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ashryn's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
efratmaor's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
This book started really interesting and like a fun space opera, then it moved into being more comical and weird.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy, Death, Violence, and Child death
stupidpupil's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
nessa_arandur's review against another edition
1.0
I was hoping this would be good, but I am 40% through and DNFing it. This is mainly because it has descended into a bunch of weird minutia about the way their rooms are done up for them, what kind of food they are eating and there seems to be no point to any of it for it to be focussed on in such grinding detail. I have marked it as YA because even though the author has some nice representation of adult relationships, the weird focus on the characters' relationships with the dragon made them all seem like very immature people. There also seems to be no real exploration of any meatier themes that could have added more conflict. I was hoping there would be some actual colonisation of planets and other galactic conflict, but there is no conflict where you would expect it - e.g. random alien dragon appears and the world's people are all "okay, let's have lots of meetings and let you tell us who gets what planet ms random alien". No one has a problem with this. The main characters are also violated mentally and physically because their government thinks the alien has some control over them. This is basically glossed over, as is the fact that there is positive evidence they are under such control which they should be concerned about. But no one was really worried about anything. The main characters even get dumped into a war zone, and still, everything is fine. No problems. Maybe there is conflict later, but if that is so then this is just badly written. There is no conflict driving the plot. There appears to be nothing driving the plot.
The narrator did a really good job, but at 40% in and nothing interesting is happening any more this is going on my Abandoned shelf.
The narrator did a really good job, but at 40% in and nothing interesting is happening any more this is going on my Abandoned shelf.
maxines_obsessions's review against another edition
2.0
In Scales of Empire, humanity has pretty much destroyed the Earths ecosystem and in a last ditch effort to save ourselves we are heading for the stars. A massive undertaking with each nation sending their own people up, and each planet needing to be made hospitable. It's risky, it will take many years and humanity doesn't have a lot of time left.
Corporal Jian Choumaliis has secured herself a position as security officer on one of Earths generation ships. She is a dedicated soldier, ready to leave her mother, lovers and the child they are expecting to help save humanity. But before they can even get off the ground they make first contact with a being from another planet. A dragon princess no less, who after becoming smitten with Jian decides to help humans reach out into the stars.
' "I hope I didn't leave it too long with your poor colonists. It's very bad manners for the more advanced civilisations to contact the less advanced first, but they were going to die, and I had no choice."
"Bad manners?" Commander Alto said, amused.
"It hurts your self-esteem as a species. You've struggled for so many years to attain many of your society's achievements, and then we show up and can do them fifty times better with no effort at all. Makes everything you've been working for seem a waste of time." '
Scales of Empire has a few things going for it. It's diverse and inclusive. That's probably the part I enjoyed most. The king is transitioning, our mc is ethnically diverse as well as bi, the dragons are pansexual and gender fluid, and Richard's body was heavily damaged saving the kings life so he has prosthetic limbs and more.
Unfortunately for me the story lacked what I would call heart. It felt shallow and while I finished the book I wouldn't be picking up the next one. I didn't think the synopsis was a true representation of the actual plot. I expected some excitement, but whenever the opportunity arose the story kept moving slowly and fell flat. The humour throughout the story wasn't what I would expect from soldiers or an advanced species. I didn't find most of the attempts funny, they seemed tacky. It took away from the story. I felt like it cheapened it. I spent a large portion of the book wondering if it was a satire.
So while there were aspects of the characters traits I enjoyed, overall everything else fell short.
Corporal Jian Choumaliis has secured herself a position as security officer on one of Earths generation ships. She is a dedicated soldier, ready to leave her mother, lovers and the child they are expecting to help save humanity. But before they can even get off the ground they make first contact with a being from another planet. A dragon princess no less, who after becoming smitten with Jian decides to help humans reach out into the stars.
' "I hope I didn't leave it too long with your poor colonists. It's very bad manners for the more advanced civilisations to contact the less advanced first, but they were going to die, and I had no choice."
"Bad manners?" Commander Alto said, amused.
"It hurts your self-esteem as a species. You've struggled for so many years to attain many of your society's achievements, and then we show up and can do them fifty times better with no effort at all. Makes everything you've been working for seem a waste of time." '
Scales of Empire has a few things going for it. It's diverse and inclusive. That's probably the part I enjoyed most. The king is transitioning, our mc is ethnically diverse as well as bi, the dragons are pansexual and gender fluid, and Richard's body was heavily damaged saving the kings life so he has prosthetic limbs and more.
Unfortunately for me the story lacked what I would call heart. It felt shallow and while I finished the book I wouldn't be picking up the next one. I didn't think the synopsis was a true representation of the actual plot. I expected some excitement, but whenever the opportunity arose the story kept moving slowly and fell flat. The humour throughout the story wasn't what I would expect from soldiers or an advanced species. I didn't find most of the attempts funny, they seemed tacky. It took away from the story. I felt like it cheapened it. I spent a large portion of the book wondering if it was a satire.
So while there were aspects of the characters traits I enjoyed, overall everything else fell short.
daffodilcherry's review against another edition
Badly written first person perspective - very very dry. Skimmed a few pages and the space dragons seemed very disappointing
kihadu's review against another edition
2.0
First few chapters, I thought I was going to enjoy this. And then it got more bizarre, and poorly written, and everything I found interesting about the characters was gone. Two stars is probably generous.
jazin95's review
1.0
This was an interesting read—so many ethical issues to consider.
I found it very interesting that more females' gender ratio than males was preferable for interstellar travel. I was enjoying the book until the random and out of nowhere Alian invasion. The narrative alluded to previous first contact and possible extraterrestrial beings living on earth, but that really confused me. There was no time placing, and I found myself constantly trying to figure out where I was in earth history.
Humanity in whatever time this is seems to be cold, calculating and completely incapable of gratitude towards assistance from extraterrestrial beings. Forcing breading programs on extraterrestrial beings. Like WTFlip is that about. And what could possibly go wrong there?
It's so sordid, and there is this constant political commentary that seems to back and forth that I wanted to give up on this book so many times.
Furthermore, it was evident that the author had to fill this book to show the diversity of nationalities and sexual orientation. It wasn't in an excellent inclusive way but more like heavy-handed blows out of nowhere and then a pat on the back for putting in.
However, I do want to know what happens. In saying that, I have no plans on reading any of the other books in the series. I'll be honest I'm literally thinking of googling the plot. May not even do that.
I found it very interesting that more females' gender ratio than males was preferable for interstellar travel. I was enjoying the book until the random and out of nowhere Alian invasion. The narrative alluded to previous first contact and possible extraterrestrial beings living on earth, but that really confused me. There was no time placing, and I found myself constantly trying to figure out where I was in earth history.
Humanity in whatever time this is seems to be cold, calculating and completely incapable of gratitude towards assistance from extraterrestrial beings. Forcing breading programs on extraterrestrial beings. Like WTFlip is that about. And what could possibly go wrong there?
It's so sordid, and there is this constant political commentary that seems to back and forth that I wanted to give up on this book so many times.
Furthermore, it was evident that the author had to fill this book to show the diversity of nationalities and sexual orientation. It wasn't in an excellent inclusive way but more like heavy-handed blows out of nowhere and then a pat on the back for putting in.
However, I do want to know what happens. In saying that, I have no plans on reading any of the other books in the series. I'll be honest I'm literally thinking of googling the plot. May not even do that.