Paul
Pretty damn awesome. It's got serious Pacific Rim vibes, but much more culturally sophisticated, using Chinese mythological elements, and the main character - despite being based (very) loosely on a Chinese Empress - is unpredictable and fierce. The action is constant, and the end was VERY cool.
Put simply, it checked all my boxes for what makes a badass story. I think my only holdback from a 5 star review was that aside from being super-cool, I didn't get much out from it. The relationships in the story were pretty unique, and the cast was good, but character-wise, it felt more like watching a movie than getting to know them. And while it was very emotive, I noticed more than felt the emotions... Except the emotion of "oh damn, that was badass."
I'd say with about half the trilogies or series starters I read, I leave it at that whether I like it or not, but in this case, I am DEFINITELY reading the sequel. Sometimes you need a fast-paced action story with crazy twists, and this delivered that in spades.
Pretty damn awesome. It's got serious Pacific Rim vibes, but much more culturally sophisticated, using Chinese mythological elements, and the main character - despite being based (very) loosely on a Chinese Empress - is unpredictable and fierce. The action is constant, and the end was VERY cool.
Put simply, it checked all my boxes for what makes a badass story. I think my only holdback from a 5 star review was that aside from being super-cool, I didn't get much out from it. The relationships in the story were pretty unique, and the cast was good, but character-wise, it felt more like watching a movie than getting to know them. And while it was very emotive, I noticed more than felt the emotions... Except the emotion of "oh damn, that was badass."
I'd say with about half the trilogies or series starters I read, I leave it at that whether I like it or not, but in this case, I am DEFINITELY reading the sequel. Sometimes you need a fast-paced action story with crazy twists, and this delivered that in spades.