Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A blend of genres that works., March 25, 2008
I really don't know what sort of story this is. It's an adventure, it's a mystery, it's crime novel and a romance kind of all throw into on. Such a complex blend of genre all set in a different world where technology is far behind our modern times in many respects, but has been carefully enough thought out that it makes sense.
At the center of the story is a young woman who works as an Icarus, basically the equivalent of a bicycle messenger only state-sponsored and with wings instead of a bike. The setting is a city-state that supports a caste system of governance. Again, pretty well thought out and not so complicated that you can't follow it. Taya, that main character, is a free-spirited, intelligent, unknowingly pretty protagonist who is drawn into a convoluted series of plots because she happens to be in the right place at the right time to save a woman and child who are members of the highest caste.
Taya is pretty well written and, as is often the case with female main characters in Fantasy works, she blends an interesting combination of stubbornness, willfulness and outright luck. She makes mistakes and causes problems for herself and others as a result and this makes her believable as a character. She is surrounded by a variety of supporting characters that fill their respective places in the story fairly well. No glaringly, out of place supporting cast in this book.
The story follows a fairly quick pace and covers a variety of settings. It's not quite an action/adventure book, but there's enough action to pace the slower social scenes. On the whole, it's well blended. I honestly felt more like I was reading a Urban Fantasy novel than a real Fantasy novel, but the setting is not modern.
If you're looking for traditional Fantasy this is not it. If you are willing to try something that carried hints of Fantasy with no real magic or Knights in shining armor then this is worth the trip. It's not too long and feels in no way like it's the beginning of another series. Kudos to the author for that.
Fantasyliterature.net Reviewer
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A definite Keeper, May 29, 2008
If you like Urban Fantasies, you'll love this book even though it's a Fantasy. The heroine is decisive without being overbearing and obnoxious about it. The hero is not the standard pretty-boy Prince Charming. In a lot of ways, he seems to be unlikely until the inner qualities begin to be unwrapped one layer at a time.
It's a cross-genre book; however, it's beautifully written, cleverly orchastrated, and so original as to set a new standard.
Yes, the romance is there; however, it's very humanistic. This is not a book of casual lust that miraculously morphs into the forever kind of love. It's a book where the relationship is built one drop at a time, just like in real life.
What makes this book truly shine is the depth of plot, artistic world-building, vivid characterization, and sheer premise originality.
Kudos, Ms. Pagliassotti. Very well done.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable Steampunk Romance, May 24, 2008
I learned of this novel on Wikipedia's "list of steampunk works" article. I was unfamiliar with this publisher and had not realized that the book would fall so much into the area of a romance novel, albeit a Steampunk Romance. It was slow going for me at first, but I slowly got drawn into the world that Ms. Pagliassotti has created. By the conclusion I found myself hoping that the author will offer us a chance to visit this world again in the future.
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