Early Review – The Alchemists of Loom (Loom Saga, Book 1) by Elise Kova (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Steampunk
Length: 380 pages
Publisher: Keymaster Press
Release Date: January 10, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1619844414
Stand Alone or Series: 1st book in the Loom Saga
Source: eGalley from NetGalley
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer-turned-thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.
Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.
When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.
He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.”
I got a copy of this book to review through NetGalley. Kova has also written the Air Awakens series which I have on my shelf to read but have not read yet. This was a well done fantasy story set in a very creative world. I did had some trouble staying engaged in the story because the writing style didn’t flow all that smoothly.
The book starts out at a good fast pace and the initial character of Ari is intriguing. I loved this world of Dragons and the more human and shorter lived land dwellers. There are a lot of steampunk elements to the story and Kova did a great job of blending steampunk and fantasy elements together.
I am having trouble putting my finger on exactly what it was…but I struggled a bit with the writing style. I really had to focus to read it and the words just didn’t flow all the smoothly off the page for me. This resulted in me being easily distracted while reading the story and never feeling like the book really sucked me in.
Overall this was a solid steampunk fantasy. The world building is amazing and the characters are interesting. I struggling some with how the writing flowed and with staying engaged with the story. Given that, even though I enjoyed the world, I probably won’t read future books in this series.
This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– New Release Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge
– Pick Your Genre (Steampunk) Reading Challenge
