Author: Lucy Hounsom
Published: April 23, 2015
Publisher: Tor UK
ISBN: 978-1447268529
Genre: Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Death and destruction will bar her way...
Kyndra's fate holds betrayal and salvation, but the journey starts in her small village. On the day she comes of age, she accidentally disrupts an ancient ceremony, ending centuries of tradition. So when an unnatural storm targets her superstitious community, Kyndra is blamed. She fears for her life until two strangers save her, by wielding powers not seen for an age - powers fuelled by the sun and the moon.
Together, they flee to the hidden citadel of Naris. And here, Kyndra experiences disturbing visions of the past, showing war and one man's terrifying response. She'll learn more in the city's subterranean chambers, amongst fanatics and rebels. But first Kyndra will be brutally tested in a bid to unlock her own magic.
If she survives the ordeal, she'll discover a force greater than she could ever have imagined. But could it create as well as destroy? And can she control it, to right an ancient wrong?
Book One of the Worldmaker Trilogy
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
DNF at 32%
I'll be honest. I think I knew from the start that I was going to be DNFing this, but I stuck with it for as long as possible until I got to the point where I was saying to myself: "Kayleigh, you're not enjoying this. You're struggling to read this. There is nothing about this story that you like. You shouldn't have to force yourself to read a book. Give up the ghost."
The writing is generally of a decent quality, but the pacing was awful - it was all over the place. You would go for a few pages of decently paced, decently written prose and then all of a sudden you were flying through important scenes which seemed to have half the information you need missing and you'd come out the other side more confused than you went in - and not in the way that makes you want to read more to find out what is going on but in the way that makes you wonder why you're still reading.
But then the things that are supposed to be mysterious and keep you guessing - for example: Kyndra's special snowflakeness - are so blindingly obvious that it makes you feel genuinely embarrassed for Hounsom
The plot is something I've seen a hundred times before: ordinary village girl turns out not to be so ordinary after all. I can enjoy these books if they are well written or if the author has done something new and exciting with the story. Hounsom does nothing new or exciting and it is not well written.
The world building was ... lacking. I'm trying to be nice. Again there's nothing new here but she does try to shake things up (air ships?!?!) and gets it horribly, horribly wrong. The characters were awful. Completely 1-dimensional and unrelatable. I hated most of them. Passionately. In fact the only character that I remotely liked was Nediah and even he was on the flat side.
It's like Hounsom has taken aspects from books written by Trudi Canavan and Brandon Sanderson and tried to make a story out of it. Just minus the writing talent and creative genius.
Sorry, but no.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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