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A review by thefussyreader
Engines of Empire by R.S. Ford
5.0
The Fussy Reader
Thank you to Netgalley, Orbit, and Hachette Audio for letting me listen to an early copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Because this was an audio listen and I don't yet own a physical copy (I will!), I may spell some of the names wrong.
TLDR
Characters - 5/5
Plot -4/5
Setting - 5/5
Writing - 5/5
Final Impression - 5/5
-
Everything about this was chef's kiss to me. Detailed world-building, characters with developed arcs, intricately woven plots, high stakes, plot twists, and to top it off, fantastic writing. There's nothing about this book that I didn't like. I'm not even going to pretend this isn't a five star read because it is more than worthy. I fucking loved it. If you enjoyed Arcane on Netflix, then you will LOVE this book.
Full Review
So wow. This book just came out of nowhere and knocked me for six. I thought the premise sounded cool but I didn't expect to be so enthralled. This was fucking great. Seriously. Possibly a new favourite. I'll definitely be buying a copy of this for my collection.
Characters
Out of the five POVs in this book, I enjoyed all of them, though I think I found Tyreta's the least interesting. My favourite was Fulren, then Conall, then Rosomon, and then Lancelyn. This isn't to say I found any POV boring because I found everyone one of them exciting. And neither did I dislike Tyreta or her story, I actually thought she was great, I just didn't invest in her quite as much as the others, but I didn't resent returning to her chapters at any point. I actually thought she was a fantastic character.
There are multiple narrators for each POV and all of them were fantastic. Read in crisp English accents which perfect diction and annunciation. They read with zeal and emotion which only made the story more exciting and really brought the characters' personalities to life. Excellent work.
Setting
I would LOVE to see a map for this world. I really want to see where the countries are situated in relation to the Drift. Even without the aid of a map, I can feel this is a vast world brimming with culture. So much of this world is explored in detail. It's incredibly well-developed.
Each culture is completely different and supports a separate set of customs, all of which are explored.
A heavily steampunk-inspired fantasy, from the level of technology and transportation, such as airships and landships (trains), cog references and machines powered by crystals called pyrestones. There are different colour pyrestones that have different effects and are used to power various machines. It expertly blends science and magic and finds a perfect balance. It was really fascinating and gave me vibes of Arcane on Netflix. Seriously, if you enjoyed Arcane, then you will LOVE this book.
The city of Torwyn is run by an emperor and a collection of wealthy guild houses that fund and offer patronage to the industrial progression on the city
The Drift, described as a scar across the land caused by a magical war initially made me think of the Shadow Fold from Shadow and Bone. Then it made me think of the Misery for Blackwing, and beyond The Wall in GoT. Other times it remained me of planet Arrakis, especially with the sand and the mention of wyrms (made me think of sandworms). Then I realised it just felt like a glorious mix of them all, and I loved it.
Plot
Five different storylines told through five different POVs. We see these stories unfold through the eyes of the four members of the Hawkspur family, a wealthy and powerful guild family, and the Hawkslayer, Lancelyn
Rosomon is the matriarch and head of the guild.
Conall is the eldest son and an officer in the army.
Tyreta, the middle child and only girl, has magic abilities.
And Fulren is the youngest and an artificer, building machines powered by pyrestones.
My goodness, this book has some serious stakes. People actually get hurt. Badly hurt. And people die, shockingly and unexpectedly, and it caused me pain. On more than one occasion, my mouth fell open in shock. One thing this book can't be accused of is being predictable. So much happened and all those shocking moments slapped me right out of nowhere when I least expected it. This book certainly doesn't pull its punches.
I loved the plot, but I would've liked if the different narratives connected somehow at the end. Only Fulren, Lancelyn and Rosomon's stories were connected, and Connal and Tyreta's stories both felt like they were left drifting and didn't really fit the bigger picture of this book, but I'm assuming they will fit the bigger picture of this series in general. Also I didn't pick up on the relevance of the prologue, again, I'm assuming this is merely set up for something bigger to come. But in this case, I feel the prologue could've been the epilogue and a cool hint of something to come. If not, I really couldn't figure out how the prologue fits within this narrative. But these are only minor criticisms and I still loved the story.
Writing Style
Gorgeous. The prose is stunning and paints such unapologetically gruesome but poetic pictures.
Continuing my point from above about the book not being predictable, I think it shows the quality of the writing from the fact that everything is so perfectly timed. Just when you think the characters are safe, boom! Something unexpected happened. It's fucking great. In the end, I just learnt to never trust any of them were safe at any moment, constantly on the edge of my seat waiting for the next sucker punch.
The pacing is super quick, but I don't think this is a bad thing. I never got bored because I never had a chance. The story is constantly evolving, constantly moving. Once the action really gets going, there's no time to even breathe and I loathed having to stop listening to this one to go to bed. Quality writing.
Final Impression
Is this going to be a series? Cause I will definitely be reading the next one. Everything about this was chef's kiss to me. Detailed world-building, character's with developed arcs, intricately woven plots, high stakes, plot twists, and to top it off, fantastic writing. There's nothing about this book that I didn't like. I'm not even going to pretend this isn't a five star read because it is more than worthy. I fucking loved it.
I NEED the next one!!
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Thank you to Netgalley, Orbit, and Hachette Audio for letting me listen to an early copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. Because this was an audio listen and I don't yet own a physical copy (I will!), I may spell some of the names wrong.
TLDR
Characters - 5/5
Plot -4/5
Setting - 5/5
Writing - 5/5
Final Impression - 5/5
-
Everything about this was chef's kiss to me. Detailed world-building, characters with developed arcs, intricately woven plots, high stakes, plot twists, and to top it off, fantastic writing. There's nothing about this book that I didn't like. I'm not even going to pretend this isn't a five star read because it is more than worthy. I fucking loved it. If you enjoyed Arcane on Netflix, then you will LOVE this book.
Full Review
So wow. This book just came out of nowhere and knocked me for six. I thought the premise sounded cool but I didn't expect to be so enthralled. This was fucking great. Seriously. Possibly a new favourite. I'll definitely be buying a copy of this for my collection.
Characters
Out of the five POVs in this book, I enjoyed all of them, though I think I found Tyreta's the least interesting. My favourite was Fulren, then Conall, then Rosomon, and then Lancelyn. This isn't to say I found any POV boring because I found everyone one of them exciting. And neither did I dislike Tyreta or her story, I actually thought she was great, I just didn't invest in her quite as much as the others, but I didn't resent returning to her chapters at any point. I actually thought she was a fantastic character.
There are multiple narrators for each POV and all of them were fantastic. Read in crisp English accents which perfect diction and annunciation. They read with zeal and emotion which only made the story more exciting and really brought the characters' personalities to life. Excellent work.
Setting
I would LOVE to see a map for this world. I really want to see where the countries are situated in relation to the Drift. Even without the aid of a map, I can feel this is a vast world brimming with culture. So much of this world is explored in detail. It's incredibly well-developed.
Each culture is completely different and supports a separate set of customs, all of which are explored.
A heavily steampunk-inspired fantasy, from the level of technology and transportation, such as airships and landships (trains), cog references and machines powered by crystals called pyrestones. There are different colour pyrestones that have different effects and are used to power various machines. It expertly blends science and magic and finds a perfect balance. It was really fascinating and gave me vibes of Arcane on Netflix. Seriously, if you enjoyed Arcane, then you will LOVE this book.
The city of Torwyn is run by an emperor and a collection of wealthy guild houses that fund and offer patronage to the industrial progression on the city
The Drift, described as a scar across the land caused by a magical war initially made me think of the Shadow Fold from Shadow and Bone. Then it made me think of the Misery for Blackwing, and beyond The Wall in GoT. Other times it remained me of planet Arrakis, especially with the sand and the mention of wyrms (made me think of sandworms). Then I realised it just felt like a glorious mix of them all, and I loved it.
Plot
Five different storylines told through five different POVs. We see these stories unfold through the eyes of the four members of the Hawkspur family, a wealthy and powerful guild family, and the Hawkslayer, Lancelyn
Rosomon is the matriarch and head of the guild.
Conall is the eldest son and an officer in the army.
Tyreta, the middle child and only girl, has magic abilities.
And Fulren is the youngest and an artificer, building machines powered by pyrestones.
My goodness, this book has some serious stakes. People actually get hurt. Badly hurt. And people die, shockingly and unexpectedly, and it caused me pain. On more than one occasion, my mouth fell open in shock. One thing this book can't be accused of is being predictable. So much happened and all those shocking moments slapped me right out of nowhere when I least expected it. This book certainly doesn't pull its punches.
I loved the plot, but I would've liked if the different narratives connected somehow at the end. Only Fulren, Lancelyn and Rosomon's stories were connected, and Connal and Tyreta's stories both felt like they were left drifting and didn't really fit the bigger picture of this book, but I'm assuming they will fit the bigger picture of this series in general. Also I didn't pick up on the relevance of the prologue, again, I'm assuming this is merely set up for something bigger to come. But in this case, I feel the prologue could've been the epilogue and a cool hint of something to come. If not, I really couldn't figure out how the prologue fits within this narrative. But these are only minor criticisms and I still loved the story.
Writing Style
Gorgeous. The prose is stunning and paints such unapologetically gruesome but poetic pictures.
Continuing my point from above about the book not being predictable, I think it shows the quality of the writing from the fact that everything is so perfectly timed. Just when you think the characters are safe, boom! Something unexpected happened. It's fucking great. In the end, I just learnt to never trust any of them were safe at any moment, constantly on the edge of my seat waiting for the next sucker punch.
The pacing is super quick, but I don't think this is a bad thing. I never got bored because I never had a chance. The story is constantly evolving, constantly moving. Once the action really gets going, there's no time to even breathe and I loathed having to stop listening to this one to go to bed. Quality writing.
Final Impression
Is this going to be a series? Cause I will definitely be reading the next one. Everything about this was chef's kiss to me. Detailed world-building, character's with developed arcs, intricately woven plots, high stakes, plot twists, and to top it off, fantastic writing. There's nothing about this book that I didn't like. I'm not even going to pretend this isn't a five star read because it is more than worthy. I fucking loved it.
I NEED the next one!!