It took a while but I finally finished The Burning Life novel last night. Full disclaimer: I did not read Empyrean Age novel.
Overall I thought the book was OK. Good enough to want to keep reading to see what was going to happen and made me care about the main characters, but having certain respects belie credulity to the extreme that almost ruined the book for me.
I thought the writing was very good, i.e. characters acted believably with only a few stereotypes and caricatures, and the dialog was done well. Scene setups and descriptions were solid but not spectacular.
The only thing that I found hard to accept was the basic plot points which seemed hamfistedly put in like the writer was forced to follow a set of plot points on a bullet point list. And then the sudden rise of the protagonist to god-like reputation in the cluster totally goes against the feel of the Eve universe where bigger than life celebrities are very very rare.
I also wanted more explanation as to why Agents are held in such high regard and esteem in the cluster. Its a major plot point, but why? I never felt we went there adequately.
All in all, a decent read with some great insight into various faction but not a novel I would go back to again.
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I am currently reading the novel now, and so far, it seems to be as you say. It is a different style than Tony Gonzalez, which is fine; both are good writers.
ReplyDeleteAgents are held in such high esteem because they interact with Capsuleers... the gods of New Eden.
One thing I noticed that plagued this novel same as the Empyrean Age is poor editing. There were many grammatical errors and some outright omissions spellcheck would've caught, so I was disappointed to see this become a recurring theme with EVE novels.
I did find the novel most useful for putting a good mental picture of each of the pirate factions into my mind. If that was the goal of the story, then it did succeed. As far as the plot, I honestly can't remember it that much.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the middle of reading the novel now, and I have to say I like Tony Gonzalez's style better. Then again, maybe I just don't like pirates.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Empyrean Age at the moment, and really enjoying it. I may have to look at getting Burning Life in preperation for finishing.
ReplyDeleteI dont get much time for reading with Eve and RL so I have to make do with the chances I get lol