An Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi with Magic 4/5 stars
This story is set in an apocalyptic world, where the Raknoth have reined destruction down wiping out much of humanity and leaving the rest limping along trying to survive. Refreshingly there were no zombies.
The Story is about Rachel an arcanist that manipulates energy hunting for her missing brother and Jarek, a not so heartless mercenary looking for his iron man suit and willing to do just about anything to get it back again.
Off the bat – This was such a great read and a real page turner. It is full of action, fun and has everything from shotguns to high tech weapons and a wizard’s staff which adds a touch of fantasy but kind of fits. I mean the bad guys are alien lizard vampires that can morph into human form so why not a touch of magic.
Jaric is a wise-cracking, kickass mercenary that cares about people more than he wants to admit (all though he does kill a lot of them) and Rachel is a gifted arcanist that is more than a match for Jaric and indeed pretty much everyone. The dialogue flows whip quick and smart and had me grinning like an idiot half the time.
I’ve read many books with these types of protagonists in. Confident, clever, cocky and with an answer for every occasion. Sometimes it can get tiresome. Not here…not for me. The story was well woven, the scenes choreographed with characters that fit so neatly together it was a pleasure to read. The fight scenes were really well executed. The world building was simple but well-crafted. The bad guys were…well bad but also dangerous, cunning and ruthless. Everything you want to see in a villain(s).
This was an easy read. It was no brain teaser to be sure but that’s not to say it wasn’t clever and it was certainly Fun with a capital F. Sometimes the best thing you can say about a book is that the end came too soon. It did.
If you like Apocalyptic action books I highly recommend this one.
A D Green 