Sean Sandulak

While this novel has a rich world full of detail and cultural diversity, it suffers from slow pacing and a tremendous amount of unbroken exposition. The plot develops at an agonizing slow pace until it is jarringly interrupted by a seemingly non-sequitur story within a story about life in a Jewish ghetto in seventeenth century Prague. Once the story did gain some traction, I found myself feeling unsympathetic toward any of the characters who spend all of their time wallowing in guilt and self-doubt over their past mistakes and the existential nature of their own existence including, surprisingly, the cyborg and the golem.
There is very little in the way of dramatic tension. Whenever there is a moment of genuine conflict, it is resolved with surprising speed or is glossed over altogether. The ending in particular was anti-climatic. By the end I felt the relief of having completed a difficult chore rather than the satisfaction of a well-told story.
A beautiful but flawed novel. If you're willing to invest the time required to read it, it can be a worthwhile experience, but if you crave something with excitement and action, this book may not be for you.

DarkShip Thieves is written in the style of a classic YA space opera where the plucky outsider challenges the establishment. Set around a future Earth where bio-engineered supermen were driven off and replaced by a ruling aristocracy, one young woman finds herself caught between a struggle for power and a hidden society of enhanced humans who must steal to survive.
Like most space operas, the plot tends towards melodrama, but the story is well-paced and exciting enough to pull you along to the end. The world-building is well thought out and developed, and helps support the narrative rather than overwhelming it. The characters are unique and individualized, but I personally found it hard to relate to them. Athena is rebellious, bratty and overbearing, while Kit is brooding, melancholy, and self-sacrificing. Their relationship, which is supposed to be the transformative for Athena, seems to arise out of nowhere, but hey, that's what happens sometimes, especially when you're nineteen. All in all, a fun read, but not one to be examined too closely.

I suppose it's not the worst complaint to say that a book as too short. Normally when I hear that, I assume it's someone putting their own expectations on what a book should be instead of enjoying it for what it is. In this case, however, I think the book suffers somewhat for it. This could have been a much better introduction to the series, but instead it brushes past the MC's backstory, it leaves many of the characters underdeveloped and flat, and awkwardly tacks on a love-at-first-sight romance.

The writing itself was good, and the plot, while not expansive, moved along without a hitch. A solid 3.5 stars, rounded up for giving us a much better representation of nerd culture than other books I've read.

Wecker effectively uses middle eastern mythology and culture to great effect to explore humanity, morality, and our concepts of freedom. The turn-of-the-twentieth-century setting is a pleasant backdrop to a wonderful modern day fairy tale.

A little rough around the edges, but an interesting read for writers and readers of historical and fantasy fiction.