Ninth City Burning
Ratings4
Average rating2.5
"Centuries of war with aliens threaten the future of human civilization on earth in this gripping, epic science fiction debut ... We never saw them coming. Entire cities disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but dust and rubble. When an alien race came to make Earth theirs, they brought with them a weapon we had no way to fight, a universe-altering force known as thelemity. It seemed nothing could stop it--until we discovered we could wield the power too. Five hundred years later, the Earth is locked in a grinding war of attrition. The talented few capable of bending thelemity to their will are trained in elite military academies, destined for the front lines. Those who refused to support the war have been exiled to the wilds of a ruined Earth. But the enemy's tactics are changing, and Earth's defenders are about to discover this centuries-old war has only just begun. As a terrible new onslaught looms, heroes will rise from unlikely quarters, and fight back"--
Series
Series
1 primary bookWar of the Realms
War of the Realms is a 1-book series first released in 2016 with contributions by J. Patrick Black.
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NOTE: I got to page 204 before setting the book down. This review will not be based on the entire story
When I originally picked up this book, I was looking for inspiration from other YA authors/books, particularly from the fantasy and sci-fi genres (given that my own book, Element Unknown, is sci-fi/fantasy). I really liked the summary describing a massive war that has been raging for 500 years and how the two main characters, Jax and Naomi, are thrown into the middle of it by their circumstances crossing. I started to read the opening chapters and I found myself really enjoying Naomi and her struggles in survival and meeting the interesting people in her life. Jax was a little bland for my taste and it was hard wanting to care about the goings-on in his life.
As I continued reading and as more characters were introduced, it grew harder and harder to tell them all apart. Despite the chapters being in first person, there didn't seem to be a distinct voice between the characters and they all started to sound the same but with slightly different events/abilities.
The book, also, was a bit of a slow burn. I didn't receive full details about the war going, such as the enemy and the background of the war, until after reading nearly 200 pages. I realize that there is a lot of set up to the world and the history, but it seemed to go a bit slow.
Perhaps one day I will come back and finish the book and, by extension, this review. However, the book was very ‘meh,' interesting enough to get started but not enough to complete.
