find it as bad as normal. Also as with all of the previous books, it was detail heavy for the first half and then time jump after time jump for the second half. The writing also has a tendency to be dramatic and over the top and the dialogue is written in a way pretty much no one speaks, but overall it was decent.
The setting/world is one we're familiar with since it takes place on Atlantida, and if you've read the other books, you'll understand the traditions, customs and historical references that are scattered throughout, along with the random Atlanteo words. And that was pretty consistent from the main series (besides the age thing, which we'll get to).
The plot was also fine. It follows Aeson in his time at cadet school and it's generally a more character centric story, since we already have previous knowledge of the classes from the main series.
Finally, I found Aeson's arc to be written very similarly to Gwen's from the main series, but I enjoyed getting his backstory a bit and learning how he met everyone and what their relationships were like before we meet them in TAG. Xelio's backstory is also tragic and I really liked seeing their relationship unfold. Some of the relationships could've been fleshed out more, so certain events had more of an emotional impact, but overall this was the most solid part of the story.
All in all, a solid addition to the world.
If you haven't read the entire The Atlantis Grail series, don't read this until you have, or you'll be a bit lost.
This is primarily a backstory for Aeson (as evidenced by the title) and follows him in his cadet years from the time he's 7 up through the Incident we learn about in TAG, but we also get to get some of the backstory in some of the other characters from TAG like Oalla, Xelio, Keruvat, Erita and Elikara.
The writing, as with the writing of the series, takes a bit of time to settle into. There's a lot of room for editing and refining, but I also didn't find it as bad as normal. Also as with all of the previous books, it was detail heavy for the first half and then time jump after time jump for the second half. The writing also has a tendency to be dramatic and over the top and the dialogue is written in a way pretty much no one speaks, but overall it was decent.
The setting/world is one we're familiar with since it takes place on Atlantida, and if you've read the other books, you'll understand the traditions, customs and historical references that are scattered throughout, along with the random Atlanteo words. And that was pretty consistent from the main series (besides the age thing, which we'll get to).
The plot was also fine. It follows Aeson in his time at cadet school and it's generally a more character centric story, since we already have previous knowledge of the classes from the main series.
Finally, I found Aeson's arc to be written very similarly to Gwen's from the main series, but I enjoyed getting his backstory a bit and learning how he met everyone and what their relationships were like before we meet them in TAG. Xelio's backstory is also tragic and I really liked seeing their relationship unfold. Some of the relationships could've been fleshed out more, so certain events had more of an emotional impact, but overall this was the most solid part of the story.
All in all, a solid addition to the world.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Suicide
More...