Scan barcode
A review by darkcrystal1839
The Native Star by M.K. Hobson
4.0
This book was picked up on random during one of my browsing sessions at B&N – sessions that happen less and less now that I no longer live in close proximity to a B&N store. But I came across this one and thought the cover looked interesting, and the blurb on the back didn’t sound too bad. So I bought it, and it’s sat on my shelves for a month or two (not the longest a book has gone neglected on my shelves, sadly.)
Well, I finally got around to reading this, and I found it interesting and entertaining as hell. Great concept, good story, fun characters, and best of all, hints at more novels to come.
First off, the concept: set in the old west, not too terribly long after the Civil War. Twist? There’s magic all over the place. Entirely commonplace in this reality. In fact, that was one of the things I loved so much about the book, right from the start. Hobson doesn’t start out giving us the background of this world, doesn’t try and convince us that hey, it could happen. And here’s exactly how it could. No, we’re just thrown into the world as is and expected to roll with it. Give you an example, from the very beginning, in the prologue (bit of explanation, a man hears pounding at his door very late at night and is treated to the sight of several Union soldiers at his door, looking menacing.):
“Baugh clutched the edge of the door, knuckles white. Sherman’s bloody march was only a few months in the past. The ashes of Columbia had barely cooled, and the once-fertile fields of South Carolina were barren, ruined by the despoiling northern Warlock squadrons who had sown every field with black sorcerer’s salt. And since Lincoln’s assassination, the Yankee garrisons had been itching for blood.”
Now, if you’re just skimming through, you might think you’re about to get a simple Northern/Southern post-war sort of tale. But then, you read a bit closer and … wha? Did they say something about Warlocks? And sorcerer’s salt? wtf?
And if you can’t roll with this world that they throw you into, you’re going to have a hard time getting into the story. Now me personally, I love that sort of thing, so I was right there with where Hobson wanted to go. And the characters do a nice job of filling me in on the story of this world and how they all live in it without it seeming to overly explanatory. Which is saying something, because one of the characters is sort of a backwoods witch with a very sheltered life, and she falls into an adventure with a Warlock of the World, if you will, from New York, who loves to give lectures about his vast knowledge about everything magical.
These two characters were very fun to ride along with on their adventure. Granted, it’s quite obvious from the start that they’ll end up together, but I still enjoyed the journey, watching this relationship grow from mutual distaste and contempt to grudging friendship with the occasional bout of annoyance to (of course) love.
I enjoyed the ending, even if it was mildly confusing at times – there are hints at things that hopefully are explained better in future novels (an Aztec prophecy in particular). But I followed along easy enough and felt it resolved nice enough. There are definitely a few points that aren’t resolved with a nice enough bow on top, but since they most certainly hint that there’s more story to be told, I’m hoping for future sequels that can maybe tie up some of the looser ends I didn’t like, and give me more time with these fun characters in this fascinating world. (Yep, just found it on the author’s website, the next book in this series: The Hidden Goddess. Yay.)
All in all, I give this book a very high recommendation – anybody who enjoys Westerns and fantasy should give this a read. Or alternate history (of a sort). Or really just fantasy in general. Good stuff, all around.
Well, I finally got around to reading this, and I found it interesting and entertaining as hell. Great concept, good story, fun characters, and best of all, hints at more novels to come.
First off, the concept: set in the old west, not too terribly long after the Civil War. Twist? There’s magic all over the place. Entirely commonplace in this reality. In fact, that was one of the things I loved so much about the book, right from the start. Hobson doesn’t start out giving us the background of this world, doesn’t try and convince us that hey, it could happen. And here’s exactly how it could. No, we’re just thrown into the world as is and expected to roll with it. Give you an example, from the very beginning, in the prologue (bit of explanation, a man hears pounding at his door very late at night and is treated to the sight of several Union soldiers at his door, looking menacing.):
“Baugh clutched the edge of the door, knuckles white. Sherman’s bloody march was only a few months in the past. The ashes of Columbia had barely cooled, and the once-fertile fields of South Carolina were barren, ruined by the despoiling northern Warlock squadrons who had sown every field with black sorcerer’s salt. And since Lincoln’s assassination, the Yankee garrisons had been itching for blood.”
Now, if you’re just skimming through, you might think you’re about to get a simple Northern/Southern post-war sort of tale. But then, you read a bit closer and … wha? Did they say something about Warlocks? And sorcerer’s salt? wtf?
And if you can’t roll with this world that they throw you into, you’re going to have a hard time getting into the story. Now me personally, I love that sort of thing, so I was right there with where Hobson wanted to go. And the characters do a nice job of filling me in on the story of this world and how they all live in it without it seeming to overly explanatory. Which is saying something, because one of the characters is sort of a backwoods witch with a very sheltered life, and she falls into an adventure with a Warlock of the World, if you will, from New York, who loves to give lectures about his vast knowledge about everything magical.
These two characters were very fun to ride along with on their adventure. Granted, it’s quite obvious from the start that they’ll end up together, but I still enjoyed the journey, watching this relationship grow from mutual distaste and contempt to grudging friendship with the occasional bout of annoyance to (of course) love.
I enjoyed the ending, even if it was mildly confusing at times – there are hints at things that hopefully are explained better in future novels (an Aztec prophecy in particular). But I followed along easy enough and felt it resolved nice enough. There are definitely a few points that aren’t resolved with a nice enough bow on top, but since they most certainly hint that there’s more story to be told, I’m hoping for future sequels that can maybe tie up some of the looser ends I didn’t like, and give me more time with these fun characters in this fascinating world. (Yep, just found it on the author’s website, the next book in this series: The Hidden Goddess. Yay.)
All in all, I give this book a very high recommendation – anybody who enjoys Westerns and fantasy should give this a read. Or alternate history (of a sort). Or really just fantasy in general. Good stuff, all around.