Rebirth

I'm a little late to Christopher Russell's party but it's better late than never!

I'm not gonna lie. I was so close to having this book be a DNF. The book opens with the longest Prolouge I've ever read. Not only was it lengthy but it was a somewhat difficult read. You are literally thrown into this world in the middle Lozaria's biggest battle. I was having some trouble with it. Then, the main characters aren't introduced until about 200 pages in. But once they are introduced, the book becomes a much more easier and enjoyable read.

Rebirth suffers from maybe having too much to include in the first book of a series. Some info dumps and pacing kind of insist that a good portion of the book be in a prequel novella instead of book one of the series. But really, that's my only complaint.

With that out of the way, Christopher creates a living breathing world with some interesting characters. The book made me think of Brandon Sanderson in a Final Fantasy game. The world-building is phenomenal, the magic system is intriguing, and the characters are either very likable or very dislikable. Also, it's kind of steampunky with battle airships and tanks which aren't in your normal fantasy setting.

There is one scene that absolutely got me very emotional. You'll know it when you come to it. I barely knew the character and I was in tears. It was very Sanderson-esque with its conveying of love and emotion and that's some high praise coming from me because I think Brandon Sanderson is the very best at writing characters and conveying very real human emotions.

I'm not saying Christopher Russell is at Brandon Sanderson's level. Sometimes Christopher gets a little too wordy in giving details but as a young author, he can only get better and improve (and as of this writing, I'm a good deal into Book 2 and it's a much better book in every way).

Overall, I'm very glad I stuck with this book. It's a rough start but the ride becomes a lot smoother and more enjoyable as it goes!