Review: More problems than solutions, but a lot of potential
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 02 15, 2014
I want to preface the negative portion of the review by saying that there were some things that I found very promising by this initial effort.  First, I thought the somewhat tortured nature of the main character gave her a depth that was refreshing after seeing so many cookie-cutter protagonists come and go in recent years.  The problem was that Rune was really the only thing I got a good sense of.  While the mythology of the series feels unique, the world itself was ill-defined.  It took a while to figure out if this was a contemporary urban fantasy setting, a sci-fi setting, an alternate-history setting . . . The author just never lets the reader get a context for where the story is taking place, which detracted from my ability to enjoy the story.  Also, while Rune (and to some degree her best friend) have personalities, it doesn't feel like anyone else does.  The author introduces a lot of supporting cast, but none of them feel particularly flushed out.  All in all, the whole book felt like it was a prequel or really long epilogue for the the rest of the series rather than a stand-alone-capable book.  Hopefully the author can work on these issues, because there are a lot of places that this world could go.