Loom
So, following up on The Alchemists of Loom, I read through The Dragons of Nova and The Rebels of Gold.
I have to say, the second book has a surprise amount of "character does something that hoses longer-term plans." These are things that make me, as a reader, cringe and want to chide the character for being stupid/impulsive and making things worse. I also have to acknowledge they often end up making the narrative more interesting. That's a point I've considered in roleplaying from time to time - few players will ever allow their characters to make obvious mistakes. I'm not altogether sure if it's something that should be addressed, or how, but I think about it anyway.
Arianna becomes a little less the primary protagonist, though she's still critically important to everything that happens. Cvareh is forced along a fairly predictable path. Florence steps out from being more-or-less Arianna's sidekick to become leader of a rebellion. Inter-character romances kick up a notch from the first book as the plot spins up toward the main confrontation between races and factions. It's all pretty solid fantasy-ish fare.
There are some dissatisfying points to me, though. I still feel like there is, or should be, some deeper explanation to the development of two races above and below the clouds that so compliment one another. The scarcity of resources on Loom is touched one, but when the dust settles there's no real answer to it - just sort of hoping the rebuilding society might be more mindful of it going forward. Similarly, if Dragons have been pared down to three kinds/houses from an original twenty, the reveals about parts-grafting feel very, very, veeeerrrrry convenient. And for all the hesitation Arianna shows toward sharing the secrets of Perfect Chimera, the long-term fallout of that isn't touched on in the slightest.
So, in many ways, I want to know more about what happens after the series.
I enjoyed it overall, though. There are some neat ideas even if they might not be fully fleshed out. The characters and their journeys were compelling and entertaining enough for me, so that's good.
I have to say, the second book has a surprise amount of "character does something that hoses longer-term plans." These are things that make me, as a reader, cringe and want to chide the character for being stupid/impulsive and making things worse. I also have to acknowledge they often end up making the narrative more interesting. That's a point I've considered in roleplaying from time to time - few players will ever allow their characters to make obvious mistakes. I'm not altogether sure if it's something that should be addressed, or how, but I think about it anyway.
Arianna becomes a little less the primary protagonist, though she's still critically important to everything that happens. Cvareh is forced along a fairly predictable path. Florence steps out from being more-or-less Arianna's sidekick to become leader of a rebellion. Inter-character romances kick up a notch from the first book as the plot spins up toward the main confrontation between races and factions. It's all pretty solid fantasy-ish fare.
There are some dissatisfying points to me, though. I still feel like there is, or should be, some deeper explanation to the development of two races above and below the clouds that so compliment one another. The scarcity of resources on Loom is touched one, but when the dust settles there's no real answer to it - just sort of hoping the rebuilding society might be more mindful of it going forward. Similarly, if Dragons have been pared down to three kinds/houses from an original twenty, the reveals about parts-grafting feel very, very, veeeerrrrry convenient. And for all the hesitation Arianna shows toward sharing the secrets of Perfect Chimera, the long-term fallout of that isn't touched on in the slightest.
So, in many ways, I want to know more about what happens after the series.
I enjoyed it overall, though. There are some neat ideas even if they might not be fully fleshed out. The characters and their journeys were compelling and entertaining enough for me, so that's good.
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