Review: Machines, magic, and mayhem
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2013
Interesting world. I liked learning about the cities not through dry description but through the homesickness of the main character. It's especially easy to empathize with his loss of good coffee.Also contributing to the depth of his character is his sorrow at the death of his sister. It is a fresh wound that keeps getting probed; I found his reactions very realistic and rather touching. I believe his struggle with this loss is the real plot of the book. Floating city? Machine god? Talking birds? Bah. Extra bonus stuff.The villain surprised me only a little, mostly I just didn't understand the character. It was explained but it still felt rather strange.The author did a good job of making this a solid stand-alone book while interesting me in the setting. I am planning to read the other books in the series.(Read on a Kindle.)