2013 steampunk fantasy, fourth and last of its series. Civil war has
broken out between the Awakener cult and the government, and it's not
entirely Captain Frey's fault.
As I usually say by this point in a series, this isn't the place
to start. Not that there was necessarily all that much emotional
capital built up in the first place, as you could summarise most of
the characters in a few words; but they act consistently with those
summaries, while doing some slightly different things rather than just
the same old trick. So Frey has flipped from commitment-phobe to being
utterly dedicated to one woman (her feelings don't seem relevant, but
fortunately they more or less match his), Harkins is still a coward
but works out a way of living that works for him, and Pinn still has
the intelligence of cheese. (And not a lively cheese like Stilton or
Coulommiers, either.)
There's a complicated war with a triple cross, lots and lots of
action, sudden reverses from triumph to despair and vice versa, and
moments of emotional Feels that never quite ring true but never mind
on to the next thing. Although the technology is obviously imaginary,
it seems to act more or less consistently. The writing is never
lyrical but always competent.
And it's all… fine. It's fine. I wouldn't set out to read this series
(unless I were a huge fan of Firefly and wanted more with very much
the same aesthetic even though it's not in space or with the same
characters) but it doesn't offend, and it even has some decent
moments; it just feels at times that it's lumbering along flapping its
wings when it ought to be soaring.
She frowned. ‘I see death.’
‘Death?’
‘Death.’
‘The good kind, or the kind that happens to me?’
‘Don’t interrupt. I see death. That’s all.’
‘Okay,’ said Pinn, although privately he was a little put out. The
specifics were sort of important.
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