Mage Against the Machine

Practically devoured the book, only to find the meal was cut short at the end.

The core premise (runaway science vs magic) is hugely attractive, it has plenty of action passages (sometimes barely justified), it has a doubly imaginative world building (needs more spells, though), and many characters are intriguing, even if not all are well-rounded... Why did I give it only 3 stars?

1. Too slow. The pacing is quick, but the plot advances slowly. A daring escape takes page after page after page, wasting precious space as the book nears its end, meanwhile loose threads keep piling.

2. Read bait. The book is evidently meant to be the first in a series, yet it could have done more with 500 pages. The ending feels incomplete, thrilling but hungry for real answers to its own questions.

3. Language. Imagine Harry Potter in his twenties, throwing f-bombs because it's cool. Imagine everyone important doing it occasionally. It's not very frequent, just enough to be distracting.

All being said, I will definitely read the next book in the series. I even changed the rating to 4 stars at the last moment because it's not a masterpiece, but it's a decent and entertaining book.