Icarus
You can always trust Wells to write diverse and well-rounded characters, and to explore the ramifications of magic in her fantasy worlds. This one's got a genuinely kick-ass middle aged woman at its center, who also gets a love interest, but(!) the romance doesn't feel forced and doesn't distract from the story.
Unfortunately, I mixed up some characters who became integral to the end plot, which meant the end didn't strike with full force. Can't be sure whether that was my lack of attention or, potentially, the characters weren't introduced or well-defined, causing them to become interchangeable in my mind.
I would have benefited from a demonstration, of exactly what could go wrong if the Rite to remake the world went astray, perhaps in a vision. To just trust that the Rite always has to go exactly right, and that it does in fact remake the world, felt a stretch too far to have to believe. I especially didn't get a sense why a 100-year anniversary would be higher stakes than the annual ones, if they're both doing the same thing. I would have loved to see how the Wheel was discovered in the first place, and how the Rites came to be. (How, exactly, does a society learn that they have to remake the world every year?)
I was surprised that this was a standalone though -- it felt like it had more love to give for the world and its characters. Regardless, a solid read.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an epub copy of the book in exchange for a review.
You can always trust Wells to write diverse and well-rounded characters, and to explore the ramifications of magic in her fantasy worlds. This one's got a genuinely kick-ass middle aged woman at its center, who also gets a love interest, but(!) the romance doesn't feel forced and doesn't distract from the story.
Unfortunately, I mixed up some characters who became integral to the end plot, which meant the end didn't strike with full force. Can't be sure whether that was my lack of attention or, potentially, the characters weren't introduced or well-defined, causing them to become interchangeable in my mind.
I would have benefited from a demonstration, of exactly what could go wrong if the Rite to remake the world went astray, perhaps in a vision. To just trust that the Rite always has to go exactly right, and that it does in fact remake the world, felt a stretch too far to have to believe. I especially didn't get a sense why a 100-year anniversary would be higher stakes than the annual ones, if they're both doing the same thing. I would have loved to see how the Wheel was discovered in the first place, and how the Rites came to be. (How, exactly, does a society learn that they have to remake the world every year?)
I was surprised that this was a standalone though -- it felt like it had more love to give for the world and its characters. Regardless, a solid read.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an epub copy of the book in exchange for a review.