Clock Striker, Volume 1: “I’m Gonna Be a SMITH!” by Issaka Galadima, et al

Information

Goodreads: I’m Gonna Be a SMITH!
Series: Clock Striker #1
Age Category: Young Adult
Source: Library
Published: 2023

Summary

The legendary Smiths, warriors who used technology in battle, are believed to be gone. But young Cast still dreams of joining their ranks–and receives the opportunity of a lifetime when one of last Smiths takes her on as an apprentice. Now Cast and her mentor Ms. Clock are embarked on a dangerous mission to protect lost Smith technology from falling into the wrong hands. But it is a mission that could be deadly.

Review

I do not read a lot of manga which makes it difficult for me, I suppose, to really comment on how well a particular manga works in comparison to other, respected works. My perspective is that of the casual reader, one who sometimes dips their toes into the ocean of this storytelling form, and who may or may not continue in farther, depending on the experience. My non-expert opinion, then, is that the first volume of Clock Striker feels fun and enthusiastic–but also a bit unoriginal. It plays up a lot of tropes that perhaps fans really relish. But I was hoping for something that felt more exciting.

I’m Gonna Be a SMITH! is a book for readers that enjoy the good old standbys– legendary artifacts, secret organizations, gangster-style villains, a Cinderella-esque rise from obscurity to influence, and lots of girl power. I often enjoy tropes myself, so none of this is necessarily a flaw. I was just hoping that it would all combine into something that still felt fresh, and with characters that I could really care about. Mostly, however, I remember what seems to be a sort of standard, superhero-esque origin story combined with lots of confusing fight scenes and an overuse of, “Haha! You thought a mere girl couldn’t beat you! Eat dirt, sexists!” triumphs. The messaging is a bit heavy-handed, even if it is a message many readers will enjoy.

This foray into manga did not particularly leave me wanting more. However, I can see it being very popular with tweens and teens, who might be newer to some of the tropes and undoubtedly excited for all the girl power moments. While I will not be reading book two, I would recommend the series to other fans of manga.

Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Information

Goodreads: Scarlet
Series: Lunar Chronicles #2
Age Category: Young Adult
Source: Library
Publication Date: 2013

Summary

Cinder is on the run. The Lunar Queen, Levana, wants her dead, but she has no plans to wait around in prison to let that happen. Meanwhile, in France, Scarlet Benoit is searching for her grandmother. But so are the Lunars. Her grandmother, it seems, just might have information about the missing heir to the Lunar throne. Scarlet will have to team up with a mysterious stranger named Wolf if she wants to learn the truth. But she is not sure Wolf is a man she can trust.

Review

After giving Cinder another chance, I jumped right into Scarlet, finally determined to find out what all the hype over the Lunar Chronicles was about. Sadly, however, Scarlet suffers quite a bit from second book syndrome. The ending of Cinder suggested that a high stakes political game was about the begin, probably culminating in some sort of epic battle. Scarlet, however, just spends a couple hundred pages working to get Cinder and Scarlet together. It is a bridge book, not a really interesting story of its own.

Strangely, even though Scarlet should, by rights, be Scarlet’s story, I quickly decided that Cinder was the more interesting character with the more interesting plotline. Had Cinder’s story not been intertwined with Scarlet’s, I do not know if I would have finished reading the book. Scarlet spends a lot of time simply traveling from point A to point B. And, even though she has a fiery spirit, and I initially thought she might be an equal for the strong, enigmatic Wolf, at the end of her journey, all Scarlet does is break down in tears and wait to be rescued. How disappointing.

Cinder takes a bit more agency in her part of the book, escaping from prison and teaming up with the foppish Thorn, who provides quite a bit of comic relief. I felt a bit of gratitude each time her chapters appeared. I enjoyed that she takes no nonsense from Thorn and that, even though she is on the run with no overall plan, she at least has a series of actionable steps to complete while she figures things out. Unlike Scarlet, who kept waiting for Wolf to protect her, Cinder has to take charge herself–and it looks like she will probably end up rescuing Kai, instead of the other way around.

In the end, I do not have really strong feelings about Scarlet because it really does seem like a bridge book. It is not a story of its own, but just a way to set up the next stage of Cinder’s journey. I hope that the set-up for action in book three will not disappoint.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Information

Goodreads: Cinder
Series: Lunar Chronicles #1
Age Category: Young Adult
Source: Library
Published: 2012

Summary

Cinder is the most gifted mechanic in New Beijing–but only because she has a secret. Cinder is a cyborg, and thus considered a second-class citizen. Her stepfamily mistreats her and she must live with the knowledge that society hates and fears her. Then Prince Kai shows up with a mysterious request. He needs the information hidden in a broken android. Suddenly, Cinder is involved in a most unexpected romance–but also embroiled in interplanetary politics.

Review

I first read Cinder years ago, closer to when it was first released. Although Briana–and most of the bookish community–loved it, I was less impressed. While setting a “Cinderella retelling” in a sci-fi setting was original, the rest of the plot seemed more mediocre to me. I liked the book, but not enough to keep reading the series. Ten years later, however, I have given Cinder another chance. While I still do not find the story breathtaking, I did find it engaging enough to keep on reading.

The most interesting aspect of the book, for me, is Cinder’s identity as a cyborg since cyborgs are looked down upon by the rest of society, and even mandated to enter a draft for medical test subjects since their lives are seen as inherently less valuable. This gives the book plenty of room to interrogate societal injustices and civilians’ tacit involvement, while also making Cinder a relatable teen. Though readers may not know what it is to be a cyborg, plenty probably know how it feels to not fit in, to feel awkward in their bodies, and to long for a place where they will be truly accepted as they are. The intersection of Cinder’s identity with the empire’s politics lies at the heart of the story, raising the question of when or if Cinder will choose to start pushing back.

The bulk of the story, however, is really about the romance between the mechanic Cinder and the prince Kai. The prospect of a rags-to-riches story, with Cinder getting back at all those who treated her poorly by finding acceptance among the elite, is probably what has driven the popularity of the “Cinderella” tale over the years. It’s just so satisfying. Even so, I was glad to see that Marissa Meyer subverts this storyline. Though Cinder may have caught the eye of prince, it is not his favor that makes her special. Cinder is strong and remarkable all by herself–and the ending of the book promises to explore this theme more. I enjoyed the prospect the ending laid out of seeing the prince forced to see Cinder as an equal, one whose favor he might just have to earn in order to redeem himself.

Cinder works as a retelling for me because it takes a familiar storyline and does more than move it to a futuristic setting. Rather, it promises to interrogate social injustices and to subvert readers’ expectations from the original story. While I think that Meyer could do a little more to flesh out her world (all the nations seem kind of the same to me), the tech aspects at least give the story some grounding, while also providing a starting point for Meyer to add more original aspects to her retelling. Ultimately, Cinder is a satisfying YA read, and, this time, I will be checking out the sequel.

Shuri: Wakanda Forever by Nnedi Okorafor, et al

Information

Goodreads: Wakanda Forever
Series: Shuri
Source: Library
Published: December 2020

Official Summary

The Black Panther’s techno-genius sister stars in her own incredible adventures! T’Challa has disappeared, and Wakanda expects Shuri to lead their great nation in his absence! But she’s happiest in a lab surrounded by her inventions. She’d rather be testing gauntlets than throwing them down! So it’s time for Shuri to rescue her brother yet again – with a little help from Storm, Rocket Raccoon and Groot! But what happens when her outer-space adventure puts Africa at risk from an energy-sapping alien threat? Then, Shuri heads to America to investigate a lead, with Ms. Marvel and Miles “Spider-Man” Morales along for the ride! But with her people in peril, will Shuri embrace her reluctant destiny and become the Black Panther once more? Prepare for a hero like you’ve never seen before! COLLECTING: SHURI (2018) 1-10

Review

Shuri: Wakanda Forever focuses on Shuri as she attempts to find her place in the world. When her brother goes missing in space, everyone expects her to step in as the Black Panther once more. But…what if Shuri does not want to? She is comfortable working in her lab and she has been gaining mastery over her powers as the Ancient Future. Wakanda is grappling with new ideas about how to move forward as a nation, and Shuri wants to help. She just wants to do it on her own terms. Shuri: Wakanda Forever is a moving look at one young woman’s journey to balance her people’s expectations with her own.

In many ways, Shuri’s emotional journey stands at the heart of this volume, connecting what otherwise can seem like a disparate chain of stories, some of them more about fan service than service to the narrative. For instance, while seeing Shuri in space with Rocket and Groot is fun, it also seems random. And her team-up with Iron Man, while given a logical reason, also seems like it is more about the opportunity for well, yes, another superhero team-up. By the team she’s teaming up with Miles Morales and Ms. Marvel in the U.S., the plot has gone everywhere, with none of it really tying back to her ostensible quest to discover the whereabouts of her missing brother. The strongest parts are when Shuri is in Wakanda, talking to her people, conferring with the powerful women who are leading the country in T’Challa’s absence, and wondering what her role in the universe is.

Complicating matters is that Shuri has been losing some of her powers as the Ancient Future. Of course, Shuri’s mind and her amazing technology can help her solve just about any problem–she does not really need super powers. But it is concerning to see her losing connections with her ancestors, a sort of tangible representation that Shuri is feeling a little lost at the moment as she tries to navigate the competing interests of her country. Fortunately, Shuri is strong, smart, and capable–readers know that she will always manage to save the day.

Shuri: Wakanda Forever is both a thrilling superhero comic and an emotional look at Shuri’s journey of self-discovery. Fans of Shuri and of Marvel will not want to miss this latest installment in her story.

The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman (ARC Review)

Information

Goodreads: The Infinity Courts
Series: The Infinity Courts #1
Source: ARC from the publisher
Publication Date: April 6, 2021

Official Summary

Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years.

The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.

When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all.

As Nami works with a team of rebels to bring down Ophelia and save the humans under her imprisonment, she is forced to reckon with her past, her future, and what it is that truly makes us human.
From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes an incisive, action-packed tale that explores big questions about technology, grief, love, and humanity.

Review

Spoiler-free.

The Infinity Courts is a spellbinding story about death, family, and fighting for what you believe it is right. While books about artificial intelligence and questions about what it means to be “real” and whether it’s wrong to hurt or kill an AI have obviously been done before, Bowman brings heart and creativity to the questions and lets readers seem them through the eyes of protagonist Nami. Readers will be as torn as she is, wondering if humans and an out-of-control AI can learn to coexist and what it means ethically to decide they cannot. The result is a captivating book that will have readers glued to the pages for the plot even as they ponder some of the big questions of life. (Or, er, of death?)

Personally, I tend to struggle with books that depict some version of the afterlife because I never quite connect with the author’s vision of it, but the fact that Bowman’s version (Infinity) is so far outside the bounds of how I’d ever imagine an afterlife was an advantage here. Seeing the afterlife portrayed almost like a fantasy dystopia (rather than a religious or philosophical place where one needs to come to term with one’s actions on Earth) allowed me to focus on the points Bowman – and Nami – make about human nature and our desires. For instance, upon finding that Infinity isn’t quite what she would have imagined either, Nami becomes invested in making the afterlife a better place, somewhere she hopes her younger sister can one day come to and be happy, rather than a place she should fear. It also forces Nami to ask tough questions about what it means if there is no heaven and hell, if the “good” are not separated from the “bad.”

The plot and world building all also excellent. Bowman hints at, well, an infinity world with myriad landscapes and tons of residents while focusing the story on Nami and her found family and their efforts to save humans from the evil schemes of the AI. She paints vivid scenes of both opulence and pain and walks readers, along with Nami, through all of them. I couldn’t wait to wait out what Nami would do or where she would go next, and I know there’s still so much to discover about this world and everyone’s powers in it.

This is all grounded in Nami, who chafes at the idea of being a hero, or someone strong, even though her death – the very reason she is in Infinity – can be characterized as heroic. Even as she seeks to become physically and mentally stronger, I appreciated that her biggest strengths were always her kindness and her ability to imagine a better world. While the other humans have been in Infinity long enough to become tired and disillusioned, Nami always hopes she can find a different way to bring happiness to everyone.

The Infinity Courts is a standout YA novel. I can’t wait to finish reading the series, and I would unreservedly recommend this to anyone.

House of El: The Shadow Threat by Claudia Gray

Information

Goodreads: The Shadow Threat
Series: House of El #1
Source: Library
Published: 2021

Summary

On the planet of Krypton, citizens are genetically modified to be the best at what they do. Zahn is one of the privileged elite, born to lead. Sera is a soldier, trained to give her life for her people, without even caring that they ask of her the ultimate sacrifice. Living in two different worlds, the two should never meet. But groundquakes are threatening the stability of Krypton, and the leaders do nothing but deny it. Now, Zahn and Sera must work together to uncover the web of lies that will doom their planet.

Review

The first book in the House of El trilogy provides a background story for the destruction of Superman’s home planet Krypton. Set in the planet’s final days, the book follows two teens: Zahn, born to be a leader chosen from the elites, and Sera, born to give her life as a soldier. Most Kryptonians are genetically modified to be “perfect” at what they do, meaning most never question their lifestyles or the choices of the tribunes who lead them. But Zahn and Sera have noticed that the groundquakes are becoming worse, that the terraforming experiments on neighboring planets have failed, and that the tribunes are lying about it all. So begins a story full of action, danger, and intrigue.

The choice to explore Krypton before Superman is a very compelling one. I imagine that generations of readers have wondered about the planet’s destruction. What was it like? Did people know? Did they try to stop it? Why did they fail? The answer here presents Krypton as a utopia gone wrong, a planet so dedicated to being perfect that they can longer admit to having made mistakes. The effect is chilling, the realization that, not only will the leaders fail to act to save Krypton, but they will do everything in their power to ensure its destruction.

At the heart of this story are Zahn and Sera, two teens who transcend their genetic programming to realize something has gone badly wrong. The back cover presents the two as sort of star-crossed lovers, but, aside from a page or two awkward flirting, the story itself steers away from the romance its cover so boldly advertises. Instead, readers get to know Zahn and Sera separately, the one attempting to join a clandestine group dedicated to warning the people of Krypton, the other going on a series of failed missions to salvage equipment from disastrous terraforming attempts. Only in the final pages do the two inadvertently team up, promising future drama to come as they do not yet trust each other.

The book is far from perfect. I did not ever feel like I truly go to now Zahn or Sera, and I still have many questions about the world of Krypton itself. However, the story does do a great job at raising interesting questions. How much do genetics determine who we are? Can we ever overcome our genetics to be our own person? What qualities should we look for in people? Do we sometimes overlook the qualities one should have–such as a scientist who needs creativity as well as logic? These questions will likely inspire much reflection on the part of readers. And that, I imagine, would make the author proud.

Rogue Princess by B.R. Myers

Information

Goodreads: Rogue Princess
Series: None
Source: Library
Published: January 21, 2020

Official Summary

A princess fleeing an arranged marriage teams up with a snarky commoner to foil a rebel plot in B. R. Myers’ Rogue Princess, a gender-swapped sci-fi YA retelling of Cinderella.

Princess Delia knows her duty: She must choose a prince to marry in order to secure an alliance and save her failing planet. Yet she secretly dreams of true love, and feels there must be a better way. Determined to chart her own course, she steals a spaceship to avoid the marriage, only to discover a handsome stowaway.

All Aidan wanted was to “borrow” a few palace trinkets to help him get off the planet. Okay, so maybe escaping on a royal ship wasn’t the smartest plan, but he never expected to be kidnapped by a runaway princess!

Sparks fly as this headstrong princess and clever thief battle wits, but everything changes when they inadvertently uncover a rebel conspiracy that could destroy their planet forever. 

Review

Rogue Princess, a gender-swapped sci-fi retelling of “Cinderella,” was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020, so it was with a heavy heart I realized halfway through the novel that I simply was never going to connect with the characters or the plot. The book attempts to do two different things at once–be a romantic reimagining of “Cinderella” and offer readers a high stakes rebellion story–but it fails to meld the two strands together, and ultimately falls apart almost completely at the end.

On the surface, there’s a lot I could like about Rogue Princess: a spunky princess, an awkward but also kind of dashing love interest, space pirates, sandworms, legends, handsome princes coming to compete for Princess Delia’s hand. I could go on. Yet most of the elements are never fully fleshed out; they’re good ideas that lack a masterful execution. I want to know more about why Princess Delia is a badass warrior (besides plot convenience). I want to know more about the pirates and what they do and what they steal. I want to know why the monarchy thinks “Pirates were outlawed” means…everyone stopped being a pirate. I want to know more about the various planets in this solar system and how Princess Delia’s planet can be so intertwined with them yet…she doesn’t seem to know much about their royal families before being set the task of marrying someone from one.

Essentially, the book has what for me is always a fatal flaw: a lot of it simply does not make sense. It might be exciting and interesting if you’re willing to throw any logic out the window, but I’m not. And while I was somewhat able to deal with it during the first half of the book, the final chapters completely threw logic and various character motivations out the window and dropped this from a potential three star read to two stars for me.

Something might have been saved for me if I had become invested in the romance, the “Cinderella” aspect of the novel, but I never did. Princess Delia and Aidan have some fun adventures together, and they exchange some romantic lines about being unable to live without one another and whatnot, but I never felt the chemistry–something it’s always difficult for me to fully explain in a review. I don’t really know why I didn’t care about their romance, only that I didn’t and it didn’t feel fully real to me, even though its realness is a major theme of the story.

Add to this the fact that the construction of the book is a bit clunky (For example, Aidan apparently “doesn’t know” the creation story of his OWN PLANET, so people sit down explicitly to tell it to him, er, the reader, er, him), and Myers seriously included a set of creepy twins who are never apart and seem to be actually one person, one of my major literary pet peeves, and I just don’t have much positive to say about this book. I love fairy tale retellings, but this did not work for me at all.

Honor Lost by Ann Aguirre and Rachel Caine

Information

Goodreads: Honor Lost
Series: The Honors #3
Source: Library
Published: February 11, 2020

Official Summary

Space renegade Zara Cole may have finally met her match. Lifekiller—a creature that can devour entire planets is spreading terror throughout the universe, and it seems nothing can stand in the monstrous godking’s way.

Reeling from a series of battles, Zara and her wounded band of allies are going to need a strategy before they face Lifekiller again. Zara’s street smarts may not be enough when their enemy could be anywhere, destroying civilizations and picking his teeth with the bones.

And just when it feels like she’s reached a special place in her bond with Bea and Nadim, an ex from Earth with an ax to grind comes after her with nefarious intentions. With human enemies, alien creatures, and mechanical stalkers on her tail, it’s down to the wire for Zara to save the galaxy—and the people she calls home—before the godking consumes them all.

Review

I’m a huge fan of the first two books in the Honors series, Honor Among Thieves and Honor Bound, and genuinely believe it’s a highly original story that hasn’t received nearly enough recognition in YA circles. It is with some disappointment, then, that I admit Honor Lost is the weakest installment of the series. While it continues with an exciting plot and a wonderfully diverse cast of characters, and it neatly ties up various plot lines, it feels rushed and choppy; there’s simply too much going on.

There are a couple different major plots that need to be resolved–one involving space adventures and one involving Zara’s past on Earth (I won’t be more specific because it would spoil books 1 and 2), and I spent much of the book wondering how everything was going to be wrapped up, particularly because the space-related plot is EPIC. The authors really had to ramp up the stakes to make book 3 more exciting than book 2, and I don’t think it really worked in the space allotted. I can almost see this being a four book series instead of a trilogy.

My other issue was that the book feels more episodic than the previous two. There are a bunch of mini battles as the characters track down their main prey for a final epic battle, and…I skimmed a lot of them. It seems as though every time the characters think they’re out of hot water, some new obstacle pops up, and it was a bit much. Some of this could probably have been edited out.

Lastly, I think I was finally weirded out by the human/alien relationship–something I actually praised in the first two books. In my review of book one, Honor Among Thieves, I wrote:

The alien-ship/human relationship is one of the more unique aspects of the book. I’m not 100% sure how I would classify it (But maybe that’s the point? There’s something new between humans and aliens that just isn’t in the human experience?). I’ve seen other reader’s call it “friendship,” which definitely fits, but it also seems pretty visceral and physical in ways I don’t think most friendships are

In my review of Honor Bound, I wrote:

I also still think the Leviathan/human relationship is one of the most unique parts of the book, but it does get a little weirder in book two for me.  I noted in my review of the first book that other people were calling it a “friendship” and that term didn’t feel right to me; it’s too intimate and physical.  Basically there are almost sexual undertones, and that comes out more strongly in Honor Bound, as Zara seems on the verge of contemplating a threesome with her Leviathan and their other crew member.  It’s not phrased that way, probably because this is YA, but the suggestion is definitely there, and I’m not 100% certain how I feel about it. I guess readers are supposed to say something to themselves like “It’s space and a new alien race; anything is possible and correct” and move on.

Things ramp up over the series because it is very clear in Honor Lost that the relationship is a polyamorous sexual one, shared by the Leviathan and his/her two bonded crew members. It’s still a unique take for YA but not really my thing in terms of reading about romances.

I like the series. I enjoyed this installment well enough since it has a great cast of characters and wonderfully sweeping view of the universe. I wish it had been a stronger ending for what was otherwise a strong series, though.

Science! The Elements of Dark Energy by by Ashley Victoria Robinson, Jason Inman, Desiree’ Pittman (Illustrator), Becka Kinzie (Colorist), Taylor Esposito (Letterer)

Information

Goodreads: Science! The Elements of Dark Energy
Series: None so far
Source: Library
Published: 2019

Summary

Tamsin Kuhn Trakroo is dedicated to destroying the Prometheus Institute, which she attends. Her late father, now a hologram in her glasses, demands revenge on the headmaster, the man he says killed him. But Tamsin has other worries on her mind, too. Her roommate Garyn has discovered a secret lab and a new energy source that could endanger her life. Is her father’s death linked to the lab?

Review

Science! The Elements of Dark Energy has an intriguing premise–a teenage girl at a prestigious institute full of genius students and robot staff–speaks with her late father’s uploaded consciousness, now stored in her glasses. He wants her to destroy the very school she attends. However, I almost DNFed the book as soon as I began. The bland color palette and the artwork were not to my taste, and the random asides to provide science facts were off putting; I wanted a story, not a science lesson. Still, the volume is fairly short, so I struggled onward. In the end, Science! The Elements of Dark Energy does not distinguish itself from the myriad stories set in schools for prodigies and I actually liked it less than I have others, as I failed to connect emotionally with any of the characters.

I tend to like bright, colorful illustrations in my graphic novels, ones that seem upbeat, or perhaps dreamlike. Science! The Elements of Dark Energy, however, has a more subdued color palette that, combined with the detailed illustrations and the robots popping up periodically with science factoid speech bubbles, made the book feel simultaneously like a slog and a challenge. I was not initially sure I wanted to spend time trying to get through the story.

The story itself is not particularly original. Graphic novels set in special schools for geniuses or otherwise unusual students are common. Perhaps one could argue Science! The Elements of Dark Energy is unique in that the school is not for superheroes, but science geeks. However, I wanted something a little more than the old “special school holds a dark secret” plot line. It did not manage to feel fresh here.

The strong point of Science! The Elements of Dark Energy is its representation. Many strong women of color appear–including our smart and fearless protagonist–and the protagonist is into women. I think many readers will appreciate seeing characters of color depicted as knowledgeable about science. This will be especially appreciated as readers look for role models to encourage more students to become interested in STEM fields.

Science! The Elements of Dark Energy simply did not appeal to me with its bland color scheme, overly detailed illustrations, science fact insertions, and stale plot line. I wanted to be excited for science, but was mostly excited to finish the book.

Spellhacker by M. K. England

Information

Goodreads: Spellhacker
Series: None
Source: Library
Published: January 21, 2020

Official Summary

From the author of The Disasters, this genre-bending YA fantasy heist story is perfect for fans of Marie Lu and Amie Kaufman.

In Kyrkarta, magic—known as maz—was once a freely available natural resource. Then an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that’s tightly controlled—and, of course, outrageously expensive.

Which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly lucrative, highly illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever.

But when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spellplague—and possibly save the world.

No pressure.

Review

Spellhacker brings readers to a futuristic world with a unique magic system, where the raw material for magic performance is regulated by a giant corporation and transferred through the city by pipes.  While I appreciated the unique world building and a plot focused on magic, hacking, and action in general, however, I never connected with the characters of Spellhacker, which made the novel fall flat for me.

Heist novels are still very much “in” after the success of Leigh Bargudo’s Six of Crows (though when didn’t readers enjoy a good heist, really?), and I thought this was a unique take on it.  It’s not a high fantasy novel, and it’s not a space opera; it’s basically an alternate version of our world where magic and tech collide to make something familiar yet different.  It’s just all the atmosphere in the world can’t make me care about the team actually committing the heist.

All members of the team do come across as skilled and competent, which is a plus; I believed they were people who would be capable of pulling off something wildly impressive.  However, their backstories and individual personalities never resonated with me, and unfortunately I found the protagonist mostly annoying.  She’s actually smart and gritty and wants to do the right thing (despite being a criminal), but she fixates on herself a lot throughout the novel—something I think might actually be a flaw of how her thoughts are presented in the novel rather than the thoughts themselves.  That is, she is incredibly upset that her team all are planning to move to a different city to pursue non-criminal futures, and she states this again.  And again.  And again.  It feels like every three paragraphs she’s pouting about being abandoned and unwanted and generally complaining about this, and I think the author could have accomplished the same thing without making her character think/talk about it incessantly.  A little can go a long way.

I had a similar issue with her romantic relationship, in that she fixates on what she used to have, how it went wrong, how it can never be, etc., and thought that this could have also been conveyed effectively without the character griping about it every few pages.  (Interestingly, however, what exactly went on in the past relationship remains a bit unclear, in spite of how frequently it’s mentioned.)

The other characters mainly just felt flat to me.  One’s rich and talented with tech magic, but the protagonist often just focuses on the fact she’s rich, which obviously isn’t a personality trait.  One’s the brawn of the group and supposed to be kind of fatherly.  One is very skilled with magic but also sick.  I know things about the characters, but I didn’t sympathize with them or particularly care, that’s all.

The book is fine, and I think a lot of people will like it for its fast-paced action, its diversity, and its anti-corporation message, but I wanted a bit more.