Etherwalker

<i>Thanks to the publisher -Future House Publishing for providing ARC in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley</i><br /><br /><b>1/5 star</b><br /><br />I thought this book would give me more. Although the cover is fantastic, let's admit but, the story didn't live up to my expectations. Don't get me wrong, I like SciFi but, don't know why even after trying hard I didn't get so much moved by the story.<br /><br />There were times when the story wasn't able to grab my attention and I was just skimming through the pages to see it's end. There were also times when it grabbed me into the plot for once in a while. <br /><br />Overall, it was so-so. Not so bad. Not so good. The construction of the story, the character development, the world building, nothing I wanted to care or feel for. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. <br /><br /><b>Release Date : 04 Jan 2022</b><br /><br /><b>Review Posted : 15 Jan 2022</b><br /><br /><i>Visit <a href="https://najeefanasreen.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow noopener">My Blog</a> to read this and all my other reviews. </i>

I won't lie, I originally bought this because of the cover. Anytime I see a character dual wielding I almost instantly click and look at it. Probably more of a 3.5, but hey - I'll give it the extra .5 since it's been a while since I read such a book that was so different then the usual.<br /><br />I love the world the author has built here, it could of easily fell into the typical sci-fi AI mumbo jumbo Terminator and Skynet style... but the author blends it with a mix of religion, technology...and a little something else. Without revealing too much, the world was once a technological heaven, humanity had reached its full potential (some had at least) and everything was great in the world. But as usual when dealing powers beyond human understanding, great power often causes more harm then good.<br /><br />All the characters are fleshed out and given more to do then simply be a side character to Enoch. Each had a story and a personality that was their own. I loved the character of Rictus - seeing what could potentially happen in the future to someone who say, replaces their heart with a never ending power source. Amazing. He's a little crazy, but I loved every moment he was on the page.<br /><br />One thing I do wish that was provided was some kind of Glossary, there are so many terms thrown at you that I had a hard time remembering who was what...but I went with the flow and it didn't stop me from enjoying this solid book.<br /><br />I also loved the Prologue and Epilogue, so well done.<br /><br />I will ::Watch until I see a release for book 2 at which point I will ::Buy

Notes:<br /><br />Unfortunately, I was bored for most of this book. There were snippets that would perk my attention and then I'd lose interest. It was a gentle ebb and flow for a story that should have been a little exciting. <br /><br />Cool concepts that are not fully realized for characters or setting. Like, it's not really clear the story setting is dystopian/post-apocalyptic until much later in the book and then it's still hazy.<br /><br />Narration: Kirby Heybourne is a good narrator, but the only parts that stood out well in this one were the character voices for dialogue. I'd say 75% of the dialogue was well written, but it was also part of why the story would never rise enough in tension to reach a hit and come back down.

I like the invention here. The post apocalyptic world Dayton has created is intriguing and throws up interesting contrasts between the primitive and the advanced. There is also a strong support cast of characters, notably Rictus and Cal, who are entertaining and help the narrative skip along.<br /><br />But there are also some serious issues in the way this has been constructed, and you can easily spot the author's background in writing computer games. There are long sequences of exposition of the history of the world (cut scenes in the gaming world), and the main character Enoch is pretty thinly conceived, because in a game this would be you - the player. Enoch collects objects and if he uses them correctly he beats the boss in each section of the book and moves on to the next level. <br /><br />Unfortunately what makes for good game design does not make for a good novel. The world building and the worldly Rictus character rescue this from being a train wreck, but once you've cracked the code of Dayton's writing there is no real interest left in following through with the series.

Uno de los libros más raros que he leído últimamente. Me engañó la portada XD Un personaje es un ex-rockero, no-muerto cibernético. Otro es una cabeza atada a un mono amaestrado. El protagonista es descendiente de un grupo de mesoamericanos con el poder de controlar tecnología mentalmente, que lamentablemente también sufre a veces del síndrome de protagonista adolescente tarado. Al final no sé si me gustó o no. Meh

What a garbage story.<br /><br />The only thing I liked was the synopsis, which was what drove me to get this book to begin with. Even <i>that</i> was written better than this entire novel. It just isn't good. Every aspect is boring and outstays its welcome rapidly. Maybe people into hard sci-fi will love the pages upon pages of explanation, but it felt like unnecessary filter to me. All the way until the end, new elements of the world are explained. That doesn't make for good storytelling. The prose is either too simple or over-exaggerated. The pacing was awful, going from a four minute chapter to an hour chapter. Many of the narrative arcs make no sense, especially the middle when Enoch is with the king. I had such a difficult time making sense of anything and I don't know if that was due to my boredom-induced skimming or the absolute lack of concise explanation in the story.<br /><br />The worst was having to stomach the parts when Enoch stumbled upon <i>~a girl~</i> for the first time and he immediately thinks OH MY GOD SHE'S BEAUTIFUL. Every time. With every girl. Which sadly isn't a lot, considering there are only <i>two</i> girls throughout the whole story (maybe three if you want to count the cat thing he gets). And to make matters worse, one of said girls is subjected to having her wings removed/clipped, which reads like a rape scene. I get it was trying to be disturbing and paint how awful the king is, but <i>wow</i> it was really thoughtless.<br /><br />Halfway through reading, I had to look up the author to see if he had written anything else, because this hot mess read like Baby's First Novel. Come to find out this guy has written stories for Blizzard and work there as a narrative something or other. And honestly? That explained a lot about this novel; it reads like a reject Blizzard game novelization. And that is <i>not</i> a good thing.<br /><br />This book was a chore to read. I don't even know why I forced myself to go through it. Maybe I hoped something interesting would happen? Well, it never did. Plenty of loose ends were left forgotten and the climax was abrupt and uninteresting. Apparently it's the first book of a series, but considering there hasn't been a second book in five or so years.... Yeah.

<strong>Wonderful potiential released too quickly</strong><br /><br />The world building, imagination, and cast of characters in this novel are innovative and enthralling - truly reminiscent of other great fantasy authors.<br /><br />Unfortunately, it seems the author rushed to finish and therefore it is both shorter and somewhat less refined/incomplete. It needed another 100 pages and a few revisions at least to give a sense of mysteries solved and accomplishment. And, too many plot points and scenes are not fully explored. As it is, I am conflicted whether to give it 3.5-4.0 stars.<br /><br />Some additional development would also be helpful. As it is, the power of the main character seems to be growing way faster than his maturity. That can be fun too if exploited but isn't really handled fully here.

4.5*<br /><br />Okay. I have no idea what I just read--I've genuinely never read anything like it. Is this steam-punk? I don't think so. Is it sci-fi? Not quite. Fantasy? Nah, too many machines. I just don't understand!!! I never realised how used to genre markers and tropes we get until I read this book. It's like you're suddenly cast adrift and don't know how to understand the text--but in this case, it was a very good thing. I'm confused, but fascinated.<br /><br />I do have to agree with other reviewers that the ending feels a little too neat, but overall I enjoyed this book--it was just so *different*. Plus I loved the character of Rictus.<br /><br />I think I'm buying the next one. Yup, I think that's happening. Confusion be damned!

The author of Etherwalker has created a huge universe of creatures and people to rival that of some of the great sci-fiverses, such as Star Wars or Ender's Game. As a fan of more "in this world" fiction (i.e. Harry Potter, something that could be theoretically in our world but hidden), I was pleasantly surprised that I loved this book so much. The characters are extremely well rounded and in depth, and each character comes with their strengths as well as their shortcomings. I would reccommend this book to just about anyone, even if they are not huge self proclaimed nerds or big in sci-fi. If you like to read and you like fiction, you will enjoy this book.

The description, the discounted price, and the excellent cover all contributed to me buying this book.<br /><br />The first chapter or two read like a well done self-pubbed book (Is it?) but the remainder all clicked and I found nothing overt that made me feel I was reading a new novel writer. Maybe it was just a new author break-in period for me.<br /><br />The worldbuilding is well done and sufficiently different from what I've read in the past to be a new take on post-apocalyptic for me. One period in the adventure felt contrived and out of character for the protagonist. Not that it couldn't have been believable, but I don't think the ground work was there as well as I'd have liked.<br /><br />The author has made his bones in the gaming industry and the passably disguised boss-fight at the end highlights that.<br /><br />I'll look for the second book, but I'll probably read the sample first before committing.