R. Jernigan

Writing is a skill: currently 2 with a potential of 44

Reviewed: 03-23-25

I'll save you the listen. This book is basically, "I worked really hard for two weeks, and then I got some new magical numbers which I'll now read off laboriously."... just repeat that for four or five chapters.

In general, this book reads like it was written by a particularly untalented 12yo: there is no attempt at any actual writing craft, just a crude iteration of pointless progression reports.

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Lot of nothing

Reviewed: 10-10-24

This book spent 20 hours letting nothing at all happen: just a bunch of random side quests that had nothing to do with any overall plot, and during which nothing really happened to or for the main characters. Even the epic battle at the end was... uh... mostly 3 solid hours of nothing really happening. One could have reduced the whole book to about three meaningful chapters. It was, in a word, boring.

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1 person found this helpful

Getting cringe

Reviewed: 05-09-24

The author has really doubled down on the cringe-worthy teen drama, to the point where I've found myself skipping entire chapters because of the awkward stumbling. There's also a ton of the Iron Hand of Fate here: basically sloppy plot devices like, "oh, my MC could win this easily with his magic weapons; I guess I'll just have some random encounter that lasts fifty words where someone unexpected pops up and steals his sword."

Honestly, I'm pretty disappointed with the direction this saga is taking; it's getting really sloppy.

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Rewards patience

Reviewed: 11-07-23

Book one was impossible to follow. That's a lot of why you're seeing mediocre reviews from time to time; it was simply impossible, and so those with unrealistic expectations were disappointed.

Book two does have a slower pace, as it's broadening the scope to fill in more characters. There *is* more drama and more politics and more talky talky. But I liked the move: it's starting to feel more like a space opera with personal combat, than an anime cartoon. That bodes well for the overall series.

Like others, my biggest concern is the long delay to get to book two, and how long we'll have to wait for book three. There are so many threads open that it's frustrating to wait for some to get resolved.

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Fun and engaging, but so short

Reviewed: 08-14-23

Enjoyed the story and its excellent performance, but this is barely a novella. Frustrating to get into a story and like the characters, and have it over so quickly.

I wouldn't mind so much, except that audible is charging full-novel prices for novella-length material--so a string of tiny stories is exorbitant.

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What a ride

Reviewed: 06-08-23

A tremendous wrap-up for a superb series. Found every book enjoyable, with fun characters, a long-term plot, and an amazing vocal performance.

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Good points and bad

Reviewed: 04-04-23

The plot is reasonably well done, and the characters are distinct and interesting. World building is definitely above average. There's a little humor, a little intrigue, at least one well-done plot twist (the resolution of the pirate caper in part 2), and a solid premise for our power struggle. So that's not a bad start.

The writing misses a fifth star by a pretty wide margin, though. The individual scenes are rushed, and yet completely awash with each character's running internal monologue. The writer uses Aurora's abilities to escape every single predicament ex machina, making all other efforts of the rest of the crew pointless.

The biggest problem here is the narration. Aurora's character in particular sounds like she's 4 years old, which is reinforced by her constant baby-cursing ("mother custard! holy cake!"). It's impossible to take her character seriously when she sounds like a child, talks like a child, and spends half of the book frozen in terror or crying or wandering her memories. A protagonist should have a spine, and both the author and narrator have stolen hers.

I'm not going to lie, though: I'll buy book two on the strength of the world building and interesting overall story arc. But if I don't see some motion there or any character development, I won't finish it.

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Real let-down after book 1

Reviewed: 03-10-23

Book one was mighty: a likeable protagonist who wasn't going to settle for being #2, confident in her skills and ready to do big things.

Here in book two we're presented with the same person, except she spends the whole book in one panic after another, waiting for others to solve the problems as she waits for her heartbeat to get back under control and worries about her love life. It's an enormous shift.

To be fair to the author, part of the fault might be the narrator--who, when voicing the protagonist, always sounds like she's half a second from tears. I know she's trying to be emotive and meaningful, but it's 100% the wrong voice for this character.

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Poor continuation

Reviewed: 02-14-23

Prior books were far more entertaining. This one, our characters do nothing at all except get pushed around by fate. No agency, no actual decisions, just a story about whether luck solves all their problems or not.

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Solid series

Reviewed: 02-04-23

I've now bought and enjoyed all eight of this series, and an coming back for a quick review.

This is an uncommon find: a genuine space opera mixed heavily with adventure, first contact, action sequences, tragedy, and justice. The author is doing a good job of keeping the plot moving, not getting lost in the weeds of such an open-world setting. The characters are likeable and varied, and the performance is fairly impressive.

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