Author: packetcat

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packetcat reads 2022 Week 22 – The City of Brass by S. A Chakraborty

Pages: 650
Purchased from: Kobo

It was nice to return to some fantasy set in Middle Eastern mythology after last week’s sci-fi jaunt. I loved the characters in this one, especially the main character Nahri. The complicated dynamics amongst the djinn was also very interesting and I’m sure that plays a major role in the sequel which I have added to my wishlist for a later date.

This book is now the longest I’ve read this year at 650 pages, it mostly doesn’t overstay its welcome despite its length. There is a significant amount of it that is worldbuilding which I didn’t mind since this is the first book in the series. I hope the sequel focuses more on the character dynamics though.

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packetcat reads 2022 Week 21 – Stars and Bones by Gareth L. Powell

Pages: 319
Purchased from: Kobo

I really like the premise for this book’s sci-fi world but I found the quality of the writing to be uneven. The writing is at its best during the action scenes and at its worst when it comes to describing a character’s inner thoughts and emotions.

The best way to describe the bad writing here is: unsubtle. It is overly descriptive and dare say I bit cringeworthy especially when describing a situation involving romantic love. I don’t have a problem with romance in my sci-fi but this ain’t the way to do it. There is no tension, no buildup, none of the textual yearning that I associate with the best of fictional romances (see week 5’s The Beautiful Ones for a good example of this).